The virus is washing through our bodies, killing thousands, crushing our modest health system, causing crippling shortages of doctors, nurses, medicines, even oxygen. If last week we said this is the Narendra Modi government’s biggest crisis, it’s only become bigger since. It threatens to grow bigger over the next several weeks.
Growing alongside the crisis will be a call for unity, and clamour like, “this isn’t the time for a blame-game”. In this big, great national crisis, we should all shut up, and put our shoulder to the wheel. But in a democracy, politics doesn’t stop, nor does political analysis and questioning.
We know most of the things a strongman leader in a democracy, from Donald Trump to Jair Bolsonaro, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Benjamin Netanyahu to Narendra Modi, invariably does. They all speak to the base, and as long as the base is happy, they keep winning. Or win often enough.
There are also things a strongman leader never does. He never, for example, admits failure, a setback, anything that looks like a defeat, however small, or that he has erred. You must never seem to blink.
The base adores him precisely because it thinks he is infallible. It doesn’t expect him to say, ‘sorry friends, I got this one wrong’. That would be admitting that you are another human being, not a divine figure or an avatar. That’s why everything you begin, must end in a victory and be hailed as a ‘master-stroke’.
Earlier this week, the prime minister made some uncharacteristic changes in direction. Not once, but at least thrice. His short televised address to the nation was sombre, and devoid of the characteristic claims, promises and exhortations.
Second, that the buzz made by a short letter from Dr Manmohan Singh had rattled the government was evident not in the health minister’s combatively worded reply. That would be normal. But in the fact that the very next day, the government more or less announced everything Singh was suggesting on vaccinations. That is not the response of a strongman government.
And third, PM Modi cancelled the last leg of his campaign in West Bengal. That he waited till the last day means he was still hoping to be able to do it, but realised he was behind the curve on the pandemic.
Modi’s followers would be hoping this setback is momentary. That headlines would change in about a week when West Bengal results come. If the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) merely crosses the figure of 100, it will be called a big win. After all, it started with 3. And if it wins a majority, it will be all the adjectives we listed above. But, whatever the BJP’s election performance, it will be overshadowed by the Covid situation.
There are many things the best of scientists still do not know about this virus. But some we know. The virus doesn’t vote. Nor does it care about who wins or loses. It can’t be polarised. It spreads sickness, misery and death, irrespective of politics or faith. It feeds on political hubris. It made the people of the United States, Brazil, and until recently the United Kingdom, pay the price for the overconfidence of their leaders. Now it’s threatening to do just that in India. The three instances of change we listed show that Narendra Modi has realised this as well.
Also read: There’s a need to hold up a mirror to Modi govt on Covid management, and this is the picture
Since words like hubris and schadenfreude are tossed around casually these days, it is necessary for us to marshal some evidence. I am sharing here the full English translation of the prime minister’s address to the World Economic Forum, Davos, in January.
There is as clear a declaration and celebration of victory against the virus as you could imagine. When the pandemic began, the world was so concerned about India, that a tsunami of infections was going to hit us, Modi said. There were people predicting 700-800 million Indians getting infected and more than two million dying. But India didn’t let this happen and saved humanity from a big disaster, he said.
He talked about how India had built capacities in no time, the world’s biggest vaccination programme has been launched on the back of two ‘Made in India’ vaccines with many more to come, and how India is now out to save the world by exporting these.
Next exhibit, see here, the resolution passed by the BJP National Executive in February. It was a stirring declaration of victory against the virus. “It can be said with pride,” it read, that “India not only defeated Covid under the able, sensible, committed and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modi, but also infused in all its citizens the confidence to build an Atma Nirbhar Bharat”. The resolution was so effusive, it’s a surprise it stopped short of asking that a victory arch be built. We quote again: “The party unequivocally hails its leadership for introducing India to the world as a proud and victorious nation in the fight against Covid.”
It said “the world has applauded” India’s achievement, and then also praises the “appeal for activities like clapping and clanging of thalis, lighting of diyas, showering of flowers over hospitals”. India, it said, stands tall, especially with its “vaccine victory” and moving in the “direction of complete triumph over Covid”.
Now you might say one, Davos, was just a speech to a forum where every leader grandstands and the other a party resolution, so what would you expect? Somebody might even pull out some AICC resolution more effusive than this, maybe under “Indira is India” by D.K. Barooah. That might’ve been a great debating point on a prime time news show. But the virus doesn’t read, hear, or care. It only waits in ambush for you to turn complacent.
Also read: A bacteria made Indians political. A virus will now extract a political price from Modi
It was around late-mid February that infections began to creep up. The first rise was in Kerala, Punjab and Maharashtra, three opposition-run states. Maharashtra, in particular, given the Hindutva Divided Family blood feud with the Shiv Sena. Curses and abuses were thrown at the state government, central teams were sent and when Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he wanted more vaccinations, he was scoffed at. Meanwhile, we also heard about a ‘Harvard study’ that apparently hailed the performance of the Yogi Adityanath government against Covid in Uttar Pradesh.
But why would a virus that doesn’t recognise national borders confine itself to some states? As it grew elsewhere, the BJP had a problem. Having just celebrated a grand victory against the virus, how could it now backtrack?
Nobody, not even Narendra Modi, could have stopped the second wave, especially with new variants emerging faster than conspiracy theories do on social media these days. But if we weren’t caught in such celebrations, we might have seen it coming and prepared better. Every indicator was there.
That complacency shows in our pedestrian vaccine programme that carried on serendipitously, taking weekend breaks, holidays on Shivratri, Good Friday, Holi and more. Full scale Kumbh Mela was allowed, advanced by a year for astrological reasons. The prime minister addressed a rally in West Bengal last Saturday so big that he said he hadn’t seen one such before. That was also the day Manmohan Singh’s letter arrived.
The course correction has been on since then. But tens of thousands, if not more, Indians would die and many of these lives could have been saved if we had vaccinated at a better pace, placed orders in time, not run short of oxygen, and critical drugs. Maybe then we would have prevented this global embarrassment of the crush at our crematoria and graveyards. Or India wouldn’t be airlifting oxygen generators from Germany, looking to import vaccines and indeed suspending its own exports against committed orders. While talking of atmanirbharta.
You can’t claim vindication in the mass death and misery of your compatriots. But these questions must not be brushed under the carpet of warm ashes piling up at our crematoria. This almighty second wave has just begun, the virus has a head-start. Our government looks like a hare frozen in the headlights. Unless Modi has it in him to do a Boris Johnson in second innings: Vaccinate at supersonic pace to crush the pandemic. We’d prefer a chance to applaud that to any malevolent sense of schadenfreude.
Also read: PM Modi’s speech was short – on answers that Indians demand of him during second Covid wave
One of the reason people don’t get the right news is Indian journalists are pathological liars.
I just saw on France 24 a Bengali journalist Ruchir Joshi claimed Mamata, Congress and CPI9M) had asked election commission to shorten election, while BJP opposed it. In reality all opposition parties BJP, Congress, opposed shortening election.
The people are getting the right news from the BJP’s IT cell. Republic, Zee, Aaj Tak, Times Now, India Today, Wion News, OpIndia and many others give the right news. Indians do not rely on France 24.
So why are you agitated ? Indians have got the news Modi has diminished responsibility for the second wave, which is due to the public’s fault, and due to media which was not training the public on correct Covid protocols.
Looks like you are responding like programed robot, without understanding the issue.
Issue is Indian journalists, particularly Hindu secularists., are lying through their teeth. I have given example. Are you saying Ruchir Joshi was not lying? He is in Bengal. So he can not be given excuse that he did not know. Why are you not answering clearly rathe then going around with bringing other news media? I am talking about a specific example. Answer it clearly or keep your mouth shut.
That is not a lie. She did ask EC to shorten. There are recorded documents. EC didnt oay attention until Madras HC rapped it last week.
It is true. There are recorded doc files with her request to shorten/combine. EC didnt listen until Madras HC rapped it last week.
Why not question the questionable “Holi” which was celeberated despite COVID? While South India suspicious this mass orgy never celeberates except for north indian pockets in big cities of south india.
Isnt that a reason for raising COVID numbers? while despite elections in Kerala and Tamilnadu which is not a “Holi” celeberating states dont have calamity of this magnitude?
You can blame Modi for greed of election winning machinery…at the same time do not take the blame that needs to be laid on the people who went out celeberating “Holi”, kumbh mela. Dont give election as an excuse.
Although in my opinion electioneering should have been restricted to TV broadcasting and no public gatherings.
Random thoughts in pandemic times in the wake of media reports such as this one, which serves no purpose in the fight
It is a pandemic, not an epidemic or common flu. Things that will move the needle the most—are things that past events give us little to no guide about, especially a viral pandemic mutating fast and tomorrow it may mutate faster than the speed of light (figuratively) and be able to travel in the air. Hopefully it will not come to that and humanity will survive this pandemic. There will be unprecedented events. Their unprecedented nature means we won’t be prepared for them, which is part of what makes them so impactful. It is in each one’s hands to look after the self.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes in his book Fooled By Randomness:
“In Pharaonic Egypt … scribes tracked the high-water mark of the Nile and used it as an estimate for a future worst-case scenario. The same can be seen in the Fukushima nuclear reactor, which experienced a catastrophic failure in 2011 when a tsunami struck. It had been built to withstand the worst past historical earthquake, with the builders not imagining much worse—and not thinking that the worst past event had to be a surprise, as it had no precedent.”
Good decisions are not necessarily about making good decisions, they are about repeatedly not screwing up. The most impactful part of a plan, especially in conditions like a pandemic, is planning on the plan not going according to plan. It is hard to maintain a mindset that can be paranoid and optimistic at the same time Seeing things unfold takes less effort than accepting nuance. But you need short-term paranoia to keep you alive long enough to exploit long term optimism.
Dependence or reliance on past data as a signal to future conditions in a pandemic is a direct trap. We need to be proactive to events unfolding. That which can be technically true can be contextually nonsense. For instance, it may be, technically, a good decision to vaccinate all above 18 at the earliest. But contextually chaos will unfold at vaccination centers from May1, with unprecedented rush – registration notwithstanding.
In your fight against the pandemic, start with the self, family, community you live in, people who depend on you and on who you depend and so on. Have close WhatsApp groups. In your groups, carry honest stories on the pandemic that is happening in your area of influence, how people act and react as prevention, what they do for their work, etc… There are more relevant lessons to take away from this kind of close observation than there are in studying the extreme characters that tend to dominate the news.
Tail piece: Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems
Your message is mostly incomprehensible but one gets the impression that you want to say that Modi is not as bad as people make out, and perceptions are not reality. People in India are agitated for no reason, and are misguided by media.
What you want to say seems to be either in the disclaimer or the tail piece.
‘Tail piece: Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems’
Would you accept at least that Modi is not so good as you imagined ? Will you agree now that Modi has not given you 70 years of Congress development in 7 years as you thought ? Will you accept that India’s standing in the world has not gone up as you told us earlier (you said once that in your travels abroad, people spoke with respect and awe of India) ? It will be interesting if you could go abroad and see what is the reaction now, and tell us. Videos of Kumbh, rallies, hospitals, oxygen cylinders, and blazing crematoria are now circulated internationally.
Colonel sahib, on your effort to underplay the gravity and responsibility (Nothing is as good or as bad as it seems), I suggest you watch the interview with Barkha Dutt, whose father just passed away in ICU. It is on the UK channel ITV, and is available on Youtube (‘If this Erupts, it will hit the world’).
She says getting her father a place in hospital was hard despite being upper middle class and a known person. Afterwards at the crematorium, she had to face a fight with 3 families to get space. Nothing as bad as it seems ? She says you should see the condition of those who are not privileged, who die at the gates of the hospital because they cannot be admitted.
She tells the UK channel that the world has to help as ‘If this Erupts, it will hit the world’. The UK reporter made the remark that she had the impression India was rising (which is the image since MMS’s days), and was capable of handling it, so what went wrong. Barkha did not say what went wrong for India is Hindutva and Modi (which she should have), she said it was a mixture of incompetence and callousness. Barkha requests the world to help as if India erupts, it will hit the world eventually – an indirect admission India cannot help itself despite super star Modi.
After you watch that, you decide whether you still feel starry eyed about Hindutva. Hindutva has destroyed the economy, its priorities are not healthcare and education and economy, and democracy is to gain power to benefit a small coterie.
The one undeniable fact today is that PM Modi has callously used this catastrophe for self-aggrandisement, brand building and one-upmanship. To pander to his Hindu base, his government allowed the Kumbh Mela to continue; to crush the opposition election rallies without masks and thousands of people packed like sardines took place and when the infections went down a bit, gomutra champagne flowed ! And now, his cheap gimmicks have backfired spectacularly and blown up on his face. But the bigger question is will Modi pay a political price for it ? I doubt it.
The problem though is that bhakths bend backwards to absolve their Führer of all his sins. And then there is the notorious BJP IT cell and its canard factory, aided and abetted by a supine, spineless media that will ensure that no charges stick.
And Modi will live to inflict another catastrophe on the country.
Even the title ‘As Modi govt. faces up to Covid, disaster, BJP learns a tough truth…’ is incorrect.
BJP cannot learn a truth, let alone a new ideology.
What has failed is Hindutva. Indians need to be told that. Don’t elect an uneducated mobster with a murder record and expect to get development. Don’t come here and say the public is indisciplined, or the state governments did not do their jobs, or the media did not educate the public. The Modi govt’s handling of Covid bears all the imprimatur of Hindutva politics : it started as an opportunity to attack Muslims; then it veered into Vedic mumbo jumbo about creating vibrations to scare off the virus, and promoting gomutra; then when a foreign vaccine was given, it was used to show off; in Feb. 2021, Hardh Vardhan declared Covid endgame had started; then cricket matches in Modi stadium were held, election rallies that enthralled Modi with its size started, 25 trains were laid for Kumbh Mela. So how is the govt. not responsible ?
The TOI reports in Banaras (Modi’s constituency) and Meerut in UP, at crematoria, fights have broken out. The UP govt. has out sourced cremations. Contractors are demanding Rs. 30,000 for what used to be Rs. 3000 per cremation. So how has Modi govt. faced up to Covid ? It is like they have faced up to the economy. It has gone out of their control.
For a while, the gau shalas were the place for employment in Yogiland. Amit Shah promoted pakoda wallah as a good job. But now youth can get lucrative jobs in the crematoria and charge what they like.
See the article : Uttar Pradesh: From Rs 3000 to Rs Rs 30,000, cost of cremation singes kin of dead
Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/82133002.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
The situation is dire. I feel heart broken.
Well written Mr Akash.
I guess, in Adityanathisthan, ambulances and oxygen are still available for cows. You and I need to update ourselves on the priorities of the pogromwala and his anointed successor Ajay Singh Bisht.
As American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-96) said:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back”
Ambulance may be for cows.
But according to them, cows are oxygen generators. There are plenty of them in Yogiland. A man who tweeted for public help to secure oxygen to save his father has a FIR filed against him in UP. He is accused of creating a scare.
According to another bhakth, Kangana, people should plant trees to get oxygen, to tackle the present crisis. The infected need oxygen undiluted with nitrogen now, and not in 20 years. Hindutva has twisted their minds, they come out with grotesque statements.
You are more dangerous than corona.
This is a thoughtful opinion piece. A leader needs to take charge. He should be accountable. There was too much grandstanding, too much rhetoric and insufficient preemptive action. Let’s admit that what we are witnessing today is a global embarrassment.
It is a global embarrassment. Vishwa guru and self reliance has ended, and we are back to being beggar. During the Kerala flood in 2019, Modi blocked a contribution from UAE.
Now, there is aid pouring in from Germany, UK, US, UAE, Singapore, 80 MT of oxygen from Saudi etc. Now, why does he not block ?is
More important for Indians to realise is this is the failure of Hindutva.
Modi is not a leader. He is a demagogue, a hate merchant and coward. That was always the case. But he has a strong following. That is a reflection of Indians. Are we ready to admit that ?
To think that in these times of crisis people still have the time to write such articles. I am not a Modi bhakt but blaming everything on one person is not how it works but what can we say there is no limit to human stupidity.
We understand it was the PM’s failing to conduct rallies during such a crucial but it was the fault of all the people who had started becoming careless and carefree and also those who are hoarding and feel their needs are more important than someone on the death bed. But oh No! Such insanely stupid humans are also the central Government’s fault.
Instead of writing such articles try to help the society. There are people who don’t have food, oxygen cylinders aren’t available, there’s an acute economic crisis looming upon us.
Stop with the blame game and politics for a while and become more humane. That’s the need of the hour.
All such articles are inherently flawed because they are all making the same incorrect underlying assumption. The assumption is that the Modi government could have averted at least some of the pain we are going through by setting the right priorities. That is patently false. This government has no administrative skills to speak of and outcome would very well have been the same regardless of their focus.
Modi and company are fantastic at running an election campaign. A lot of us assumed that this should make them able administrators as well. By “us” I mean people like me who used to be a Modi supporter but not a Bhakth. We tolerated the Hindutva overtones, put up with the trampling of democratic institutions etc in the hope that they will also achieve some real progress. Sadly, the BJP is only good at running an election campaign. They are pretty much useless at everything else.
Running the election campaign had just one theme : hate Muslims. Many Indians accepted that – you say they tolerated the Hindutva overtones.
Fantastic answer. Loved it. This article is stupid article with things like virus doesn’t vote etc. We all know this. The problem with so called liberals is that they think they know too much. One of the members of the same clan thought that she knew too much and ended up not knowing that her job offer was fake. Grow up guys! Every time you write such pieces you expose yourself.
Virus doesn’t vote. Neither your articles generate oxygen or develop vaccines.
Finally, bull**** had the long overdue meeting with reality.That is what the second corona virus wave is about.Unfortunately, the price will not be paid by Modi or his cronies, but by the people of India who got distracted and diverted by slogans about Balakot and Pakistan at election time and forgot all about the Tuglakian hare-brained measures of this guy like demonetisation and botched roll out of GST, the open and vile abuse of all our democratic institutions, unprecedented cronyism and favouritism favouring some businessmen who practically own the government, not to forget the crude demonisation and attacks on a large section of Indian citizens based on their religion. This is what ultimately happens to all autocrats who get shown up as useless incompetents at some stage or other and end up in the waste bin of history. It will not be very pleasant when a large section of the populace realises that the emperor has no clothes. This is not going to end well and he may end up getting hunted by the previously adoring public akin to what happened with autocrats like Saddam Hussein.
I am quite amused at the level of hate you harbor towards one man! While demonitization has had debatable results, GST roll out has been a big success! The PM took the bull by the hors and implemented perhaps the most important financial reform since independence. No other leader had the support of people and inner strength to absorb abuses of people like you, and bite the bullet. Now GST collections sky rocketing. Free vaccines for people like you paid for by that GST only. Were You watching some hollywood flick where you saw ‘attacks’, ‘businesses running govt’? What was the name of that movie? I saw one where some people were running policeman over by tractors and foisting some religious flags on red fort! That movie was called ‘Maowadi kisaan andolan’. Also, you really must be living in alternate universe brother. Some kind of a leftist maoist naxali cocoon. Where a 2 time elected, most popular PM is called ‘autocrat’? Where is this alternate universe? We do hear about it. It must be a nice make believe world. What gets in history’s waste bin will not be decided by hateful tirades of some brainwashed haters. History will one day remember and compare with those who ruled for 60 Years. Last but not least, As You compare the Prime Minister with Saddam Hussain, I start to wonder, was there really a need for this post that I wasted 5 minutes on? 5 minutes that are never coming back!
Entirely agree !
However, unlike Saddam, the problem India has is not one autocrat, Modi. It is the Hindutva ideology that has sunk India. Behind which stands the RSS. Indians may be able to get rid of Modi but they would be missing the boat unless they say Hindutva ideology and RSS do not fit the modern age. That ideology brought Advani, then Modi, then Yogi and similar mobsters and demagogues are in waiting,
For past several days Kejriwal’s consistent claim that this or that Delhi hospitals are left with few hours Oxygen is nothing but a anti Modi propaganda as no Delhi hospital has become Oxygenless even for a minute. Clearly Delhi hospitals are getting Oxygen supply on regular basis. Modi hater media’s this attempt to malign Modi will soon become counter productive as Modi haters intentions are insane and anti people. Lies spread fast but also die fast. Librandus insane methods wont work against Modi.
When was the virus asked to vote? Are the viruses given the right to vote? Only brain drained Shekar Gupta will think and write in such lowly spicy manner to attract readership.
Only Modi’s govt run by the RSS is solely responsible for this mess.
It is so easy to criticise the govt.
Like politicians, the media is also having a field day over the pandemic.
The first responsibility for staying safe is that of the citizens. Practising movie appropriate behaviour is a must.
When did the writer step out last?
Even now we find more violations than compliance – why should fines be levied for nit wearing mask.
Each and every one if us owe it to ourselves,our families and to our society to stay safe.
Role of govt. comes next.
The Health Minister told Indians in Feb. 2021 that Corona was in its endgame. Why did the govt. put out 25 trains for Kumbh ?
‘The first responsibility for staying safe is that of the citizens. Practising movie appropriate behaviour is a must.’
The sadhu fraternity has been encouraged by Modi, who will control them now ?
Modi Govt can’t be blamed for the inactions of others. It seems to me that opposition parties and anti India Forces are doing their best to spread COVID-19 and Panic in the country so that they can get chance to speak against Modi Govt. Its a criminal CONSPIRACY hatched by Communists Islamists and western countries supported groups and opposition parties. GOVT should keep close watch on black market operators opposition parties and anti India Forces.
The current crises have proved one thing:
Modi is an analogue politician living with his ‘tikka utsav’ and medieval ideas in a digital age where science alone can fight a virus of Corona’s scale. The muscular grandstanding can only take him thus far.
Good chance to blame Modi! After all, if you decide to take the city bus or Train or eat in a road side shop, Modi is directly responsible. Idiots!!!
S G is dead wood and his kind of Journalism is pedestrian Should ignore his tribe and him!
Fair journalism is not an easy virtue. I am not saying that this government was not arrogant about the bending of covid curve by December 2020. Even you lauded it in one of your National Interests, though I cannot write down the date. What do you expect governments to do? Engage astralogers to predict Covid curve? In no country, the second covid wave has climbed so steeply. In Mid-February, there was no reason to think that there was going to be a dramatic raise in the infections within next few weeks. US, Brazil, UK suffered because they refused to wear masks, maintain distance, or evey brief lockdowns. India did not act so arrogantly. We scrupulously took all these steps and hurt ourselves in the bargain. Please do not forget recent history. Public is not so forgetful either.
‘Engage astralogers to predict Covid curve? ;
Astrologers brought the Kumbh forward by 1 year as it was very auspicious.
UK, US and others learnt to cope with the second wave and they are brining it under control. In India, Covid and the economy has gone out of Modi’s hands. He will spend his time blowing and circling with the pipe like the snake charmer to hypnotise the masses. That is the only thing he knows and it has worked in the past.
Government is doing best. Every body and specialist expected second wave may come in Nov. ‘ 20. But we are lucky . Then people started to move freely and going to works. Government also thought of conducting elections. Due to festival season people started to move every ware and eating outside Gossips.
Our bad luck second wave started more than earlier spread. People became panic comming to Hospitals.
Even now people effected are in self quarantine and coming out from virouse. Self dedication and precautions will help the individuals
This panic will be about 10 to 15days afterwards it will be controlled .
Jai Bharat . God bless us speedy recovery
As PM Modi unequivocally took the credit when he proudly declared that India not only defeated COVID, but became fully “ATMANIRBHAR” and BJP lavished all praise on the PM, now that the situation has become a nightmare, Mr Modi should be magnanimous to accept his failure. If his blind supporters are pointing towards non-BJP states, then they should’ve praised the same states when covid situation was improving; there cannot be double standards, if all are good give credit to Modi, if its fails its due to state-govts.
The print. People don’t have to come to read news here. If you are a modi hater then this media will give you peace of mind by saying bad things about him and bjp. You’ll get nothing else. Literally nothing. Spreading hatred is their only job. Not only this mass media even thequint scroll.in and so on. These people get money to write these kind of articles.
If Modi is responsible for those killed by deadly virus , then those infected but not killed are are presumed to be saved by modi .I think second class outnumber those killed by at least 50 times. They too ,, vote Mr. Shekhar . You can imagine the election results if corona is only deciding factor then modi wins hands down . . yes it is not only one. People have developed their own criterion for judging any incumbent government. A senior journalist should have known it for decades. Please stop hating Modi . He is doing his duty like a true KARAMYOGI.
Gupta has stayed true to the course. Unashamed Modu bashing continues as if he the only one responsible in all this. Gupta forgets that there are three other major players i.e., the State Governments, “We the People” and the “Irresponsible Media”. The States are busy blaming Modi and the Center for everything, foolish Mango People thought the virus will catch only the neighbors and others and made merry amd the Irresponsible Media is busy spreading fake news and fake analysis in the name of journalism.
Overconfident Government busy in false self glorification. Never being honest to the citizens, which betrays citizens, either conceals data, under reporting, scuttling press freedom and unbiased reporting. Now tremendous swindling of funds, inappropriate priorities and favouring leading corrupted businesses and political imbalances
‘If you can dream and not make dreams your master;
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim!’
Is India only PM and BJP or is it lots more? Is anything else happening or not happening in India that the deep joy that you feel on covid 19 impact on Indiand cannot be concealed! Hell with the personal negative impact. Good news is it weakens the PM and BJP. How about asking the kisans to move from Delhi borders so the Delhi emergency reduced. Does the media beyond convenient and partial reporting, not have responsibility to raise public health issues. Maybe that is the responsibility of the Executive. Media runs on ‘what if’ analysis. No solutions, only commentary and questions.
Dear Mr. GUPTA
Please don’t mind what Andbhakts are saying about you. They don’t know what they are doing or what harm they are causing to our beloved country. They are duty bound for Andbhakti.
So please go ahead to enlight with your powerful writing.
Thanks.
Pls continue your sit-in with farmers from Punjab at Singhu border….that is a covid-free zone.
Call for national unity to fight the crisis together, this is NOT
Unless it is against Modi.
Incidentally is SG trying to be a bhakt through enmity? like the mythological asuras who according to Vaisnava traditions through constantly of Hari and uttered his name so much that they on death became entitled to live in Vishnulok.
Mr Akash: I fully agree with the thrust of what you write. Yes, Hindutva is the poison, the demon that must be exorcised out of the people of India. And this toxic ideology is indeed becoming viral – pardon the pun.
Hindutva is guaranteed to bring the nation down. India, it must be remembered is the amalgamation of some 675 kingdoms. And when the British left, from the embers of these 675 odd kingdoms, 2 nations were forged – India & Pakistan. That became 3 when erstwhile E.Pakistan seceded to become Bangladesh. The Khalistan struggles of the 80s and 90s was another crisis that India managed to subdue though not solve. Kashmir is restive; Nagaland and much of North East India is still yet to be fully integrated in the ethos of the country; Naxalites control large swathes of territory and so on.
The point the BJP and Hindutvadis need to grasp is that India does not consist of regions or parts that have voluntarily come together to form a country. Most of these regions have been lumped together and indeed need a foreign language viz. English to even function. Compare this with say France or Switzerland where the regions want to be together, despite their differences.
However, India, like the former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia, consists of regions that are held together. And the bonds are not necessarily strong as history shows and trust is often a missing element. Thus, the Soviet Union collapsed into its constituent parts in the 90s whilst Yugoslavia also broke up in the 90s after a bloody civil war. The collapse of these countries as well as Pakistan shows that regional cohesion is not always strong. The Pakistan story further proves that religion viz. Islam is a far weaker bond than language. And with Hindutva, the Pakistan story is likely to be repeated in India.
As the French philosopher Ernest Renan (1823-92) wrote:
“A nation has a soul, a spiritual principle. One is in the past, the other in the present. One is the possession of a rich legacy of memories; the other is the desire to live together and to value the common heritage”
In my humble opinion, Hindutva will diminish the desire of even Hindus to live together – forget groups like Sikhs, the North East, Kashmir etc. And I hope that day does not come.
Yes, Hindutva is the poison,
Kili you are living in Hindutva world. But you are still alive, unless you are speaking from grave.
What you have written Kili is my understanding as well.
Maulana Azad had written in his book ‘India Wins Freedom’ that it is the greatest fraud on the people that religion alone unites the people, ignoring linguistic, cultural and ethnic bonds. He had written that in the context of Pakistan, warning that E. and W. Pakistan were not viable as a single state.
In India’s case, as you have noted, India can only work if you believe in the Nehruvian dictum ‘Unity in Diversity’. The Hindutva ideology seeks ‘unity in uniformity’ which will cause India to unravel. Further, a state like India was held together by secular democracy which allowed the space for pluralilty.
Nehru had called Hindutva, ‘fascism Hindu style’. Besides the fact that fascism has failed everywhere without exception, the Hindu peculiarities he meant was the enforcement of the caste system, the hankering after Vedic era, and using mythology as a source of knowledge, contravening science.
Nehru had constantly remarked that the communalism of the majority community was more dangerous as it can be passed off as nationalism. That is exactly what has happened.
In a letter to his home minister Kailashnath Katju in 1953, Nehru wrote, “The fate of India is largely tied up with the Hindu outlook. If the present Hindu outlook does not change radically, I am quite sure that India is doomed.”
Although Nehru had steered India, he realised the hard nosed communalism of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, while making no contribution to the freedom struggle, had issued threats to the Muslims, driving them to demand partition. The RSS has the same self destructive urge which it sees as nationalism. They don’t mind India getting destroyed while getting at the Muslims. Cut your nose to spite the face is their ideology. What Nehru had foreseen in the letter to Katju is before our eyes.
India is doomed not due to Covid but due to Hindutva – it was the obsession with NRC-CAA and Hindu pride, and the attempt to have a single party rule all across India, that made them neglect healthcare.
Can it be reversed ? Well at the time of the NRC-CAA, there was some hope that a Gandhian style people’s movement could bring a change against fascist violence and intimidation. Possibly, it would have not succeeded and would have ended with pogroms – as in Delhi. Gandhi and Nehru could lead a non-violent movement against the British. They could unite Indians sufficiently, and there was an external people. But to find a Gandhian to prevent Indians from fighting amongst ourselves is more difficult.
Covid brought an interruption. Although the initial response was to use Covid to target Muslims, it could not be sustained. Now, that option is not there, as Hindus are affected on a big scale. Post Covid, will Indians connect the dots and see this is where Modi and Hindutva lead ? Probably not. But we have to keep sending that message.
Looks like your understanding of world is limited. A famous Black American writer, I don’t recall his name, contrasted Indian freedom struggle with Black struggle. He pointed out that in case of India it was like a little white mouse sitting on the top of a sleeping elephant. it was excellent observation.
This observation is applicable now too. It was little Black/Brown mouse, Nehru secularists, who were sitting on the sleeping elephant called Hindu India. That elephant just roll over and that mouse is crushed. Too bad so sad for that little mouse.
Only bad thing for the elephant is stinking smell coming from dead mouse as he is trying to awake. In case of Hindu India it is left over secus in media. You don’t find them in streets.
Who is sitting on the elephant now ? Some Black/Brown dacoits and thugees wearing saffron robes and playing the pipe to hypnotise Indians, (like snake charmers do), while they trample Indians with the elephant.
Nobody is sitting on the top of elephant. Elephant is just waking up, and few dogs like Siddharth Bhatia, Varadarajan, Mukul Keshvan, Ruchir Joshi etc. are barking profusely.
Secu India is dead. Long Live Hindu India.
Nehru was a racist. Indians of Chinese ancestry were arrested send to camps in Rajasthan and their property were seized in Bengal. In contrast Nehrus’ thugs protected league supporters in UP & Jinnah’s property in Delhi was not seized by Indian government under Nehru.
Hindutva is a clever device to keep power in the hands of perpetual power elites in india and keep unwanted power centers at bay. Hence this ideology will never go and keep the country perpetually backward.
The Print never praises anything Indian .
First basic question is till how long Indians are going to be dependant on Government largesse …Agri Loan Waivers ; Minimum support prices ; subsidies; quotas ; low train fare etc etc .
It’s time every Indian stood up for himself and that will happen only when we have a person like Modi , who believes that we Indians can do it .
Mr Hemant Jog: The job of a serious newspaper is not to sing praises to king and country but to deliver facts based journalism and analysis. Journalism entails criticism of political leaders, speaking truth to power. If you want to read things that flatter India, eulogise and sing praises to Messiah Modi and Hindutva, you have other alternatives like the RSS Organiser, Swarajyamag and so on.
As regards your claim about Indians being dependent on government largesse, well, not all Indians have the purchasing power of you and I. Increase train fares or diminish agricultural subsidies and you will soon have a riot on your hands. And that no government wants. In any case, the Modi government has destroyed jobs in the informal sector of the economy where 93% of Indians work through demonetisation and hence don’t be surprised when people depend on handouts.
And then you go on to rant:
“.. It’s time every Indian stood up for himself and that will happen only when we have a person like Modi ..”
Well, people in India are dying in their thousands thanks to Modi’s rank incompetence, callousness and more fundamentally, his promotion of “Brand Modi” at the expense of the country. Clearly, you have bought into “brand Modi” and don’t recognise that you are being taken for a right royal ride.
Your puerile views remind me of a quote from Mark Twain:
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled”
‘….we have a person like Modi , who believes that we Indians can do it .’
What is it that Modi inspired Indians like you to feel they’ can do’ ? It is beating up minorities in a pogrom, raping a 8 year old in a temple, bullying Christian ladies in a train. He taught you that you can indulge in cowardly behaviour without consequences. Tell me what else.
Now that Hindus are also suffering and there is no where to cremate them, what has Modi offered ?
Worship of cult leaders and placing them on a pedestal where they cannot be criticised is something uniquely Indian. Indians are clearly experts in denialism and turning the blind eye to the faults – often egregious ones – of their cricket stars, actors and now even politicians. And this trait is exploited to the hilt by cunning, unscrupulous politicians like Narendra Modi as the vast majority of comments supporting him despite his many blunders show. That Modi builds one blunder upon another and is a serial blunderer is somehow lost on his cult members. And that can have serious consequences.
Gujaratis chose to ignore the pogroms the then CM Modi orchestrated in 2002 and re-elected him with a thumping majority; Indians ignored the Modi-made disaster that was demonetisation when he became PM Modi; they didn’t care when innocent Muslims got lynched; when he passed the Islamophobic CAA Bill, it was lauded; when he paved the way for rampant crony capitalism that enriched Adani, Ambani and a host of other cunning Gujaratis, nobody was awake; when the belligerence of the BJP resulted in loss of 1000km2 to China, it was barely mentioned in the Modi friendly press; the increase in inequality was accepted with a shrug; the vast drop in GDP even before the COVID crisis struck was dismissed as fake news; the loss of press freedoms was gleefully accepted by Indians; the erosion of democracy was brushed off as a Western conspiracy; the promotion of pseudoscience was accepted as Vedic knowledge being re-discovered; the prioritising of cows over humans was justified as a Hindu tradition – to name a few of the consequences of the Prophet Modi regime.
But now, the nation faces a test that requires a lot more skills than what you acquire after graduating with a 7th standard education in Gujarathi medium. And Modi is clearly out of his depth. His utter incompetence, callousness, self-aggrandisement and inability to lead by example is manifested in the botched response to COVID and the tragedy that is unfolding in India. And yet, bhakths laud this man who wins election after election and archives little else.
As Plato said:
“In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill … we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one.”
Time Indians to find out whether a man who can win elections through the divisive ideology of Hindutva is necessarily fit to administer the country.
“when the belligerence of the BJP resulted in loss of 1000km2 to China, ”
Let us say for moment that tou are right. But question is why is China on India’s border ? The answer is Nehru’s monkey like behavior of allowing China to gobble Tibet and Indira’s failure to retake Aksai Chin when China was weak in 1980s & India had alliance with USSR.
Never mind Nehru.
Now that India is strong under the first real Hindu ruler in 1000 years, why did Modi lose 1000km2 to China. Why did he keep quiet ?
You have some explaining to do. Scratch your head and remind Kili of Moplahs if stuck for an answer.
Few hundred kilometers does not matter. What matters is much bigger price. India should be preparing for a war to drive out Pakistan from G &B and putting China’s dream of B & R initiative for good. Let Pakistan keep Azad Kashmir. What we care for is land route to Afghanistan and Blocking China from getting into South Asia. Nehru with monkey like stupidity let Pakistan keep G &B.
India should not join US led QUAD to contain China for free. India should ask for it’s pound of flesh. Neutralizing Pakistan should be higher priority,.
Had Nehru taken G &B Pakistan would have been useless to super power and would have died a slow death without infusion of money by US due to it’s geopolitical importance due to G &L as gateway to central Asia.
Harry, you are pathetic wretch. As a victim of the Hindutva virus, I ought to feel sorry for you.
‘Few hundred kilometers does not matter.’ So you declare you do not mind losing Bharat Mata’s land.
Then you add ‘Let Pakistan keep Azad Kashmir.’
You realise Hindu nationalists could lynch you for these two statements ?
‘What we care for is land route to Afghanistan and Blocking China from getting into South Asia.’
Why do you want land route to Afghanistan, a Muslim country from where those invaders you hate came from ?
‘India should be preparing for a war to drive out Pakistan from G &B and putting China’s dream of B & R initiative for good.’
Very brave. That would be a two front war. Ah yes, Rawat assured us Indian army is prepared for two and a half front war. Can you tell us when India will be launching this ?
‘India should not join US led QUAD to contain China for free. India should ask for it’s pound of flesh. ‘
India is begging the US for vaccines. They are likely to extract the pound of flesh from you.
You live in an alternative reality, and you suffer from irrational, wishful thinking, which comes from an inferiority complex. Modi, Shah, Yogi, all of the BJP supporters show the same trait.
I don’t share your third worldite feminine emotionalism. I don’t see any need to take Azad Kashmir or shedding blood of our army for useless land. Are you or kili going to live in that frozen wasteland? if you guys are going to settle there, I will change my views.
G &B is necessary to keep Afghanistan free from Pakistan backed jihadis and keep China from coming South. Pathans in North-west frontier did not want to be part of Pakistan, they were sold out by our “freedom fighters” like Nehru.
I have no issues with non-South Asian Muslims, Arabs, Afghans, Tajik, Uzbek etc. Like India most of these countries were colonized by Turks. So I am sympathetic to them in their efforts to free themselves from west and Pakistanis.
Harry: Your obsession with Nehru seems to be pathological !
Question for you: Does Nehru have an alibi for the thousands dying needlessly due to COVID? Or are those deaths too Nehru’s fault ?
Nehru was lucky. He was in good time There were no such crisis.
That is something positive about localized, as opposed to globalized, world. If it was localized, Covid-19 would have killed Chinese in Wuhan and that would have been end of the story. Bubonic plague which killed large number of people in central & Eastern Europe, but it disappeared once infected people died it did not spread due to lack of mobility.
Very well written article!!!
Very well written article!!!
I didn’t know till now Shekar Gupta runs this site to plays politics, , I thought he is political commentator. By his own admission looks like he running this site to play politics. No different than any other media site.
India’s mortality rate is 7.2. (means 7.2 deaths per 1000 Population per year irrespective of covid)
1.3 billion/1000*7.2=9.36 Million per year –> 25643 deaths per day on an average.
We never saw crematoriums overloaded like in current situations. You are wise.
S Gupta is referring to only official numbers 2670 death yesterday. I think a district in UP will be having more crematoriums than 2670.
The letter congress leaders write are base don leaked information from congress sympathizers in bureaucracy, The letters mirror the the actions government is about to take.
There is not much the Modi government can do to change the situation in the next few months. Oxygen availability should bring fatalities down, but spread cannot be controlled for a long time, as vaccines will take time.
Meanwhile Indians will die.
In the long term, Indians need to realise that Modi is driven by Hindutva and this is the output of Hindutva. It is based on a toxic brew of hate between Indians; fostering of anti-scientific culture by babas and holymen, hankering about taking India to a Vedic age; authoritarian rule; corruption of all institutions by the RSS; crony capitalism. fake news and control of media. You will see all these elements contributing to the Covid fiasco.
Presstitute Shekhar Gupta talking about schadenfreude. SG has been headsplits and is so cock-a-hoop, that he is needlessly sucking out scarce oxygen!!
Look at his lies. Govt introduced most of the measures SEVERAL DAYS before ex-PM and Sonia’s puppet, Manmohan Singh mentioned in his worthless letter. But then wasn’t MMS who gave Guptajee the Padma Bhushan?
TRUTH may be a bitter pill but to stand with truth is always a better fill. Hope you’re doing justice to your profession and hold the mirror for JUST & unbiased reflections. Congratulations….keep up your good work to bequeath a better legacy for the future generations as time will wade away with memories of the past but the Truth shall prevail which time would testify in its course of discourses. Let’s hope for the best and discharge our duty sincerely, in whichever possible manner we can to build our country stronger and bolder ! And let’s not forget Almighty God in this time of crisis as to err is human but to forgive is divine !
Quite a few videos of his highness modi and other BJP leaders declaring country’s victory over Covid, RS chairman ordering no use of masks in sabha, etc. As is the practice with this govt, they don’t expect expertise at all and what goes for policy is the immediate whim and fancies of a single person – modi. So if he wants he will announce country wide lockdown at 4 hrs notice, when even a city state like Singapore gave a notice of 4 days. In his megalomania he may fancy himself as maybe close to a god, but he is far less, and definitely not fit for the current role.
Politicians thrive on crises, and Modi ain’t a saint, the beardy weirdy look notwithstanding. I would, ergo, wager that:
a) with airlift or whatever, oxygen and hospital crises will finally pass, over the next week or so, with, of course, the number of cases continuing to rise further,
b) a vaccination overdrive will bring in some feel-good moments for Modi fans to be busy on the social media platforms,
c) Bengal elections will produce a reasonably good outcome for Modi-man
and Modi-man will emerge even stronger, earning some more political brownie points. Dictatorial personalities like Modi-man love crises.
Central Government, State Governments, common people / citizens, Nobody can escape their respective responsibilities for the current situation. No point in blaming one another. A country comprises all sections of society and all sections are equally responsible for good or bad, whatever happens to the country. No Government policy/effort can succeed without the active participation of citizens. We also need to understand that for a country of our size and with limited resources, positive results can only be achieved with mass public awareness and active participation. Governments can only make policies but their effective implementation mostly depends upon the people they are made for and even if policies are flayed or insufficient then also citizens can make them successful by their adhering to the protocols set up as per the conditions and by their wholehearted efforts. The need of the hours for each of us is to take the onus on ourselves and make things work to control the situation for a positive outcome.
It is total failure of central government
Completely disagree. This crisis is because of 1. 4 billion people like us who refused to wear masks and partied on rooftops, celebrated festivals. What can Central Govt do? Can Modi wear mask on behalf of Maunmohan, Rahul, Robert Vadra? When in the first wave Modi imposed lockdown then haters like Print wrote that ‘Immunity & God saved India’. Now what happened? It can be heads I win, tails you lose. Can it?
It is not failure it is negligene
Yes. We have highly disciplined population who does wear masks, maintain social distancing & sanitise.
Yet, Modi went door to door to spread virus.
How is central govt responsible, if you don’t flush your own toilet.
A brilliant article.
Opened my eyes as to what the current Central Government is all about.
Dear Mr Gupta. Don’t be concerned at all about what the malicious modi supporters are saying. They can’t fault your argument so they are playing you. As they say in politics when you’re losing, play the man, not the ball.
When I wrote against demonetization, they said the same thing… Salim and David, no wonder you’re spouting these anti national sentiments!
I remember same Shekhar Gupta and Arun Shouri were highly critical of Congress and were singing praises of BJP some time ago. Everything changed since Arun Shouri was left behind in BJP hierarchy.
So both Shekhar Gupta n Arun shouri are self serving selfish megalomaniac egoistic super hypocrats that they can not even acknowledge what are great achievements of INDIA since 2014. Let them not CREDIT MODI BUT LEAST THEY CAN DO KEEPING THEIR JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY IS ACKNOWLEDGE INDIA HAS PROGRESSED DRAMATICALLY IN MANY SPHERES. WHOLE WORLD ACKNOWKEGES INCLUDING PAKISTANIS AND CHINESE BUT BLOODY CREEPY INDIAN HYPOCRATE DO NOT. SHAME ON THEM….HOW DO THEY SLEEP AT NIGHT?????
Can you point out one single area where India has made a substantial and consistent growth in past 7 years.
Mr Venkatesh Ayyar: The job of a journalist writing about politics is to bring critical, sound analysis and information to readers. Thus when a journalist criticises party X, it does not mean he is supported by party Y or is in the pay of party Y. At least that is what an ethical journalist would do. And to a large extent, I would claim that The Print and Shekhar Gupta meet that criterion.
However, the bulk of India’s media is in the business of paid news. In any case, most media platforms – barring a few like The Print, The Wire, Scroll – kowtow to the sitting BJP. They are in the business of singing praises to Prophet Modi, shielding him from criticism and ensuring that this man’s image remains untarnished regardless of his many missteps. And sadly, ostensibly people like you – ostensibly educated – fail to grasp this.
As regards your preposterous, ludicrous claim about the:
“.. great achievements of INDIA since 2014 .. INDIA HAS PROGRESSED DRAMATICALLY IN MANY SPHERES. WHOLE WORLD ACKNOWKEGES ..”
Well, the economy has tanked; demonetisation completely devastated the informal sector of the economy; GST rubbed more salt on the wounds created by demonetisation; CAA destroyed India’s reputation as a tolerant, multi-ethnic, multi-religious democracy; India’s press freedoms have been nearly destroyed; innocent Muslims get lynched; nuns get thrown out of trains; the Chinese capture more than 100 km2 of Indian territory – to name a few things that the world acknowledges.
And of course, gross incompetence, mismanagement, hubris and self-aggrandisement being the hallmark of Narendra Modi, well you have the death toll in India you see. The man should have been behind bars for the pogroms of 2002 and the nation and innocent Indians pay today for the consequence of that travesty of justice.
As Adolf Hitler said:
“What luck for rulers that men do not think.”
You prove Hitler true Mr Venkatesh Ayyar.
‘The man should have been behind bars for the pogroms of 2002 and the nation and innocent Indians pay today for the consequence of that travesty of justice.’
That is the crux of the problem : electing someone who instigated a mob to criminal behaviour and then having unrealistic expectations that such a person will make India a developed country, which the world will respect.
When I mentioned exactly what you remarked to someone 3 years ago, he responded with surprise ‘Oh, you are talking about that time’. Meaning that was 2002, a long time ago, now he has made India a superpower.
In a developed country, such a person will not be allowed to contest again, and the law will be applied. The fact that murder was committed 20 years ago is not an alibi.
DeMo the virus?
What are the great achievements of NDA govt?
India has receded in every perceivable Internationally accepted benchmarks. Unemployment went up between 20024-2019, we dropped in democracy index, our growth in HDI slowed in 2014-2019.
Discretionary money in the hands of the bottom of the pyramid dropped during the period. Essentially means the poor 20% became poorer.
During the same period, Adanis / Ambanis increased their assets. What does it signify?
Obviously cow urine drinkers will not understand that. All urines have trace amounts of heavy metal that can cause cognitive impairment, i.e. make people dumb and turn them into sheep.
So when the facts changed, he changed his view. Isn’t that logical?
Only brahmins and other upper castes benefitted from Modi rule
Who benefitted from Modi rule?
Do you need burnol…?
Excellent point Venkatesh Ayyar.
So called Hindu secularists are scoundrels. They are wolves beneath Lamb skin. The lamb skin is pretention of modern liberal outlook.
Secus like Kili, Argh,Muthaiyan are talking nonsense, as rug is pulled out under them.
The people at the bottom of Indian society benefited from BJP rule. That is the reason BJP was re-elected with bigger majority.
With Indian secus I like the proverb: ” When elephant goes to town thousand s of dogs bark. But elephant continues, ignoring barking dogs. ” So BJP should continue it’s path Let secus bark till they die.
Brilliant article Shekhar Gupta.lt narrates the facts as they take place.
Don’t worry sir if public do not like this government they will throw them out. But u beware from godi Media like wire, scrol, print, hardly they have any presense people know better than their reporting. Wait and see on 2 nd May the people of Bengal give Modi the thendrous welcome. Do u think Bengalis have no brain rather the r most intelligent.