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There’s no stopping Modi govt because Rahul Gandhi is flaunting his muscles as Congress sinks

We can complain about undermining of institutions, misuse of agencies, discriminatory laws, use of sedition, rail-roading of legislations. But, on all key issues, Congress is MIA.

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Much debate this week has been over whether journalists can risk saying something the Modi government doesn’t like. Media has obviously risen so high in the government’s threat perceptions that, even in the second half of June, a group of nine important ministers (GoM) was holding a flurry of meetings on how to counter this terrible menace.

This is exactly when the Galwan clash (15 June) had created a war-like situation with China, tens of thousands of migrants were walking back home, and India’s coronavirus graph was going up, like a hockey stick.

If you read the ‘leaked’ document that is supposedly the report produced by the GoM here, it would actually hold out no particular threats, except probably the prospect of being colour-coded, and with the “wrong” colours. 

Whether that would imply visits by the CBI, ED or any other such agency, you don’t expect any document to say so. If you were an incorrigible optimist like me, you’d even say, wonderful, we journalists are so important, half the Cabinet is obsessing over us during a pandemic and a near-war. So, thank you very much, count your blessings.

It is always hazardous questioning a government, irrespective of the party in power. Just that, lately, these hazard levels have risen several notches higher. Which, you might again say, is a part of our lives. Plus, there is always the option of taking a bleach-bath and painting yourselves in “friendlier” colours. But, today, a commentator faces double trouble. Damned if you call out the government, but also cursed if you question the opposition. Hello, is this the main responsibility of a free press, attacking not the government but the opposition?

For months now, I have been so fearful of drawing this, the underdog’s fire, that I haven’t written much critical of, or even vaguely negative about, the Congress party or Rahul Gandhi. Even while it has continued to decline, sleep-walk, and lose the plot week after week.

I am now walking into that minefield with this question: We can keep complaining about the undermining of institutions, misuse of the ‘agencies’, sectarian and socially discriminatory laws, use of provisions like sedition as if it was a parking ticket, rail-roading of legislations through Parliament, even a GoM activity like this one on the media. But, would it have been a fraction as easy as it is now, if the Congress had just 100 seats in the Lok Sabha? Or the UPA about 130-150?


Also Read: Fallacy of too much democracy: No economic freedoms can thrive without political freedoms


In a democracy, the primary accountability of respecting institutions, citizens’ liberty and constitutional guarantees lies with the ruling party. But it is also the primary responsibility of the Opposition to fight for these. For this, it is also the responsibility of the Opposition to build its strength and not fritter away what it inherited. That’s how opposition parties of the past, from the Lohiaites to the Jana Sangh-BJP, and the Left, made their mark during the decades of Congress domination.

In fact, even after the 1984 election, when Rajiv Gandhi swept the polls and jokingly (and half-contemptuously) announced that “we have declared the 10+2+3 system for the opposition”, its wounded leaders were back in the ring within months, on their feet and ready for the fight again. That reference, of course, was to the Janata Party, the BJP and the Lok Dal seat tally, 10, 2 and 3, respectively.

By the latter half of 1985, that is within a year of Rajiv Gandhi’s 415 Lok Sabha seats, the opposition was at his throat, on issues ranging from the Shah Bano case to Mandal Commission. Later, when he tried to smother the media with his infamous “anti-defamation bill”, the opposition, especially the BJP, found a worthy and low-cost/high-reward cause in protecting press freedoms.

Check the history of The Indian Express, the foremost victim of the Rajiv government’s vindictiveness. When Congress goons hijacked its employees’ union, called a strike and threatened to shut down the paper, the BJP and the RSS not merely protested, but also sent in hordes of volunteers to help keep the presses running. Today, you have an odd situation where the government plans to colour-code you, and the opposition, especially the Congress, spits on you.

In a manner of speaking, if the ruling party’s sins in this case are of commission, the opposition’s are sins of omission. On all key issues, from unemployment to rising fuel prices, to undermining of the institutions to attacks on minorities and free speech, they are MIA, Missing in Action. In a comparable situation, the BJP, with just two seats in Rajiv Gandhi’s Lok Sabha, would fill up Jantar Mantar every other day with protesters. Today’s opposition writes angry tweets.


Also Read: Habeas Porcus — how our judiciary is murdering the principle of ‘bail, not jail’ routinely


What broke my caution over questioning the opposition was the flurry of pictures from Kerala last week. These had Rahul Gandhi swimming with fishermen, his party loyalists in breathless raptures over his six-pack, his perfect push-ups and, indeed, even with just one arm. All these moments were so viral-worthy. Whether they were vote-worthy, dare we even ask?

Think then, about the de facto chief of our largest opposition party, with still 51 members in Lok Sabha and the control of three major states, heading for election in another four states and one UT, in each one of which his party has a stake. And here he was, showing off his phenomenal fitness to school children. I would never trivialise school children, I know how hard they are to impress. But, for a 50-year-old to dazzle them with his muscle power?

All of this while his party was setting itself on fire. The so-called G-23 was meeting in Jammu raising questions, a senior party-man, former Cabinet member and family loyalist, Anand Sharma, was raising ideological questions about the choice of alliance partners in the coming assembly elections.

Amarinder Singh, his most powerful chief minister, was sliding into that dangerous zone when a government begins to lose leverage on the biggest issue of the day, farmers’ protests in his case, despite enjoying a massive majority. It is a matter of time before either he will lose his political capital or, I say it at the risk of stinging denials from him, check out his options.

Rahul’s party has carried on without a regular president to relieve his ailing mother, since he resigned taking responsibility for the 2019 defeat. There is no election in sight. And the answer to that question, as we heard earlier this week, is a counter-question: How come nobody asks the BJP why they don’t hold party elections? Good question, but at least they have a president.

In the past 25 years, since the Gandhis returned to reclaim the party, the BJP has had nine presidents. Three of them, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari, serve in this cabinet. A fourth, M. Venkaiah Naidu, is the Vice-President. Yet another, L.K. Advani, is in the Margdarshak Mandal, as is Murli Manohar Joshi, who headed the BJP in the early 1990s. 

I know the answers to these points. What do these G-23 walas count for? Can they win one seat anywhere? All they want is Rajya Sabha or such sinecures even when out of power. Who else can be party president and keep it united? Who else in the country has Rahul Gandhi’s forthright opposition to the BJP and RSS? All valid points. But then you run into the same cul-de-sac: Why isn’t he then the party president, can a party survive like this, forget rebuilding, how long before more Jyotiraditya Scindias walk away in frustration, how will you stop other parties, from Sharad Pawar’s NCP to Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP, from vacuum-cleaning your leftover vote?

Last week, those joyful, viral visuals from the ever-so-cool Kerala brought back to me a line from the 1974 Dilip Kumar-Saira Banu film Sagina. Lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri had no idea he was writing a line that would fit so perfectly with the Rahul Gandhi-Congress party situation: “Aag lagi hum ri jhopadiya mein, hum gawain malhar/dekh bhai kitne tamashe ki, zindagani hamaar (my hut is on fire, but I am singing malhar, the happy rain raga/see what fun my life is)”. Sorry, Majrooh sahib, I stole this. But no sorry Rahul Gandhi. This was written for you.


Also Read: Economic ideology is the new binary in Indian politics as Modi swerves Right & Rahul Left


 

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144 COMMENTS

  1. Shekhar and media will never accept that bjp/rss is the only organization who works 24/7 for assisting poor irrespective of whether they are in power or not. Today whether it is cong-i or any regional parties, they are all reduced to private limited company ; filled with corruption ; Interesting that all our so called intellectual support those corrupt party because they are anti-bjp. all those excuse point one under lying fact is that they dont like the bjp supporting majority that is hindu. hope hindu drop caste and raise as one so that other states does not become north eastern states which are christian majority. Others are not wanted there. But interesting nobody speaks about it

  2. There are thousand more cases on attack on majority. But you morons always talk about only attack on minority.

  3. The Stooge of Khangress Mr. Gupta is having pain for being out of the reach of power and the ICECREAM enjoyed with and being a Congress stooge . The master of agenda journalism and pioneer of sycophancy journalism Led from front by Mt Gupta and Pranay Roy , now hang pain because Congress , is not in power and Gupta like agents are feeling high and dry !! of course you must sulk Mr Gupta , because Mr Modi has shown you and your cult of Pranay Roy and Rajdeep your real value in Indian masses and democracy set up . You , Mr Gupta were always a third grade in quality but having the connectivity with top notch power centers in country . Journalism was a dynast business just the way Gandhi’s ruled this country , journalistic dynast like You , Pranay , Rajdeep , Burakha were survivors on fake news of agenda journalism .. You are nothing less than the vultures in the trade called Fake Journalism . You are crying because Modiji has exposed you all for fake and proxy journalism

    • Mr Vijay Bahad: In your putrid rant you bray:

      “.. Mr Modi has shown you and your cult of Pranay Roy and Rajdeep your real value in Indian masses and democracy set up ..”

      Well, Mr Bahad, aren’t you forgetting that only 37% of Indians voted for the pogromwala in 2019? Of course India’s first-past-the-post electoral system – like the rotten American electoral college – often ensures that the winner is not always the man who gets the most votes.

      But that observation apart, one notes that like the true RSS shaka raised, blinkered, blind, Modi bhakth that you are, you seem to regard every criticism of the pogromwala as being a manifestation of fake news. And you abuse journalists who call the pogromwala’s bluff. Should journalsist only sing praises to the Delhi University graduate Mr Bahad? And they become traitors to be hanged and quartered if they don’t? Incredible India !

      You go on to call Mr Gupta’s journalism “third grade in quality”. But yet you seem to be reading and commenting on The Print ! Why don’t you simply move to the RSS Organiser or Swarajyamag where you can read journalism that is “first grade quality”?

      Or better still, why not join the BJP IT Cell and deploy your skills in abusing and reach millions through Whatsapp? Along the way you could perhaps start a few rumours and organise a few lynchings of Muslims as well to become a Babu Bajrangi v2.0? Maybe, like Union Minister Jayant Sinha did, you might even get garlanded for having lynched some innocent Muslims..

      Modi cult members like you who get demonetised and taken for a ride remind me of a quote from Mark Twain:

      “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled”

      • As to the mystery of why lumpen elements who follow the RSS and Bajrang Dal, do not stick with The Organiser, and are always posting personal attacks (with no other content) in The Print is because they themselves know that their newspapers and spokesmen do not have any credibility !

        The best Intellectuals are on the left and the liberal side, so the right has an inferiority complex and rages against them. Their rage will not be content with discussion, it will turn into violence. That is what we see in India – but also in Trump. Goebbels had famously said ‘we do not need Jewish intellectualism’.

        You can see Modi has an inferiority complex about his lack of education (Mani Shankar’s taunt about ‘unpad’ got him). So he sent the sycophants surrounding him, two union ministers, to show a fake DU degree to the press !

        There have been cases where people were not educated (like Kamraj) but were still effective and progressive, but that is an exception. Others have come from poor backgrounds like APJ Abdul Kalam but he became learned and never used the poverty of his background to gain support (like Modi does). Such people do not have an inferiority complex.

        When you achieve something and you know you do not deserve it by merit, (as you have achieved it by some form of criminality), you will have an inferiority complex, and it will show in some form as a rage to cover it up.

  4. You (Sekhar Gupta) only value ability to get votes and be in power – either with real majority or bought out by hook or crook majority. You are so shallow that you don’t bother about the ethics and ideology behind it. The day you begin to consider the value of ethics and ideology in getting votes, you will understand Rahul Gandhi.

    • Mr Nanjappa: You bray:

      “.. You (Sekhar Gupta) only value ability to get votes and be in power – either with real majority or bought out by hook or crook majority. You are so shallow that you don’t bother about the ethics and ideology ..”

      As an expert in voting ethics and ideology, could you please clarify the following:

      – Does the BJP rigging of elections by engineering defections of its opponents constitutes a violation of your ethics ideology?

      – Do you think that the defectors who cross over to the BJP do so for free?

      – Does the BJP transfer its “defection grant” to the bank accounts of the defectors in India? Switzerland ? Cayman Islands? After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch right?

      – In India, when people invest money and fight elections, they expect a very healthy Return on Investment (ROI). Indian politicians, regardless of the party they belong to, are self-serving – they are not there to serve the people. Is the BJP any different Mr Nanjappa? Very ethical ? The BJP politician does not want an ROI on his investments in politics? Perhaps you could ask your Godse worshipping BJP friend Sadhvi Pragya Thakur.

      RaGa’s Congress is by no stretch of the imagination an ethical political party. But the BJP is no different Mr Nanjappa. Both are two sides of the same debased coin. As Arun Shourie, a former BJP politician said:

      Congress + Cow = BJP.

      • Dear Kili who is too scared to even post his real name yet not averse to ranting out here.. Please show me one reasonable nay credible alternative to the BJP that exists today. One party that is above everyone else which can be showcased. Zero. None. Zilch.
        Do you really expect me to vote for the dimpled Pappu (which seems to be his only attribute) or the hapless Akhilesh or Mayawati? Or the worse Lalu or Momtaz Begum? Or would you prefer the farmer clan of Sharad Pawar and Supriya? What about the bloodthirsty cabals of the Left? Or the conniving Kejruddin?
        I am sorry I tried my best to seek an alternative without success
        Maybe you can provide an alternative?

  5. If Pakistan talks about Modi’s beard, it is a joke here but if Print talks about Biceps of Rahul, it is empty mind of the journalist in India having nothing else to write for the day. What they dish out is heartfelt anger, for whatever reasons, that oozes out of these journalists here. The press lesson 101 is supposed to teach them to use the mind but not the heart. But reality is those lessons are for kids. . Actually, the vehemence and only disgust are reflected in the output of these adult journalist. What a shame

  6. Pappu is Pappu or Shekhar Gupta (SG) is Pappu.

    1. SG is advocating 1980s and 1990s kind of politics but elctorate is simply not in mood of it. Rahul Gandhi was doing that from 2015, 2016 till he resigned as President of Congress. Lack of support on farmer issue is that Indian electorate is yearning for politics which is not 1980s or 1990s.
    2. Secondly there was underlying analysis by funded anti India forces and someone mentioned in comments that RSS has taken over and economic ruin will stop that. This has not worked in past a la Indira Gandhi and has not worked against Modi till now. But person making that suggestion would come across as retarded, hate monger at worst (wont use anti national..lol). So Rahul would like country to tank so he can claim throne …saying this to electorate in 2021..good luck sir. When only once government got reelected (UPA) when economy did well. So he is not with sentiment nor with data or analysis.

  7. Dear Author,
    You are also a alert citizen of India. Do your part of asking more questions to ruling party and govt. This will definitely help India.
    Good Luck,
    Suresh

  8. Once again, Mr. Shekhar Gupta, you are firing at the wrong target. You evidently know there is something wrong with the Modi govt. and I daresay you even know what is wrong. But you are not prepared to say it.

    There is no stopping the Modi govt., not because RaGa is flaunting his muscles and Congress is sinking, but because the RSS has so much money from industrialists and capability to raise violent mobs that no opposition party nor media can stop them. RaGa at least had the guts to say this. Why don’t the media people like you have the guts to say the same ? If you do not have the guts to say it (and I understand the intimidation you will face), at least stop building false narratives praising Modi’s achievements before saying there is a problem with the economy, and stop pinning the blame on the opposition when they face the same problem as you do (the money power of the corporates and the threat of mob violence unleashed on you).

    You periodically write about the economy going into a tailspin, but why don’t you say it is because of the RSS-BJP’s policies ? Why do you start your articles saying Modi is awesome, but….Start your article first with what comes after your ‘but’ !

    At least RaGa has the courage to say what has gone wrong !

    Unless Indians understand what the RSS stands for and that it is running a state within a state, India will go the same way as Nazi Germany (the RSS’s model is that of the Nazis, with Manu’s caste system added to it). India will crumble. Whether India can re-arise like the new democratic Germany needs to be seen. That is an assumption RaGa made. It might crumble like Yugoslavia into several nations and not re-arise.

    • Mr Tog: As expected, another insightful comment from you.

      You are right when you point out:

      “.. RSS has so much money from industrialists and capability to raise violent mobs ..”

      But one needs to add another source of funding to the BJP & RSS coffers – the upper caste Hindu NRI. Especially North Indian NRIs who volunteer their time, freely fund the RSS & BJP politicians, lobby the US government to support the pogromwala etc. etc. Tapping into the wealth of rich NRIs in the US, UK, Canada, Australia etc. and yoking them to the Hindutva project is arguably one of the greatest coups of the BJP.

      But there is an interesting twist to the NRI story. The upper caste, North Indian NRI might turn up at a Howdy Modi type freakshow and get his orgasms by watching his beloved Gujarati Messiah hobnobbing with a India-hating, racist, misogynistic thug called Donald Trump. But few NRIs wish to go back to India – they simply don’t bite on the “achche din” bait that the pogromwala claims is in India’s horoscope. For sure, the NRI, particularly the West based NRI might send remittances to India, or donations to temples and politicians. But they have watched enough Bollywood to realise that the “achche din” story being peddled by the pogromwala is just what it is: a feel good Bollywood story not grounded in reality !

      Hope to read more of your well-crafted,and fact-basedcomments Mr Tog !

  9. Fact is that fake Gandhi’s are not worth it.
    They are no good corrupt traitorous leeches for india.
    They have to be thrashed and eliminated.

  10. If Tough opposition is the need of hour , then a dirty and nasty politics should be there , if a age old party has to bounce back then it has to sacrifice its life , now who will do this suicidal act , they have to do a brainstorming discussion , and decide the outcome of this election

  11. Dear Shekhar, let me assure you, the ‘intolerance’ that you subtly tried to highlight exists only in your biased mind. Its not real! Indians dont feel any less democratic, free, tolerant than they did for 50 years under Your rule (You, NDTV, leftist communists, Jholawallahs etc) i.e congress dynasty rule. We are the same people and same nation, only difference is that You, Ravish Kumar. Prannoy Roy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt…..all of you are NO ONE now. YOU are out of power. YOU have been relegated to putting stupid videos on You Tube, that no one watches! YOU have lost that ‘Opinion Maker’ power. Its your frustration at being NOBODY, that You have taken out on poor Gandhi Dynast. Poor guys is limited by his mental faculties, let him be. If you have conviction, come out openly against the government and criticize, its good for democracy & leads to improvements, dont hide behind poor Rahul Baba. But a caveat, please ensure that Your ‘criticism’ is not like ‘gen VK Singh marching towards Delhi to topple Maunmohan’.

    • Howard Roark: You rant:

      “.. Poor guys is limited by his mental faculties, let him be ..”

      Whilst I will not opine about RaGa’s intellectual capacity or for that matter the intellectual capacity of people like you who surely are admirers of the likes of BJP MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Babu Bajrangi, Ayothollah Adithyanath and so on, I must nonetheless point out one thing:

      Rahul Gandhi is not a graduate of Delhi University !

  12. Rahul & his Congress may well sing:

    “Hum badnasseb rajniti ki ruswayi ban gaye.
    Khud he lagaa ke aag,, tamaashaayee ban gaye.
    Sab kuch luta ke hosh mein aaye toh kya kiya”.
    (with apologies to Prem Dhawan. Talat in ‘Ek Saal’.)
    Not that they have even now “hosh mein aaye hain”.

  13. It is indeed a difficult task for media to present multiple perspectives on any issue with an objective of  enabling its readership to establish their own viewpoints. Shekhar has done a very good job here without taking any sides.

    The real issue is that most would like to see and hear what pleases them most or supports their line of thinking and that’s clearly reflected in comments here. Same article has elicited quite similar responses from both category of supporters here as in both see it from their own lenses and consider it as an affront on them. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t do!!

    Sum and substance is that for a healthy and vibrant democracy, there is a clear need for respectable, thinking, credible yet aggressive opposition. That’s what provides necessary checks and balances as we move on as a nation. The question we should ask is- Do we really have one?

    If not, then why blame Shekhar Gupta or the government of the day for that matter!!?? Both are actually shouting from the rooftop to have one or put one together!

    • Loved the thrust of your comment Mr Dipy’s.

      You suggest – and rightly so – that there is perhaps no credible opposition in India today. You go on to say that neither Shekar Gupta nor the present government can be blamed for that. It is here that I cannot fully agree with you – the government of the day cannot be blamed for a lack of opposition.

      You know as well as I do that the most defining characteristic of almost all Indian politicians is the utter lack of any ideology, convictions and lines he will not cross. Indeed, India is the country of “Aaya Ram and Gaya Ram”, Gaya Ram being the Haryana politician who changed parties 3 times in 24 hours ! The Indian politician is in the business of politics for making a quick buck – not public service. The politician invests large sums of his money and money extorted from his constituents to fight elections. He intends to recoup his investment manyfold whilst he is in office.

      It is against this defining DNA of the Indian politician you need to see the effectiveness of defections as a way of defeating and diluting democracy. Whilst all parties in India engage in it, the BJP is clearly the grandmaster of the game. Witness the many defections being engineered in states where the BJP faces tough opposition and you will see proof of my point.

      Thus, when the ruling party itself is in the business of buying opposition politicians through its superior financial strength, what chance do you have for having a credible opposition ?

  14. Shekhar ji all very well said but when you blame & paint the present dispensation with same brush you loose the point you want to convey. Saying that BJP had 9 presidents but without elections is true, but when we say the democracies run on consensus, then how having a president with consensus is wrong. Likewise I can find counter argument on your points but that is not my objective. Just a request that be truthful in your analyses. I have not seen a single journalist on Insian who can write naturally.

  15. It is a bit of a stretch to question the freedom of speech afforded in our country – not now but since Independence. It has always been free as free can be. There is, as there has always been, plenty of questions asked of the Governments in the media. For this you only have to look at the comment sections of the Youtube channel and digital platform of The Print. That is just one of the hundreds of such media platforms. The plethora of protest and bandhs, which continue unabated even after the honorable Supreme Court has regulated these in various judgements, at the drop of the hat, are other examples of questioning the Government. So, it seems a bit preposterous to say that in India the Governments can’t be questioned. India has become so important that its internal matters are now discussed in foreign media and Governments as well! Yes, there has also been the Government sometimes questioning the media. These “questions” have been specific and on matters out of the ordinary. It is naïve to assume that in a democracy, while the Media can question (even a cabinet meeting) the Government can’t occasionally question the media. Democracy does not work one way.

    Tail piece: Let us not forget that the responsibly to run the Nation is with the Government and not the media. It is the ultimate responsibility.

    • ‘India has become so important that its internal matters are now discussed in foreign media and Governments as well!’

      The Indian internal matters that are discussed in the foreign media since 2016 are exclusively negative ! Just look at WP, NYT, WSJ, The Guardian, The Independent, The Economist, Time, BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera.

      The last time India had a positive image was under MMS, around 2005-2014. The Economist said India was the next Asian Tiger.

      India is now increasingly seen as a liability due to Modi. ‘Hindu nationalism’ is seen as reactionary. Indeed, in developed countries now, fanatical nationalism is seen as backward and dangerous. They have seen its effect in Nazi Germany. The west has doubts about India now due to what appears in the aforementioned journals : how can they prop up India as a democratic alternative to China, when it has a non-performing economy and wants to be like Myanamar ? They are worried if India implodes, there will be a flood of refugees.

      Indeed the responsibly to run the Nation is with the Government and not the media. That is what is missing ! Responsibility to run the nation does not mean demonetisation to win an election; careless planning for Covid (except for Kerala); roll out a CAA-NRC to put minorities in concentration camps; organise a communal riot in Delhi to intimidate minorities; take away the livelihood of farmers to build the wealth of the miniscule few; use soldiers’ deaths to win elections; beat up university students in a library; go to various states where people are living peacefully and create communal tensions to win an election; surrender Indian land to China and make China the no. 1 trade partner.

      The world media questions these. A few in the Indian media question these. The BJP supporters are in angry denial. If things were going so well as you want to believe, Modi would not organise a communal riot, and attack journalists, intellectuals and students who disbelieve his claims. His performance would be enough.

      • Thanks for your comments and your perspective.

        A person who believes everything he hears (media & experts) indicates an empty mind, it s said. Image etc. is only a perception. The perception of India as a progressive Nation has only increased these past years. We get a mixed projection in the media as we all tend to read (see) what we like or perceive. I have been traveling the world even in these pandemic times and my interaction with people of various Nations only confirms that We, Indians, are on the right track and we are being noticed for the right reasons. It often takes more courage to change one’s views than to keep it. The truth lies out in the field and not always in the media reports and expert opinions.

        Tail piece: A Nation is ruled by Governments and not by the media or the experts. Vision (media & experts) without execution is just hallucination. Nothing will work unless it is done. Governments do commit mistakes. Mistakes can be committed only by those who do (work).

        A point to ponder: Who is “minority”. Are those who do not support an elected Government “minority”. Are those belonging to particular religion or caste “minority”? Are the rich a minority with the poor in the majority?
        Disclaimer: I have not been retained by any individual or organization to write this piece. The views are personal. Also, I pray only to MY God which I have been doing for more than 60 years.

        Best regards

        • Col KL Viswanahan: You claim:

          “.. The perception of India as a progressive Nation has only increased these past years. ..”

          Now, that is pure codswallop Sir !

          If there is one thing that India is losing at a fast clip during the BJP dispensation under Modi, it is “soft power”. India’s enormous reservoir of soft power reservoir, accumulated over many years since Independence has been completed squandered by the pogromwala. The recent Freedom House Report being one example of how the world outside increasingly views India as a flailing, flawed democracy on the fast track to becoming a fascist state.
          But let me first explain the notion of “soft power”. After all, you are a man who plies the trade of traditional military hard power and you might not be familiar with the tools of my trade – I work in a specialised area of diplomacy.

          Political Scientist Joseph Nye (1937-), one of the foremost authorities on soft power defines soft power as:

          “The ability to shape the preferences of other countries through co-option rather than coercion. A country may obtain the outcomes it wants because other countries, admiring its values, emulating its example etc. want to follow it”

          In the Nye framework, the soft power of a country rests on 3 resources:

          – Culture
          – Political values
          – Foreign policies, especially when they are seen as having moral authority

          Thus, small countries like Norway, Sweden, Switzerland have a lot more soft power than firepower and get many of the outcomes they desire without firing a single shot. Likewise, when compared to say China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Burma etc. India’s soft power places them far above this lot.

          Indian cultural products like yoga, cuisine, dance, its many historical sites like the Taj, various temples, festivals etc. are admired all over the world.

          Indian political values such as secularism, religious freedoms, democracy, press freedoms, absence of military coups are the envy of many countries.

          India’s foreign policy initiatives, particularly in peacekeeping roles for the UN; sheltering of the millions who fled nasty regimes such as the Tibetans who fled Chinese invasions, or the E.Pakistanis who fled the marauding armies of W. Pakistan; its adherence to the Geneva Conventions etc. have been perceived as the moves of a mature, tolerant, pluralistic and liberal democracy.

          This enormous reservoir of soft power is being squandered by the BJP and its exclusionary Hindutva ideology modelled as it is on European fascism. The CAA & NRC, despite BJP protestations, are perilously similar to the approach the Nazis took in the 1930s. As an NRI, I face questions about these all the time. Indeed, the perception of India as an intolerant, Hindu mirror image of Pakistan is the one that is coming across. And certainly so in my field of work.

          But then, as far as the BJP & the bhakth are concerned, Muslim bashing is more important than long term benefits for India. And I don’t expect the likes of Modi, Adityanath and Amit Shah to comprehend the nuances of soft power.

          But soft power matters. Simply because soft power is associated with India and the values it has come to represent over the millenia. But the fascist ideologies now etching away at the democratic and tolerant values that India was respected for can quickly destroy that.

          Thus, when bhakths turn up at restaurants in France and yell at the Sri Lankan Tamil owner for not speaking in Hindi and serving beef, something has seriously gone wrong. Likewise, at the Frankfurt Indian Foodfest in 2019, the police had to be called as North Indian bhakths clashed with Keralites over the serving of beef dishes. German Police had to persuade the Hindutva crowd that it was legal to eat beef in Germany and illegal to attack people who ate beef!

          Full disclosure: I work in the intersection of International Relations, Diplomacy, Human Rights & Technology and live in Europe. And although I am the national of another country, I do try to give back something to the India I left behind.

          • ‘Thus, when bhakths turn up at restaurants in France and yell at the Sri Lankan Tamil owner for not speaking in Hindi and serving beef, something has seriously gone wrong. Likewise, at the Frankfurt Indian Foodfest in 2019, the police had to be called as North Indian bhakths clashed with Keralites over the serving of beef dishes. German Police had to persuade the Hindutva crowd that it was legal to eat beef in Germany and illegal to attack people who ate beef!’

            I did not know about the Sri Lankan restaurant incident in France. You must have seen the reports yesterday in the foreign press (The Independent) of the Modi supporter who was abusing Punjabis on an Air France flight, forcing an emergency landing. From his perspective, he thought he was creating the perception of a rising Hindu India. He shouted Hindu jaag rahein hain (Hindus are awakening).

            The RSS brainwashing has spread abroad, and people lose their bearings and sense of reality. I read that in places like UK, Hindu youths are being sent to VHP run camps to learn about ‘Hindu culture’. The RSS’s method is to create a massive inferiority complex, and from that they induce a rage about Hindus having been suppressed, and at the same time they tell them, Hindus have to awaken and reclaim their position as the vishwa guru. This is what leads to this behaviour – it is now entrenched in India , and shockingly it is spreading abroad. People outside know about what is happening in India.

            I keep getting their hate videos, I can see how they are getting demented.

        • Thank you for your reply. I am not sure I understand you.

          Your message is that media and experts are misleading and you have heard only positive perception of India by travelling around.

          You say ‘The perception of India as a progressive Nation has only increased these past years’. Is that in MMS’s period ? I remember at that period, Fareed Zakaria, Thomas Friedmann all writing with great hope about India.

          But surely not in the Modi years ? I have only read a spate of ugly news : it started with the lynching of Aqlaq and continued with many cow lynchings; rape of Dalit girls by BJP MPs; police cremating them in the middle of the night without parents; the rape of a 8 year old Kashmiri girl and BJP MLAs marching in support of the rapists; beating up students in JNU; police assaulting students in a library; CAA-NRC and concentration camps; Delhi riots where BBC showed policemen throwing stones; BJP MPs saying urging shooting Shaheen Bagh women; attacking Muslims over Covid, causing expulsion of Indians from UAE for hate tweets; response to Rihanna and Greta also gave bad publicity. This behaviour of BJP supporters has spread outside. Recently BJP supporters have beaten up Sikhs in Australia, and Australian senators are demanding action against VHP. A BJP supporter chanting Modi and Hindu jaag rajein hain (Hindus are awakening) wanted to assault Sikhs on an Air France flight from Paris to Delhi, forcing an emergency landing.

          Does the above shed a progressive image of India ? All these incidents occurred during the BJP rule. Would you not agree ? Then do you not feel this is creating an ugly image of India ? Or is this being noticed for the right reasons ?

          Do you think what WP, NYT, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Guardian and Independent, BBC, CNN and Jazeera have no impact whatsoever on governments abroad ? What will they base their perception on ?

          As for the rest of your post, I am not sure why you ask ‘Who is a minority ?’ The article says Modi govt. cannot be stopped – according to Shekhar Gupta, due to Rahul flexing his muscles. I replied that India’s rot is due to the RSS, not due to Rahul. You should see Rahul’s interview with Cornell, where he explains it. He admits he nor Congress can change RSS, he says the change will come when impoverished and disenfranchised people come out on the streets – which is starting to happen. That sets the perception of India.

          Where does the minority come into this ? The issue is India descending into Nazi ethno nationalism due to the RSS – which the above foreign newspapers have brought out, but which is taboo to discuss in the Indian media due to the violence the RSS will create (Rahul has surprisingly stated it).

          Also, I don’t understand your disclaimer. I never said or hinted you are working for an organisation. And also I am puzzled about your statement about praying to your God – I made no reference to God about the plight of the country.

          I don’t understand you but anyway Best regards to you !

          • Thanks again for your indulgence. Your perspective well taken. A bit of sermonizing, I suppose is not out of place. – regarding experts and the media

            José Mourinho (A soccer coach in Europe), soccer lovers would know – even if you are not a soccer lover, tat is not the centre of the narrative here – was a roaring success coaching the EPL team Chelsea. He was an abject failure coaching Manchester United, later. Now he coaches Tottenham Hotspur with moderate success.

            All experts, including economic pundits, are like Jose Mourinho. There is more to execution than a profound knowledge of the subject. Just consider, if we had all those “experts” calling everything right why do we ever have economic downturns the world over? Why do we have recession? Most experts work in silos, confined within their acquired knowledge and more importantly with preconceived ideas which have been etched in their psyche in the process of acquiring the knowledge. In reality what plays out on the field is a result of many known and unknown variables.

            Another danger posed by these experts is that they have followers. It is very difficult for the experts to change their views under any circumstance; so are the views of their followers. So do all the publications you mention and many others too – lean one way or the other. You see, those who have knowledge don’t predict and those who predict do not have knowledge.

            So are media and experts bad? Not at all. They do have a wealth, pun intended, of knowledge – Read, listen, assimilate, look around and arrive at your view. Just because something is in the media does not make it correct.

            Tail piece: It often takes more courage to change one’s opinion than to keep it.

            Disclaimer: I am no expert. My disclaimers are not directed at Mr. Tog or any one in particular. I take it that our discussion is being read by many others too. (at least that is my hope)

            Wish you the very best, Regards

    • Colonel KL Viswanahan: You pontificate:

      “.. It is naïve to assume that in a democracy, while the Media can question (even a cabinet meeting) the Government can’t occasionally question the media .. “

      Alas Colonel saab, we are not dealing with a situation where the government is “occasionally questioning the media” but one wherein the very lives of journalists are at stake. Journalists such as Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Ravish Kumar, Rana Ayub etc. are indeed threatened, if not directly by the BJP government but by the lumpen proxies that march to the BJP’s tune. Journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered in cold blood by men affiliated with Sanathan Sanstha a violent cult that is a part of the wider Sangh Parivar family. Indeed, the bulk of India’s press has turned into meek mouthpieces of Modi. Indeed, even comedians face the wrath of the BJP.

      You need not take my word for it Colonel saab. Reporters sans Frontières (Reporters without borders) puts India at rank 142 out of the 180 countries surveyed. Indeed, RSF writes:

      “ .. Modi tightens his grip on the media

      With no murders of journalists in India in 2019, as against six in 2018, the security situation for the country’s media might seem, on the face of it, to have improved. However, there have been constant press freedom violations, including police violence against journalists, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials. Ever since the general elections in the spring of 2019, won overwhelmingly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, pressure on the media to toe the Hindu nationalist government’s line has increased.

      Those who espouse Hindutva, the ideology that gave rise to Hindu nationalism, are trying to purge all manifestations of “anti-national” thought from the national debate. The coordinated hate campaigns waged on social networks against journalists who dare to speak or write about subjects that annoy Hindutva followers are alarming and include calls for the journalists concerned to be murdered. The campaigns are particularly virulent when the targets are women. Criminal prosecutions are meanwhile often used to gag journalists critical of the authorities, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which “sedition” is punishable by life imprisonment .. “

      Ref: bit.ly/3bA0Waz

      Narendra Modi’s attitudes to free speech reminds me of Idi Amin, the Ugandan strongman who once said:

      “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech”.

      I find it hard to fathom that erudite men like you refuse to read the writing on the wall when it comes to press freedoms in India.

      • Journalists such as Barkha Dutt, Rajdeep Sardesai, Ravish Kumar, Rana Ayub etc. are indeed threatened,

        But not enough to quit either journalism or move to Pakistan. India would be better off without albatross, like such people, around it’s neck.

  16. The problem is the ideology of Congress is now a cross between that of CPI /CPM and ISF.
    Which is all rhetoric no clear vision or policy.
    And the common person has never met a Congress worker on the ground who can offer any help.
    And I talk of Bangalore, where the Cong exists.
    During pandemic BJP Mla and his workers were distributing ration to bpl of all religions and the congressi was no where except putting stupid negative tweets .
    And in UP Yogiji is sending vaccines to poor far off village s .
    And Priyanka ji after creating a din in UP and calling herself a UP girl is contesting election from Tamil Nadu.
    And Tamil s will vote for a fair skinned hindi speaking outsider and in the next breath say ” hindi imposition”.
    Because Tamil doesn’t matter , whiteness and Robert matter . The Hindi imposition is just to fool the gullible tamil h…. It is so funny

  17. For all his flaws, Rahul Gandhi is more photogenic than Pawar, Mamata or Priyanka. He looks like a leader, even if people like Ramchandra Guha does not like him. All he needs is wait for another ten years, even then he is not barely sixty. He should not sacrifice himself for assorted secus, he should see the example of Ajit Singh & hang on on his party leadership.

  18. When SS chief Bal Thakare was asked his views/opinion
    about RSS in 1968 at Pune in Public meeting.He replied
    they are physically strong but mentally wrong.By seeing
    Rahul Gandhi’s swimming/pushups/dancing .It applies
    to Rahul Gandhi now.

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