Political pundits and commentators say that the re-election of Narendra Modi in Gujarat will have serious implications on political scenario in the country. Being neither a pundit nor a commentator, I can satisfy myself saying that they may be true or utterly wrong. Time alone can decide. What future holds for the country exists only in the realms of imaginations of the people, the pundits and commentator included. For the time being, I am concerned about facts: The BJP has swept the election though with 10 seats less than what it got last time; the Congress has been trounced but it was handed an ambience of illusion of improvement: it has managed to secure two seats more that what it could get last time.
I am not an admirer of the Congress party. In fact, the party's dynastic streak sometimes creates a sense of revulsion in me. But shouldn't we make qualitative distinctions when we take positions on matters that call on us to take positions? Can we compare George Bush with Bin Laden and wrap up our argument by saying that both are equally crazy? I think no. So I would have been happy if the Congress had won the election even with a thin margin. I have no problem with Modi the `governing and vibrant' leader of Gujarat. But the images of Gujarat violence that are still fresh in my mind have chilling effect on me. When some of my friends appear to ardently admire the Modi magic of using communal hatred to harvest electoral crops, I have been left with introspective questions about my own (pathological) fears about fascism of any kind. Maybe Modi is a good man who brings development and prosperity to the people of Gujarat. Carnival of violence in which nearly 2000 Muslims were killed was only an aberration? Slobodan Milosevic could have been equally good and he would have brought prosperity to Serbia if he had not been jailed for war crimes by the International Court of Justice for the trial of war crimes during the Balkan war. He subsequently died in jail. Couldn't have Adolf Hitler made Germany a superpower, an Nazi empire, if the Allies had not bombed that country to defeat?
I still wonder how intelligent people, my friends included, can admire people who spew hatred in the name their religion, community or their set of crazy beliefs. Hatred, I believe, is a device that can divide peoples who live peacefully and harmoniously minding their own business. It can easily turn one set of people against the other. Its tools are deep-rooted prejudices and skills to stoke imaginary (sometimes genuine) fears.
Let us hope that the Modi victory is unlikely to have predicted implications on the country's political scene.
6 comments:
Modi Magic got over late last night with sweets ans revelries. There is no need for panic, my dear friend, we live in Kerala which remained immune to emergency, did not experience the pogrom of 1984, the Anti Sikh riots where 3600 innocent lives were lost. We are pseudo secularists and fence sitters. Gujarat has advanced beyond Kerala, perhaps that is whay irks us, we are proud to just sit back on laurels and also proudly sprout the paradigm that we will not allow Communal parties like the BJP! into our midst, we shall only allow Kunhalikutty, Kurien and the like. They play their vilolence only on women so that's okay. And if anyone dare incite violence against our men - Beware!
How can I be comfortable when you tell me Gujarat has advanced and Kerala badly needs a leader like Modi? I cannot afford to be free from panic when you suggest that Kerala is `vaccinated against all manner and genre'(!) of communal virus.
Thank you for mentioning the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Who were the perpetrators? Khadi-clad Congress workers alone? It was a Hindu backlash, was it not? You may be a pseudo secularist. I am not. Iam not pseudo-anything. A secularist in its strict sense of the term means one who believes in the separation of religion and state. Development of Gujarat under Modi's leadership does not make Modi any less dangerous. Modi for you is better than Kunhalikuttys and Kuriens as if only Kunhalikuttys and Kuriens were prone to do bad things on women. Bad people for you belong to `them' and not `us'. My point is that there are bad people in them and us. Hatred perpetrated by Muslims, Hindus and Christian has no qualitative difference. It serves the purpose of dividing society between evil `them' and virtuous `us'. Your admiration for the ilks of Modi is not a rational response. Your statement that Gujarat has advanced beyond Kerala is built upon your imaginary idea that Gujarat is the only State where `development' has chosen to settle down. Personally I believe that Kerala is a nice place to get out of. But what about Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab? Are they all ruled by rulers you admire and as bad as Kerala? I am surprised when I hear you admire Modi. You may not like VS. I do not. But you have to address ethical issues involved in admiring a person whose involvement in Gujarat pogrom has been exposed.
But we can always talk. Don't stop talking. The culture of debate is central to the sustenance of a civil society.
I have never said I admire Modi, and even if I were to say so, you have no right to condemn me by saying that I am a pseudo secularist. 2002 happened in 2002 and in Gujarat, but it has not happened in these past years. Let us bury the hatchet, it is over. That it could happen again and again in Gujarat is too far fetched an idea. Even in the political summarising, it has been unanimously granted that ther were no communal polarisation among the electorate. I admit the riots were the worst aberration of its kind in modern times. Even then it is time we marched ahead and not gloat on somebody's mistakes. Infact, in victory, Modi sounds more humble than any other 'secular ' leader of our times.
I have not condemned you by calling you a pseudo secularist. It was you who said `we' are all pseudo secularist. Then I said you may be but I am not. Forgiveness and reconciliation are all part of human history. But burying the hatchet does not create any sense of security in the minds of victims of that hatchet. Especially when the man who uses the hatchet is still in power and defends extra-judicial killings. We still remember Holocaust not to blame the Germans. But remembrance is also part of forgiveness and reconciliation which happened after all the Nazi culprits were brought to justice. No victims of Gujarat violence or any violence cannot bury the hatchet as long as the person responsible for that is ruling the State. Sorry I cannot take your assurance that such violence will not happen in Gujarat at face value. Your admiration for Modi's rule is one thing, but your optimism about his future good behaviour is another thing that cleverly avoids questions of justice. You cannot expect the victims to say: `Ok guys, it all happened in 2002, just treat the killings, rapes and womb-cutting as nightmare. We have already buried our dead and now we can bury the (whose?) hatchet.' Wonderful idea. But I am not surprised because I know people who admire Hitler, Slobodan Milosevic, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussain...
Your advice for `marching ahead' is also beautiful when it is juxtaposed with another piece of advice that we should not be obsessed with somebody's mistakes. It is wonderful you have not named that somebody. Is this somebody the man who still rules a State called Gujarat? This somebody can rule the State as long as he has the gift of the gab to trigger communal passion among the people of that State.
I am the last person to back violence. Because I have been a victim of domestic violence for the past 27 years. But I have moved on from those memories. It may sound superficial to you who I am sure were not even subjected to a twisting of your cute ears. Ask me what violence is all about. Ask me also what forgiveness is all about.
There are people and people and more people. Your one size- should -fit-all theory is outdated. To each her own should be the motto. Adherence to one's own sheme of things is the last refuge of people who are terrified of differences. And differences is the essence of life.
Violence is easy, not so forgiving. You need not forget, infact, one must never forget. To forget is to die. Only strong human beings can forgive. But why am I telling you all this? Men's dictionaries dont and cant hold that word. It is too huge.
So I think we can wind up this debate. We have said whatever we want to say on the issue. We have, I hope, understood each other's positions on the topic. Have a good day. Bye.
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