Narendra Modi, with his consecutive majorities, has been promising India a never-seen resurgence. What we are seeing, at the same time, is a return to that old, familiar ‘door hato ai duniya waalo, Hindustan hamara hai (stay away, world, hands off my India)’ neurosis.
In just over two weeks, we have seen the British High Commissioner summoned for admonition because his Parliament discussed India’s farmers’ protests. The government and its more vocal supporters, at many levels, took self-righteous umbrage at a Western and foreign (US)-funded foundation like Freedom House downgrading Indian democracy from free to partly free.
This happened for the first time in nearly 25 years, the last being in the 1990s, when India was fighting simultaneous insurgencies in Kashmir and Punjab and other crises. Since then, India’s ratings had been improving. But, in the past nine years, they’ve fallen by a good nine points. Which is the difference between bringing up the rear of the free category and wallowing at the top of the partly free.
This wound on our national pride was still bleeding when Sweden’s V-DEM foundation took the salt-shaker to it and declared India to be an electoral autocracy. Again, it is a fully foreign and foreign-funded foundation.
This came in the wake of the earlier scrap with Canada over Justin Trudeau’s sympathetic statements on the farmers’ protests. Then, as with the British Parliament now, India saw vote bank (read immigrant Sikh voters) politics driving the politicians.
Then, there were more ungainly protests over tweets from activist Greta Thunberg, Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris, singer Rihanna, and actor Susan Sarandon supporting the farmers’ protests. The toolkit circulated by Thunberg was seen as some new agenda by foreign forces to break up India.
The way things are going, however, Sweden had better brace for some trouble. Here is a conspiracy theory I suggest: Thunberg is Swedish, as is V-DEM and bus-maker Scania, which just released a report saying its executives paid bribes to officials in India. Three is a straight line. So, it is a Swedish conspiracy against Modi. Ok it’s a joke. We need to specify in these humourless times. But then, remember, it was a Swedish inquiry that caught out Bofors for paying cuts in India and destroyed the Congress.
Also Read: There’s no stopping Modi govt because Rahul Gandhi is flaunting his muscles as Congress sinks
The central objection to these bursts of international scrutiny and criticism is, who are these foreigners to judge us? What do they know? Why should they interfere in our internal affairs? Their methodology must be wrong and biased.
This is quaint for a nation that, at least for three decades now, has reached out to globalise with open arms and gained from it. It was in the same spirit in 2007 that India had worked closely with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to declare ‘India Everywhere’ as the theme at Davos 2007.
You might say that was in the silly UPA era. That a new no-nonsense new India is rising now, one that couldn’t care about what the world thinks of it. We know what we are doing, and you mind your own business.
Then you tune into trouble. Because, we celebrate every upgrade in global rankings. The prime minister himself makes such a big deal of India’s rising position in the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings. See, the world is acknowledging our success.
Or the rise into the top-50 (to 48 from 52) in the Global Innovation Index (GII). There are also happy noises when India’s global rankings go up anywhere, from the number of start-ups growing into unicorns to Global Employability Rankings (to 15 from 23).
When you enjoy this global praise, you’ve also got to deal with setbacks. The decline on the hunger index, although I believe it would be apt to rename it the Global Nutrition Index. The slide on the Press Freedom Index, struggling Human Development Indicators. These are a reality as much as the rising ranking on Ease of Doing Business. Can we pick and choose?
That takes us right back to the ‘foreign hand’, ‘the world is ganging up on us’ mindset of Indira Gandhi’s 1970s. Or, even backwards by several decades to an old, siege mentality. Poet Iqbal, in his ‘Sare jahan se achcha…’ rues that the world has been our enemy for centuries (sadiyon raha hai dushman, daur-e-zaman hamara).
There’s much celebration when the prime minister gets a foreign award. These can be from governments: Donald Trump, President of the US, which also funds ‘evil’ Freedom House, honoured Modi with his Legion of Merit for enhancing our strategic partnership. Saudi Arabia, Order of Abdul Aziz Al Saud; Grand Collar of the State of Palestine; Afghanistan, State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan; UAE, Order of Zayed; Maldives, Order of Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen; Russia, Order of St. Andrew, and so on.
If these are sovereign nations, there are the UN agencies. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with Champion of the Earth Award, foundations, Bill and Melinda Gates’s ‘Global Goalkeeper Award’ for Swachh Bharat Mission, and in our view, very well deserved.
We don’t like criticism from foreign media because it is so biased? We didn’t complain in 2014 and 2016, when Time magazine named Modi as their Person of the Year. The same Time, now in the doghouse, contributed to the rising Modi legend in 2012 by featuring him on the cover with the headline ‘Modi Means Business’. Then he was promoting his ‘Gujarat Model’.
Leading global business magazine Fortune, meanwhile, listed him at 5 in 2015 in its list of the World’s Greatest Leaders. Forbes, viciously critical of Modinomics since demonetisation, routinely lists him high in its Most Powerful People in the World rankings. It was 15th in 2014 and then 9th in 2015, 2016, 2018.
Foreign corporates, you can list the Kotler Award and now the CERAWeek award. CERAWeek, by the way, is the name of an annual, week-long conference of a large oil, gas and energy consultancy founded by author and domain expert Daniel Yergin. The name of the consultancy is Cambridge Energy Research Associates or CERA. It is based in Massachusetts.
The short point is, if praise and adulation from this full range of foreign bodies is acceptable, why such resentment over criticism? The world acknowledges India and its current leadership for its popularity and energy. For heaven’s sake, even Madame Tussauds has put up Modi’s wax statue. But the same world then also has expectations from a democratic India. And when it sees these not being met, it complains. It deserves a hearing, not to be kicked in the shins.
And please don’t tell me if things were so bad how could you get away with writing this article? That I can write this and probably get away surely means not everything is lost. We are still a democracy. But our flaws are deepening. Or, you wouldn’t have Disha Ravi in jail and this breathtaking new set of injunctions on digital news media.
Also Read: Habeas Porcus — how our judiciary is murdering the principle of ‘bail, not jail’ routinely
The truth, regrettably, is that we have been in this place before. The ‘foreign hand’ of the 1970s returned in the late 1980s as Rajiv Gandhi’s troubles increased and he threatened to teach these foreign malcontents a lesson they won’t forget: “Nani yaad dila denge.”
In the 1990s, it got worse, with persistent attacks from global human rights activists, foundations, and governments. Remember, this was when US Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel was demonised for daring to suggest that the Instrument of Accession in Kashmir wasn’t final.
From there, we have reached a place where America is a ‘natural strategic ally’. The alliance is growing into the Quad. India is also eyeing entry, at some point, into the elite Five Eyes grouping. The promise is of building a $5 trillion economy sooner than you imagine. The aspiration is to be a global power, economically, strategically and morally, the Vishwaguru.
And then we become so prickly at the mildest suggestion of disagreement or criticism. This is the very definition of how you let yourselves down.
Also Read: Modi govt has lost farm laws battle, now raising Sikh separatist bogey will be a grave error
The Modi supporting Indian lives in a delusional world of alternative reality. That can be seen in their rage and illogical contradictions they write.
They rage about Sweden and US as if they were targeting India specifically. They cannot deny or disprove that democracy retreated and not only autocracy advanced with Modi, mobocracy also advanced. But at the same time, the same Indians seek to migrate and become citizens of the very countries they accuse of plotting against them (the Christian missionary conspiracy). And they migrate to Muslim countries who are supposed to be waging jihad.
Some of them ask who are these western people to judge India on democracy. Well, I get videos by various Hindutva leaders making hate speeches. There was one where the speaker said that India needs support of Israel and Mynamar, we should follow them in the dharmyudh against Muslims, and at the same time, he was pleading western countries to join India (he had doubts they would) in this struggle, otherwise they too will perish with India ! On the one hand he wants to wage a dharmyudh, but he believes he will perish. They have unhinged, unreal minds. This is the damage Modi has done – to Hindus. If India seeks to be like Israel and Mynamar and many Indians support this, then what is incorrect in the democracy rankings ? Why are Indians raging about it ?
In another article in The Print, Jyoti Malhotra praises Modi because he and the genius Jaishankar are following the China model ! According to this model, these gentlemen have resolved to strengthen India economically and militarily like China, so that India can tell the west to go to hell on human rights – they admire China for this ! And how is to be achieved ? She tell us Modi does not care where the investment comes from, if it comes from China, no problem, it is part of the policy to allow India to say ‘go to hell’ to the west ! Wait a minute. Did India not make a big show of curtailing Chinese investment, ban TikTok etc, and the bhakths praised Modi. ? And why is India joining Quad to contain China if it wants Chinese investment so it can tell the west to go to hell about democracy ?! Such are the contradictions they are trapped in – because they don’t know which direction to go.
Every now and then, alternative reality is faced with reality, and then they make an adjustment and try to make it ‘positive’. It is like the positive benefits they claim occurred due to demonetisation after the main objectives failed. Another example of alternative reality colliding with reality was during the Covid. They saw that as another opportunity to bash Muslims. Arnob, Rahul Kanwal, Sudhir Chaudury and Rajat Sharma competed to say Muslims were waging a corona jihad. If you keep brainwashing, then people with low IQ start believing and it takes its toll. Bhakts living in Kuwait and UAE also started sending hate messages from there because they also lived in this alternative reality – they believed what they were being told. But then reality caught up when Sheikha Qassimi (who was an Indophile) saw this – and had the hate propagators expelled. This is what happens when people who live in the bubble of alternative reality face the reality. It is like Hitler supporters in the last days of the Reich continuing to hold out against the Red Army for a few days after their Fuhrer committed suicide.
Really Dude! I guess you are one of those who are not able to digest India’s resurgence! So keep going….But you and trolls like you can’t do anything except burn in all this hatred!
Just one point though so If you are not a Chinese troll, or a hardcore Cogress supporter – These Europeans have no right to say all these and rate us on anything with their opportunist actions and continued trade deals with the enemy of humanity Chinese PLA.
If you keep reading filth, that is all you will be left with. Keep your horses going in your alternate universe.!
But India is surely much more self assured and doing better under Modi. Even for the supposedly suppressed minority community.
Mr Ajay: You bray:
“.. India is surely much more self assured and doing better under Modi ..”
On almost all economic and democracy indicators, India is doing much worse under Modi than under the previous Mammohan Singh regime, even with the baggage of the UPA’s massive corruption scandals factored in. And minorities were not lynched, hounded, scapegoated or stripped of their citizenship and sento concentration camps – err detention detention camps.
Under Modi, India today has squandered its enormous soft power reserves and is increasingly viewed as a Hindu Pakistan where pseudo-science is promoted and Muslims are lynched. For all its faults and mad mullahs, Pakistan, does not hold certification exams in Cow Sciences !
We don’t want their honour and neither we want criticism , no country can judge other country by sitting in bullshit office and writing or creating any bullshit indexes. So shut up and stop these kind of articles .Shame on you shekher Gupta people like you virtually belonging to Congress party should think of time 100 yrs ago .Then write anything.
You are confused. You want their honour. You crave to be in Quad. You crave for their visa. Modi craves to be like the US President, he has bought himself a Boeing, so he can feel he is on a par with POTUS, while the rest of the country has lost jobs. But I assure you the rest of the world sees Modi as another vain Third World leader who is living lavishly using the wealth of the poor, trying to make up for his impotency and low self esteem.
You are definitely a Chinese or Paki troll dude..maybe part of their 20 cent troll gang..
And your counter-arguments – if any – Mr Anurag Singhal ? Easy to call Mr Tog names but infinitely harder to rebut his sober, well-founded and well-articulated and fact based arguments right ?
Mr Anurag Singhal: Why do people who ask hard questions that bhakths like you cannot answer be labelled as Chinese or Pakistani trolls ? By not being able to muster a single counter-argument to Mr Tog’s valid points above, all that you succeed in demonstrating is your bottomless intellectual impotence. And cheap abuse of the sort you indulge not only demonstrates your impotence but also underscores your pathetic pedigree.
Perhaps you ought to scoot back to the Hindu Yuva Vahini or Bajrang Dal shaka where your ilk plays and leave serious debates to those who have opened a book or two in their lives. Your puerile manner and vacuous posts do not succeed in rebutting the carefully crafted arguments and logic that Mr Tog musters here.
Mr Singhal, to debate here, you need to use a lot more than the lathi they gave you in your shaka. For, your lathi in these debates is the equivalent of gangster Al Capone’s knife in his famous quote:
“You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight” !
We don’t want their honour and neither we want criticism , no country can judge other country by sitting in bullshit office and writing or creating any fucking bullshit indexes. So shut up and stop these kind of articles .Shame on you shekher Gupta people like you virtually belonging to Congress party should think of time 100 yrs ago .Then write anything.
Under the BJP, India has been running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. It has been practising a Nazi ideology and Nazi operational methods, but trying to live on its old reputation of a liberal, multi-cultural democracy.
People abroad now see that India is sliding down the road of social disintegration as aggressive ‘Hindu nationalism’ takes over. Apart from the experience Europe has of Nazi Germany and where that takes, there are more recent experiences like Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Myanamar. In all these countries, a ethno or ethno-religious concept of nationalism took over, and people accepted leaders who polarised society and foisted social violence, as saviours. All those countries broke up or were set back.
The US and Swedish report is a wake up call for Indians. But they are enraged, they see no need to improve or change course. Then the conclusion has to be India is heading the same way as Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and Myanamar and investors have to be wary.
We don’t want their honour and neither we want criticism , no country can judge other country by sitting in bullshit office and writing or creating any bullshit indexes. So shut up and stop these kind of articles .Shame on you shekher Gupta people like you virtually belonging to Congress party should think of time 100 yrs ago .Then write anything.
@The Print & the Brown British’s ideological slavery & inability to do a simple 360d analyses is mind boggling!!
Hindus like S.Gupta show their ignorance, lack of esteem (civilization-al, national & self) ideological bias & dishonesty all at once!!
Reality Check: For once, can you muster a few cogent arguments and debate in a civilised manner ? All that you seem to be indulging in is cheap, puerile abuse. Admittedly, they don’t teach you anything else at the RSS shakas you attend and one must perhaps not be surprised at your “missing link” type behaviour. But your lathi wielding skills are utterly useless in a forum like this where some degree of cerebral activity is a necessary condition. Bringing the crude techniques of the shaka to a forum like this reminds me of a quote attributed to the American gangster Al Capone:
“You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight”
So go back to your RSS shaka and play with the kids there. Führer Mohan Bhagwat is waiting there for his errand boy…
@Kili: Ha!! Ha!! RSS is just nationalist & no where close to evil ideologies of the desert or congress/commies!!
There is No RSS in commie China or Islamic Pakistan and yet they are killing Hindus & other minorities!!
I am NOT from RSS you ignorant half brained Paki!! One can assume though that you want RSS to be as evil as the commies & Islamists!!
And I presume you have the mantle of deciding which Hindu has self esteem ?
Could you give some criteria how you assess this ?
Is the angry Hindu who does lynching, raping and mob rioting the one who has high self esteem ? To me, it looks like this stems from low self esteem !
किसी भी राज में शासक कुछ अच्छे काम करता है और कुछ अच्छे नहीं
कुछ नागरिकों को पसंद आते हैं कुछ नहीं
नागरिक जागरूक है तो उन्हें अधिकार है कि शासन को हर 5 वर्ष बाद सरकार बदल दे . नागरिकों को प्रजा तंत्र में विस्वास होना आवश्यक है. देश का अच्छा या बुरा करने हेतु 5 वर्ष कम hi है. हर समय सरकार यदि ऐसी बने जो निर्णय ले सके.
अनिर्णय की स्थिति अच्छी नहीं
यदि वर्तमान सरकार देश के लिए कुछ अछा कर रही है तो अगले चुनाव में निर्णय होगा.
देश में कोई भी सरकार रही उसने समय अनुकूल जो निर्णय लिए उनमे अच्छे और बुरे दोनों निर्णय थे
उनमे कौन से अच्छे या बुरा थे ये व्यक्तिगत या संस्थागत निर्णय ही होता है.
While the author is raving about freedom and autocracy he should look closer at home, bhiasa specifically.
Under the mawali maskin razakar home minister of telangana Hindus are being burnt while he claims no riots happened since telangana inception.
This is not the first time and will not be the last where your yellow journalism has reached such levels that not even a mention of plunder mayhem atrocities committed by mawali maskin razakaar with full state support of its home minister and chief minister.
If this continues any longer I believe Hindu samaj will take pratikaar and yellow gotcha journalist ilk of yours will go running to freedom house and vdem declaring minority persecution.
‘Dil pe haath’ how long will you continue this charade.
@Neil: These congress cronies who run to the so called “freedom houses” in America or Sweden should be asked how are they supporting these genocide-rs of their otherwise favorite Jihadis in Iraq or Syria!!
To be fair, Congress & these cronies are nationalists!! The only caveat is that their nationalism is reserved for Chinese or Jihadi/Pakistani, NOT Indians/Hindus!!
Who gave the right to these busybodies to sit in judgment over other countries? What right do they have judging others? Show utmost meanness in the name of living in a liberal society. So, nothing wrong in rebutting their reports. Now and then, such institutions and countries have to be shown their place, which is the broom closet.
Once Britishers ruled us…Under their governance ..What was the position of formers ?
And how much they tolerate their criticism ??
This is easy to raising finger ..But deficult to setting a example …
A bit intriguing and out of character piece in The Print. I am disappointed (doesn’t mean much, though)
Is that not natural to defend oneself against attacks or unwarranted criticism – unless you are a Gandhi (The Mahatma)? It is not what you do (criticism/praise) that matters so much; it is how and why you do it that is critical – constructive or destructive. We should all get real if we do not want to remain a laggard democracy.
An extract from remarks of Dr. Abdul Kalam a former President of India: (The Government was not this one when the remarks wee made)
“Why is the media here so negative?
Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements?
We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why?
I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.”
Tailpiece: Does democracy mean that we elect a Government (any Government) and then continually criticize it in the name of democracy and free speech? Get real again. India deserves better.
Well said! Col KL Viswanahan (Retd)!!
You ask ‘Is that not natural to defend oneself against attacks or unwarranted criticism – unless you are a Gandhi (The Mahatma)’?
What is the attack and unwarranted criticism ?
Here are some reasons that the criticism is warranted. India’s downward slide actually started the day Advani organised a mob to demolish the Babari masjid. That was in the 1990s when the BJP had not come to power. Many including myself thought it was an aberration and India would recover. However, it made a negative impact : it taught people that one group, that calls itself the majority, can flout even the Supreme Court order and use mob violence to get what you want, and nobody can touch them. Then, in the BJP’s first term under Vajpayee, a major pogrom was organised in Gujarat in 2002, when Modi was contesting to retain the CM’s post and polls predicted a loss. The Sangh parivar organised trains with kar sevaks and shipped them to Ayodhya demanding a temple be built by 15 March 2002 – or else they will burn the country down. That is violent blackmail. All states except Gujarat banned the movement of kar sevaks. The BBC and international media and the courageous journalists in the Indian media portrayed it as a state organised pogrom. Vajpayee went on holiday when Gujarat burnt for 2 weeks. After communal polarisation, Modi won Gujarat and that has remained permanent. So what is the learning point ? You can organise a Hindu-Muslim riot, and you can win permanently. The Ahmedabad Forensic Lab. report said the Godhra train was not burnt by people throwing petrol from outside, the burn marks showed a fuel spill inside. I remember reading extracts from the report in TOI and other Indian papers. Advani as HM suppressed the report and had it withdrawn. The RSS leader Sudarshan said Gujarat was the laboratory of Hindutva and more will follow – which means the RSS did it.
Modi was therefore banned by EU and US. Is that due to just a negative perception ? China gave him invitations – because human rights is not an issue for them.
When Modi became PM, the western countries had to deal with him as he was an elected head of state – so the visa ban was lifted. But what did Modi do in his stints as PM ? The first negative image-destroying act was the lynching of Aklhaq by a mob and the minister Sharma excusing it saying the crowd got excited. After this, the police analysed the meat and said it was mutton – but 6 months later said it was beef ! Akhlaq’s son was in the IAF. As an army man, do you not feel this is a disgrace ?
This was followed by more lynchings – Modi may keep silent, but it was reported outside. Then there was the rape and murder of a 8 year old Kashmiri girl in a temple, by a priest, his son, nephew, and police – and BJP MLAs marched in support of the rapists. Is that a positive impression ? I saw RSS fellows on NDTV responding with whataboutery and flashes of anger on questions about this savage rape of a child. We saw Dalit women be raped by BJP MLAs. The last one led to police cremating the body at midnight without the parents. What positivism do you want to see in this ?
On top of all this, there was CAA-NRC which international media compared with the Nuremberg Race Laws. When Covid broke out, India did not tackle it like other countries. Instead, it saw it is another opportunity for Muslim bashing. The media made out that Muslims were doing a corona jihad, and that started another round of Muslim bashing. Modi hept quiet – till bhakts got carried away with their hate tweets and got them deported from the UAE. Hence, people in the Gulf and West got a negative image of India. Shekhar Gupta wrote a plea stating this was harming India. You cannot blame NDTV and ‘pseudo seculars’ for this. After mistreating your own citizens over Covid, you cannot make up by sending some vaccines abroad – every country looks after the health of its citizens first, and then the outside world. Here, they discriminate against citizens and pose as saviours of humanity, and people get angry why India does not get positive marks for sending vaccines.
Then you add the farmers laws, beating up students in libraries, killing journalists, attacking women (the most sick thing) like Disha Ravi – Indians are doing this, not the world to India, so what is the case of defending against unwarranted criticism ?
The above is proof that the BJP has brought on India a culture of mob violence, vigilante groups, police brutality, attacks on minorities (and on women, media and intellectuals), hate speeches and fake news, all of which is collectively called ‘Hindu nationalism’. Do you not feel these tarnish India and Hinduism ? Just as Trump tarnished America’s standing in the world. Also, do you not see that this was not the case under MMS, so people see a negative change in India and this is based on citable, recorded and measurable statistics ?
The only question then is ‘do you wish to improve and change this or are you content that this is only a wrong perception floated by those who are jealous of India’s rise ?’. There is reality and alternative reality. Many Indians prefer alternative reality.
There appears to be also an innuendo against Mahtama Gandhi. Also, you quote Kalam – out of context- to defend your concept of positivism. I shall address that separately.
Col KL Viswanahan: Yet another comment from you that shows an egregious ignorance of how true democracies function and how they embrace and deal with press freedoms, criticism, NGOs, stakeholder feedback etc. etc. I refer to your admonishment:
“.. Does democracy mean that we elect a Government (any Government) and then continually criticize it in the name of democracy and free speech? Get real again. India deserves better .. ”
A question to you Colonel saab: If you cannot criticise a government whilst it is in power when would you ever get to criticise it ? 200 years after it has gone ? 300 years? After 100 years? See the absurdity of your suggestion?
All mature democracies deal with the constant scrutiny and the withering criticism of citizens, stakeholders, the Fourth Estate, foreign governments, international organisations such as UN agencies, think tanks and so on. You cannot put a blanket ban on criticism and scrutiny – more so when many Indians themselves feel deeply wronged and hurt by the bloody fascist leanings and discriminatory policies of this government.
And as a military man, what would you say to a fellow soldier Mohammad Sanaullah who after 30 years of loyal service in the Indian Armed Forces gets thrown into a detention camp in Assam because the goons of the BJP suddenly declared him to be a “foreigner”? (ref: ref:bbc.in/2Q6aSjJ) Did you know that the tribunals set up in Assam are pressurised to declare as many Muslims as foreigners as possible ? And should that not be criticised? Get real Colonel Saab ! India deserves better.
In fact, Mohammad Sanaullah was thrown into a police jail for a night before being unceremoniously sent away to a squalid detention camp. Doesn’t that remind you of the activities of the Nazis in Germany who actually were the original source of inspiration for the RSS, the parent organisation of the BJP and PM Modi’s alma mater ? Didn’t they do everything to dehumanise and strip Jews of their German citizenship, despite the fact that many of these same Jews had fought as soldiers for Germany during WW 1? Is that the sort of treatment you would want for a fellow soldier Colonel Saab, merely because he happens to be a Muslim? And shouldn’t such treatment be highlighted in the press and the government be forced to back down?
Colonel Saab, bravely serving in the Armed Forces and defending the nation does not necessarily mean that the nation will be grateful and defend you. Air Force Corporal Mohammmad Sartaj’s was surely willing to lay down his life for his country. But did the country he defended protect his family ? Nope. Sarataj’s father Mohammad Akhlaq was brutally lynched by a BJP mob in Dadri in 2015. And the PM issued a reluctant condolence 10 days later, essentially absolving the Centre i.e. himself of responsibility. Should the government not be criticised for being an enabler of these violent events Colonel Saab?
Free speech and constant scrutiny of the UPA government unearthed the 2G scandals, Coalgate and many other scandals as well. Did not India benefit from that Colonel Saab?
Colonel saab, the old proverb “the pen is mightier than the sword” still holds. And that was something even a military man like Napoléon Bonaparte knew when he said:
“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets”
The Modi government knows that too and hence wishes not only to stifle criticism but also banish criticism by threatening, bullying and even killing critics. Sadly, that fascism is aided and abetted by people like you Colonel Saab.
Dear Colonel,
I would like to refer to two of your comments, on Gandhi and Kalam.
You asked ‘Is that not natural to defend oneself against attacks or unwarranted criticism – unless you are a Gandhi (The Mahatma)’?
Is the implication you want to make that Gandhi was an unnatural person who did not believe in defending himself (and I guess you mean his community) against attacks ? This is certainly the Sanghi view, and they assassinated him for it. Do you endorse this thinking ?
Gandhi was not unnatural, he was exceptional and a great world figure, acknowledged worldwide. He brought the moral dimension in politics, and insisted that violence is not the solution, for an eye for eye (Abrahamic concept), will make everyone blind. In this he was courageous to draw on Hinduism’s inner strength based on ahimsa – that was being a vishwa guru. Hence, he was the inspiration of Mandela, and Martin Luther King, and his statue stands in Parliament Square in London (only Gandhi’s and Mandela’s are statues of non-Englishmen there). There are valid critics of Gandhi. Arundhati Roy who is a super intellectual has written that Gandhi defended the caste system. It is alleged, he said unflattering things about Africans, so his statue was deposed in Ghana. Karan Thapar says Gandhi undermined secularism by bringing religion in politics, whereas Nehru did not start with prayer meetings; Thapar has even written that Jinnah was more secular. Gandhi was not faultless, but be that as it may, his vision of settling differences through non-violence is needed – throughout the world. Certainly, the Sanghis have nothing more to offer than a copy of failed German Nazism (Nehru called Hindutva, fascism Hindu style).
On Kalam’s comment on positivism, I think you are using him expediently to cover the Sanghi criminality. Kalam said it at an earlier time when the ideology of violence and discrimination had not become accepted. Kalam was the last remaining Nehruvian nationalist, in the same mould as Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and Brahm Prakash. As Kalam saw the rising tide of communal violence, he must have felt that what he strove for – a learned democratic India, free from hunger- had slipped away. Hence, in his last days he resolved to concentrate on children – he decided politicians especially the new communal ones could not be reformed, and India’s children were its last hope. If you read his last books, hidden behind the lines, this message comes through. Unfortunately, when fascists take over, they brainwash children also. Nazi Germany had a Hitler Youth. In India, some children have been given Bal Narendra stories. Kalam was too polite to criticise the rising communalism, he did not want to add to the Hindu-Muslim rift. Although he was considered a model Muslim by the RSS, as President he declined their invitation to address them. He knew they were assassins of Gandhi – something Pranab Mukerjee had no issue with.
Many Indians urge positivism. Positivism cannot be used as a cover for criminality. An example is claiming India has some higher virtue than western countries because it sent some vaccines. The virtue is devalued and not credible because at the out set of corona, the media and BJP supporters saw it as an opportunity to beat Muslims by making out there were engaged in a ‘corona jihad’. Hence, they were subjected to fake news campaign, and boycotts, and Dr. Aarti Lalchandani made a video recommending they be denied admission in hospitals . No country did this. Modi intervened only when his bhakts got carried away with hate tweets and got deported from the UAE. Hence, you cannot cite sending some vaccines as positive news after engaging in criminality ! You need to solve the urge for criminality.
May I conclude by adding the comment of Pandit Nehru, India’s tallest and greatest PM. In a letter to the third 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.”
Nehru was perceptive. The ‘Hindu outlook’ he was referring to was not that of Gandhi, but what we see today. He had said that majority communalism is more dangerous than minority communalism as it can be passed off as nationalism. He had seen at close quarters its effect in causing partition. He had a premonition that India will self-destruct if this kind of ‘Hindu nationalism’ takes hold. It is no different from the German nationalism of the 1930s.
Hence, I would urge you that everything is not perception, you cannot live in an alternative reality, what the outside world sees about India does matter and could be the reality in fact, and penance after criminality (vaccine donation to foreigners after discrimination to own nationals, claiming development after organising a pogrom etc.) cannot be a substitute, and mob rule because it is the majority is not the meaning of democracy.
Well said, Sir.
S G is one of those who is not happy see India grow. People like him are liabilities. Does he permit outsiders interference in his domestic matters?
For the outside world, Modi’s honeymoon period was about 20134-2016. That ended with demonetisation. Social violence was mounted both as a distraction to the economic failure, and also as the BJP-RSS tried to create a ethno-religious pseudo-nationalist state, using the classic fascist mode of intimidation with mobs and proxy militia.
Therefore, as time rolls, you will see Modi and the BJP getting more desperate and violent. Hindutva belligerents cite Myanamar as their model. The economy has gone out of their hands, and Indians are impoverished ; a pseudo nationalism built around violence against minorities, liberals, workers and farmers is the only way out. It has become a vicious cycle of violence and economic mismanagement, and there is no wait out. Hence, the global praise has declined and the criticism has increased; that was bound to be the case. And we know what the response will be – more rage and violence as the one who is supposed to be the vishwa guru cannot bear criticism and does not have the capacity to improve !
Of course, for his crazed supporters, the honeymoon has not ended.
Mr Achuta Ramaiah: Pithy, powerful and hard-hitting comment where you brilliantly summarise the phobias and obsessions of the great Gujarathi Messiah and his saffron comrades-in-arms. I refer to you comment below:
“.. This govt feels very insecure even a small tweet can rattle this govt .. PM is not at all concerned about doing a press conference .. “
The prickly nature of the BJP and the many bhakths is all too evident in the manner the government reacts to even the tiniest shards of criticism levelled against it – regardless of whether the critics are domestic or foreign. Rather than counter the criticism with facts and figures, the BJP, its notorious IT Cell and its army of blinkered, blind bhakths engage in the only thing they can do when cornered: bully and threaten the messenger.
Worse still, as you rightly point out, the PM refuses to give press conferences and there is a reason behind that. The PM has spent all his life in the RSS and despite claims of having studied at Delhi University, he is, in reality, a man who is utterly at sea when it comes to the complexities of geopolitics, economics, social policy, defence policy etc. His utter lack of education is especially evident in the realm of economics. Indeed, had he been sitting in one of the first economics lectures that I had had as an undergraduate, he would have realised that demonetisation would not have worked. And as luck would have it, a complete quack called Anil Bokil from a pathetic NGO called Arthakranti was able to convince the gullible PM that demonetisation was a panacea for many problems. Of course, who cares for the advice of a professional economist like Dr Raghuram Rajan when you have a homegrown, self-appointed economist? The rest of the demonetisation débâcle – or rather hara kiri – is surely known.
Likewise, the lack of formal education and poor skills in English is surely the major reason why the PM is unwilling to field questions in a live press conference. In most of his public utterances, he always reads off from a prepared script. And in the few press meets he has agreed to answer questions, these were all given to him in advance and a team has prepared a carefully chosen set of responses. Whilst lack of English skills can be easily addressed by a English to Gujarati interpreter, one cannot easily solve the vexing issue of poor subject matter knowledge in many critical and complex matters in fora such as the G20. Yet, one still sees the PM saying bizarre things such as the infamous (a+b) squared expansion, that leave foreign observers in no doubt as to the calibre of the person they are dealing with, ref: bit.ly/30CPIf4. The existence of plastic surgery in India, absurd and downright hilarious statements at the Indian Science Congress, the endorsement of pseudo-scientific claims such as NaMo gravitational waves, etc. are all hallmarks of a man who stays in power not due to his competence but due to the cult status he has cultivated. This has also more serious implications – Modi even ordered the IAF to bomb when the weather was cloudy as he believed that clouds would help IAF planes to escape radar detection!
The sad thing is that many Indians do not recognise that they are in a cult. And like zombies, they march to the tune of a man with a pogrom under his belt, economic ruin as his gift to the informal economy, crony capitalism as his calling card and the weakening of the fragile bonds that hold India together as his legacy.
As the 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”.
Sagan’s quote applies to India. The charlatan is here to stay.
@Kili: WHY don’t you just find a job in your mother land Pakistan or possibly Vatican instead of trolling every now & then with your built in hate against BJP/Hindus??!!
Reality Check: Don’t you need a sanity check ?
You said: “The sad thing is that many Indians do not recognise that they are in a cult. And like zombies!!..”
Are these Indians better or same as Islamic or Christian zombies who don’t follow reality on earth but an imagined god/heaven to kill & convert Hindus & other Kaffirs??!!
I agree with Shekhar on the main issue that India should take the brickbats as well as the laurels when they come from international agencies in their judgements about the economy, democracy, ease of doing business, etc.
But to equate that kind of global comparison indices with the nakedly selfish and malicious criticism of a progressive set of laws by some disgruntled family members of Indian farmers masquerading as UK MPs is grossly wrong!
@Jayant: India should take the positives and reject non constructive criticism & malice coming from domestic or foreign sources!!
SG @The Print are part of the few congress cronies who still control 90% of Indian media!!
The BJP government should bring in rules to de-monopolize & democratize the media!! This includes Indian & foreign media like Google/Twitter!!
I could have considered reading your article but seeing your hatered for the word ‘vishwaguru’ in the title itself i got the idea what could be there in the whole article.
@Gopichandra Dewda: Correct!! These coconuts (brown outside & white Christian supremacist British inside) have a visceral hatred of Hindus & their splendid civilization!! Yet!! the concept of human rights, banking, zero.. & possibly democracy too are Hindu exports to the Arabs & the west!!
Modi is but a symptom of a much bigger problem of India, the caste & feudalism ridden Hindi speaking orthodox Hindus of the BIMARU states who constitute a huge 40% of the total population and have thus had a huge ( mostly negative ) impact on India ever since the days of M K Gandhi who turned to orthodox Hindu icons ( all that Ram, Lakshman and Hanuman mythology ) to gain support among the Hindu peasantry and grab leadership of the Congress. To save India from further sinking into medievalism, intolerance even autocracy, the Hindi speakers who elected then re-elected Modi must be reformed, if needed forcibly and if all else fails barred from national elections till they are ready.
Ha!! Ha!! Medievalism & Autocracy were during Congress’s emergency and otherwise quasi dictatorship during their rule!!
Opposition leaders & voters were killed with impunity!! Those who were killed were invariably Hindu/Dalits, NOT Jihadi traitors who voted for & created Pakistan!! Those traitors were even given citizenship by these inhuman & anti India scoundrels!!
Symptom of a slave. Identity crisis. British being foreigners wanted everyone to feel like a foreigner in a giant nation. They brainwashed Indians into believing the danger of Divide and Conquer when infact they aimed at agenda for Indians UNITE TO SURRENDER.
It was total blindness not to notice that that Tiny Britain from disunited Europe ruled the world whereas united Europe EU never seems to cure itself of diarrhea. Tiny Nepal and Bhutan remained unconquered by any invader. Tiny Japan specialized around Automobiles. Tiny South Korea around white goods. Tiny Netherlands specialized around Electronics.
Reservation policy is proof of fact that majority are intolerant towards Meritted. That is s very unfortunate as Merrited and Investors produce much much more than they consume. India has MMMM Mad Murder of Meritted by Majority by Reservation policy and Socialism
RC: Pray tell us how your vacuous rant about reservation policy, South Korea, Japan, Nepal etc. is relevant to the ongoing debate.. Suggest you send your contributions to rags like the RSS Organiser, Swarajyamag , Saamaana, Opindia etc. Your puerile comments are a better fit in such publications.
But I m amazed how this article so conveniently puts blame of Punjab and kashmir extremists movements on India. Sounds like an attempt to raise distrust amongst Indians. Not going to work this time around. You guys have had your run. But a good way to to make a few bucks though. Feast on emotions. Some journalism. LoL.
Your views are getting repeated and boring with same rhetoric all the time on freedom , dissent and democracy. It cannot work the way you people wish. I think freedom of everything in this country has gone to a level of being free for all and vulgar.
@Hemant: Correct!! Please don’t forget that 90% of Indian media is owned by Congress & their cronies!! Just a few cronies have in effect a monopoly over political discourse in the nation!!
Notice the pattern of news @The Print who are part of the congress & Brown British Paki gang who otherwise claim to be independent!!
The BJP govt should bring in rules & incentives in order to de-monopolize not just Indian media but also foreign media like google/twitter!!
Will these jokers say same thing about China in their parliament and downgrade them.!!? No they will not…India has been a soft target…But not anymore…Hit them where it hurts…Keep going
Mirchy M: There are 3 influential reports out in the public domain about the dilution of democracy in 2020 and emergence of demagogues and autocrats like Modi, Trump, Xi and so on. All the reports are critical towards China. These reports are:
1: FREEDOM IN THE WORLD 2021: Democracy under Siege from Freedom House;
Ref: bit.ly/3bMC5jy
2: Autocratization Turns Viral: DEMOCRACY REPORT 2021; Varieties of Democracy; Ref: bit.ly/3bH9uwe
3: Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report “Democracy Index 2020: In sickness and in health?”; Ref: bit.ly/30Fbwqa
All these reports pillory India as well as China. And even USA. For instance, on China, Freedom House writes:
“.. Beijing’s export of antidemocratic tactics, financial coercion, and physical intimidation have led to an erosion of democratic institutions and human rights protections in numerous countries. The campaign has been supplemented by the regime’s moves to promote its agenda at the United Nations, in diplomatic channels, and through worldwide propaganda that aims to systematically alter global norms. Other authoritarian states have joined China in these efforts, even as key democracies abandoned allies and their own values in foreign policy matters. As a result, the mechanisms that democracies have long used to hold governments accountable for violations of human rights standards and international law are being weakened and subverted, and even the world’s most egregious violations, such as the large-scale forced sterilization of Uighur women, are not met with a well-coordinated response or punishment .. “
Mr Mirchy: You have not read the Freedom House report. Yet that does not prevent you from shouting from rooftops about how bad foreigners are to India and how much foreigners they kowtow to China. It is abundantly clear who the joker in the equation is. Or the proverbial “empty vessel” !!!
Ha!! Ha!! If PM Modi is an autocrat then Biden along with his so called democrats gangs are genocide-rs, anti democracy crooks & anti Hindu & anti Human bigots!! These people are also slaves of communist Chinese!! As such, Biden said genocide of Muslims & resulting drowning Allah in Chinese mosques converted into toilets is a cultural issue of the Chinese!!
Get a life you liars & bigots!!
Kili Jolsiyar: Ignorant Pakis like you have no credibility!!
IF there was an unbiased & truthful democratic or human rights index, America along with the rest of the western world will be at the bottom of this list!!
DO we need to recite history to converted Hindus like you or have you still some brain cells left to see it yourself??
So wat this article n I m not going to take name here is stating that Indian 70% [so called Modi’s India] is Ignorant. And they have more trust in them than their fellow indians. When ever India is at difficult crossroads and due to no fault of its, some org. like scavengers want to bite India and history is proof of that. But now India truly awakens and no gimmicks ain’t gonna work this time around. United we stand.
@VS Thakur: Hindu civilization was inhumanly exploited and divided by the British white supremacist Christians & Islamic fascists!! This left over Hindu nation even kept those Muslim league traitors even after they divided India and took away epic Sikh/Hindu lands!!
This left over Hindu nation can’t even teach it’s true history or present reality incl. ethnic genocide against them in India or Islamic Pakistan/Bangladesh!! It’s a shamed apartheid nation & civilization where Hindu temples are in government prisons while hate spewing brown British/liberals, Churches & Mosques are free!!
Well said, Thakurji
Good Headlines and Question which has an answer, that is because the left wing spreads negativity and only negativity about India and Hinduism in foreign media. That is what irritates BJP, but the way to deal with using social media for rebuttal of the left wing propaganda, not arrests or sedition cases.
The BJP is planning to appoint a Minister for Positive News. You can apply. Pass its cow science test.
Modi is the MOST undeservingly Abused PM in Global History…sply people like Shekhar type journos shldnt even pretend to raise a Q abt media freedom coz they have built their careers abusing Modi as a living proof!!! Shallowness of AntiNationala in d garb of intellectuals is irking d patience of our nation…it’s time these type of elements wake up n smell their coffee coz d nation is feeling v outraged NOW!!
Wrong Mr Rahul !
I refer to your vacuous statement where you bark:
“.. Modi is the MOST undeservingly Abused PM in Global History ..”
Fact is, Adolf Hitler & Benito Mussolini were and still are more reviled than Modi – at least for now. But remember, the RSS to which Modi belongs and whose ideology he embraces lock, stock and barrel is modelled on the very same ideologies that Hitler & Mussolini promulgated in Europe. Nazism and Fascism were the names of these bloody ideologies – in case you weren’t taught that in your shaka.
But the comparisons with Nazism and the RSS aren’t entirely far-fetched. The Nazis believed in the superiority of the German race and believed that Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Slavs etc. were not human. They were the so called “untermensch” to be eliminated like Amit Shah’s termites. Indeed, Modi’s guru Golwalkar, one of the most powerful Führers in the RSS, in his seminal work “We our Nation Defined” said of other religions:
“.. There are only two courses open to these foreign elements … ‘either to merge themselves in the national race and adopt its culture or to live at its mercy so long as the national race may allow them to do so and quit the country at the sweet will of the national race. That is the only sound view on the minorities’ problem… [The] foreign races in Hindusthan must either adopt the Hindu culture and language, must learn to respect and hold in reverence Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but those of the glorification of the Hindu race and culture, i.e., of the Hindu nation and must lose their separate existence to merge in the Hindu race, or may stay in the country, wholly subordinated to the Hindu Nation, claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment—not even citizen’s rights .. “
During the Modi reign, one sees internment camps for Muslims coming up in Assam; Amit Shah calls Muslims as termites to be thrown into the Bay of Bengal; lynchings of Muslims are rife and most importantly, the CAA attempts to strip Muslims of their Indian citizenship. Indeed, Golwalkar’s vision is being realised by his Gujarathi chela.
Eerily similar to Hitler’s trajectory Mr Rahul. Or for that matter Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s expulsion of Asians.
I hope for the sake of India that the Hitler or Idi Amin trajectories, or even milder versions of them will not to be seen in the country. But then as the German philosopher Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) said:
“We learn from history that we do not learn from history”
I think there are lots of philanthropic bodies in the world aided by vested interests like communist china shellingout huges sums of money to make such unsolicited judgments. India is no more in nehruvian era which was jaundiced with British alloy, today it is pure gold and don’t need your flawed Swedish approvals, because you hav ur own set of islamic troubles to muzzle. By the way you also lack quick wits to spot troubles, focus on that.
Modi is the MOST undeservingly Abused PM in Global History…sply people like SG type journos shldnt even pretend to raise a Q abt media freedom coz they have built their careers abusing Modi as a living proof!!! Shallowness of AntiNationala in d garb of intellectuals is irking d patience of our nation…it’s time these type of elements wake up n smell their coffee coz d nation is feeling v outraged NOW!!
Indians in significant numbers do not take dailies and weeklies seriously for at least the past two decades. It is only journalists like Shekar Gupta do relay services and get fabulously benefited. Gone are the days when western news outlets were viewed with awe. Leave alone India, even a citizen is a small South African country knows what is behind the screen. In these years of digital connectivity every individual gets to know of multiple versions of the same story claiming to be the real one. They get to know how corrupt the media houses and journalists are. For a New York Times to write against Trump there is New York Post to write the shady dealings of Biden. All the so called mainstream media houses are sold.
Our country is not existing to fulfill the expectations of the whole world. Will all these so called countries protect Bharat? We are a strong nation and know what is right for us.
Why can’t we officially authorize these democracy loving agencies and countries to have their official honorary representatives in our parliament? Why biggest democracy of the world should rely on these external entities to learn democracy lessons. Question to this media why you underestimate the power of Indian population, which has taught biggest lessons to biggest Netas of this country. So can we not rely on our own than these outsiders and agencies pampering outsiders opinions?
Sub ki sunn na aur apni karna listen to all (praises and criticism) and do what you feel is right. Right for the country, right for the future of those who will come, after we are gone. Let our today’s policies be foot prints, be their guiding lights, that they should feel freeer, prouder and rise higher still, towards peace and shared prosperity, with a vision, that the whole country as an entity, all people as a unit and whole world as humane as a human could be. Feel not for criticism, fear not for challenges, march, march and march on, for that is the only way forward. Those who criticise will follow. Those who challenge will pave.
SG is lost.. Crotosm based on facts from the ground is accepted not agenda or I’ll intent driven we all know who is fanning the khalistani drive here or in Canada or UK.. Its after the 370.we also do watch Pakistani perspective on youtube which is readily available. But pls not in the name of democracy that one can support UK parliament on raising India sentroc issue for vote banks.. Just like here in India.we r sock n toted of playing on the hands of minority pls for god sake u r doing a great disservice to the majority. When the population is bigger than the whole minority.
I am surprised that every tom dick and Harry of the world has a right to comment on India’s position ….
Let them see inwards at their own hypocritical society which is in shambles and “chullu bhar paani mein soon mare ” like situation …
Our India is much above these shamsters and we don’t need any advice on our internal matter ….
So as Sunny Gavaskar tweeted at those old angrez players who raked up the pitch issue …chal phuut ….same applies here too
Did India Ever Talk About Internal Issues of UK in its parliament. I can’t remember something like that happening since the last 74 years. Britain should leave there colonial hangover now.
Was it not Modi himself who quipped “ we politicians are thick skinned” not so long ago? The truth is,, he has a long way to go before he becomes a statesman from a wily politician. Compare his speeches with those of Nehru, Vajpayee, and even Indira Gandhi, who is not too high on the stateswoman scale, you will find that Modi has given us nothing to remember him with. Supporting Trump’s re-election unabashedly, blaming his predecessors for the “lack” of India’s development in South Korea, his honeymoon style mollycoddling of Xi Jinping and then refusing to accept th reality as a smitten lover, the world watches with the same intent as they watch every minute gesture of their politicians in their own country. Modi, despite his yearnings to go down in history as the man who transformed India, will probably be bracketed like his best friend Trump.
Trump was a white Christian supremacist and yet!! spoke truth on many issues like Islamic terrorism & communist China!!
Biden, so called democrat & liberal American calls genocide of Muslims by the Han as a cultural issue for the Chinese!!
People like you are liars who fail to see REALITY & are thus not credible anymore!!
I know that for a fact that 90% of the ppl I know have only respect for PM Modi. And those 90% ppl will vouch the same for the 90% of ppl they know. Do the maths. Smell the coffee.
Well said Mr/Ms Barbdewyre !
A statesman is something Modi will never become, however much members of the Modi cult wish that would happen. A man who wins an election on the back of a well-engineered pogrom and was banned from entry into many countries can never be regarded as a statesman. Indeed a man whose entire political plank is based on the sowing of hatred and the harvesting of the electoral benefits of such a tactic is not a statesman but a demagogue. Donald Trump did that in the US by scapegoating immigrants and non-white people, Idi Amin did that in Uganda by scapegoating Asians and Modi does that in India by scapegoating Muslims.
You don’t become a statesman by sowing hate or by organising pogroms. In 2002, during the Godhra pogroms, a pregnant young woman called Bilkis Bano, with a 3 year old child fled her village with the female members of her family. The rioting Hindu crowd caught up with the fleeing family and an orgy of violence unfolded. Bano’s 3 year old daughter Saleha’s head was smashed on a rock; her Bano, her mother and all the women in her group were gang-raped; her cousin was raped and killed and the 1 day old infant she had just delivered was also killed. When Bano sought justice in Gujarat, she was threatened and her case was moved to Bombay. Bilkis Bano finally received compensation after nearly 18 years on the run.
Had Modi been a statesman, he would have reached out to people who were so badly wronged under his watch. Modi never reached out to deeply wronged individuals like Bilkis Bano, the family of Ehsan Jaffri and many others who were killed simply because they were Muslims. That is not statesmanship.
@Kili: WHEN will you give lessons to evil fascist Islamic Pakistanis in India or Pakistan?? When will their leader Imran Khan stop killing Hindus, Sikhs & Christians??
You & people like you are liars & hypocrites!! You are waiting that India/Hindus or the French get fed up!! You seem to want that Indian or French do to Pakistani Muslims what China does to the Uighur Muslims!! Drowning Allah in Chinese mosques converted into toilets is a favorite Han Chinese sport!! You want Hindus to emulate what China does!! OK!! Great!! When should we start??
Well written Kili !
I am sure they know in their hearts what you say about Modi is true, but once mired in wickedness, it is difficult to get out.
But it requires people like you to spell it out clearly and cleanly.
Hats off to M/s. Vijay Galande and Surendra Barsode for hitting the nail squarely on the head.
BJP loves India to become what it hates: a religious republic. Instead of an Islamic or Buddhist republic like Pakistan or Sri Lanka, let us become a Hindutva republic. Hinduism is universal, and so Hindutva republic is not like the Islamic or Buddhist type—they argue. Religion in politics is like poison in food; it spread through the body and poisons it.
@George: I agree! BUT.. religion, itself is poison because it takes away the ability to use brains which was given by the god or gods they claim to be divine!!
Yet!! Hinduism is NOT a religion like Islam or Christianity!! Hinduism is ONLY dharma or duty by balanced actions!!
The plutocracy or so called democracy called America has presidents which take oath on the bible!! This nation did the worst genocide against natives just because of the White Christian supremacy attitude!! The same demonizes black people as much as Hindus!! WHY??
Same with UK, Sweden, France etc… which did direct or indirect genocide & exploitation not just of Hindus but black people in Africa, Latin American, Han Chinese and pretty much every other human being!! They even call themselves democratic & secular!! Yet! These nations without exception are consciously or unconsciously ONLY white Christian supremacists & propagandists!!
Hinduism is not a religion so this religion argument doesn’t work. Hindutva is more a political philosophy.
PM is scared of doing press conference. If other countries PM or President can do press conference then why our PM can’t.
Journalists abuse Modi day and night. No self respecting person would like to talk to such journalists. However, even if Modi answers questions in press conference, people like you would abuse Modi for his answers.
Overall, Shekhar Gupta’s article is quite good and does not start with that exaggerated cataloguing of Modi’s achievements, before coming to the failure with the economy.
However, the title is flawed – ‘Modi’s India loves global praise, but turns angry Vishwaguru at slightest criticism’
Firstly, the claim of being a Vishwaguru is a vanity perpetuated by Modi. Modi himself is a jahil, brought up in some shakha, and later he manufactured a DU degree. There is an interview of Modi with Rajiv Shukla where he says he left school at 17 and roamed around. In other countries, you would be arrested for forging degrees. India has the world’s largest population of illiterates, it dies not have enough teachers, so how can it be Vishwaguru ?
Finally, an angry person cannot be a Vishwaguru.
The ranking given for freedom and quality of democracy are correct for India. India’s per capita income has become lower than Bangladesh’s. There is no point ranting about it.
Either we say ‘we don’t care’, or we do something to improve the quality of democracy. Shekhar Gupta himself says India’s economy is in a tailspin. The govt. does not have the competence or the will to focus on the economy, defence expenditure has increased, when they try to sell off public assets to raise money, more Indians will come out on the streets as they become jobless; The govt. will focus on what it knows best : polarisation to in elections, and unproductive ventures like riots, Ram mandir, promoting RSSfication of all institutions etc.
The combination of shrinking economy and increasing autocracy clearly points to decreasing brand value for India. The outside world gave the benefit of the doubt to Modi between 2014-2016; Shekhar Gupta cites Time magazine making him Man of the Year. But the last Time issue on India called Modi ‘Divider in Chief’. Things have changed : the global praise is gone as people weigh Modi’s lousy performance; criticism of Modi and India is now non-stop. Modi cannot reverse that; he can neither reverse India’s economic decline, and maintaining democratic standards does not fit with the RSS’s ideology. So the only thing left for Modi is to say there is a foreign plot to break up India.
@Akash: You are right only in your sick mind!! You actually seem to propose that that India & BJP/RSS become like Han Chinese which occupy foreign lands/civilizations, rape Islam, do ethnic genocide of Muslims and yet! get celebrated by UN bodies like WHO or American plutocracy called democracy around the world!!
You also seem to suggest that India becomes like Islamic Pakistan/Bangladesh which call themselves Islamic and yet drown their Allah in Chinese mosques converted into toilets!!
POLITICAL CORRUPTION IS BIGGEST ROAD BLOCK IN PROGRESS IN THIS COUNTRY. SECONDLY POPULATION CONTROL IS MUST TO GET BENEFIT OF DEVELOPMENT TAKING PLACE IN INDIA WHICH IS NOW NEUTRALISED BY GALLOPING POPULATION EXPLOSION WHICH IS ONE OF MAJOR PROBLEM FACING BY US.
Well US has been grumpy for 5 years or so on presumed Russian interference in US elections but a minor religious and ethnic induced protest is nothing. As for Sweden Jullian Assange saga already tells us something. Time for India to give Assange Bharart Ratna and host Wikileaks in India and fun will start ofcourse like BBc, Al Jezzera no reporting on India.
@Pinku: Well said!! BUT.. I don’t think India/Hindus have the balls to counter strike!!
The truth is that Hindus have to re-build a significant civilization-al, economic & a military backbone to be taken more seriously!!
Too many Hindus still ignore the splendid Sanatan Dharma & it’s great history!! Even Hindu temples are in government control eons while hate spewing mosques & churches are free!! So.. there is a lot of work to do by the enslaved Hindus!!
Calling small tweets can rattle government and government is insecure is such a foolishness. Government is insecure for false misleading tweets that rattle our society not for there power… They got complete majority twice… So problem is now in opposition who can go at any level and they are insecure not the government. If rajdeep like reputed journalist tweet that one farmer died in tractor rally which was False misleading tweet… Now how you can handle this these misleading tweets can produce riots and unsettle our democracy and create anger against ruling government that what the antisocial want and seems to be successful so far… There is No protest by farmers except in Punjab and Haryana! What does it mean?? Even government called of law.. Still they are protesting…. Similarly I have seen them protesting for baba ram rahim in very similar way so what can we say
Selhar coupta …oops Gupta is pretending to be Mark Antony …where he thinks he can shrewdly turn the Indians against Modi…by first praising him and then demonising him…but coupta ji u won’t succeed in your nefarious schemes