Modi Republic

Image from The Hindu

Modi’s government has challenged India’s poor ranking in the Global Hunger Index 2021. Why not? We can rewrite anything if we have the power. It’s as simple as that.

Let’s consider an example. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the other day that V D Savarkar begged for forgiveness from the British on the counsel of Gandhi. History tells us in no uncertain terms that Gandhi was in South Africa when Savarkar was grovelling before the British. Two clemency petitions were made by Savarkar when Gandhi had no connection with him at all – in 1911 and 1913. Later in 1920, when Savarkar’s brother sought Gandhi’s counsel, the Mahatma suggested a clarification of the Savarkar position vis-à-vis the independence struggle – a clarification that actually secured the Veer’s release from prison. Let me quote a few lines from Gandhi’s article in Young India of 26 May 1920. “They both [the Savarkar brothers] state unequivocally that they do not desire independence from the British connection. On the contrary, they feel that India’s destiny can be best worked out in association with the British…I hold therefore that unless there is absolute proof that the discharge of the two brothers who have already suffered long enough terms of imprisonment, who have lost considerably in body-weight and who have declared their political opinions, can be proved to be a danger to the State, the Viceroy is bound to give them their liberty.”

Gandhi knew that V D Savarkar was a coward and absolute trash. So he got rid of him from the freedom struggle where he would have been of as much use as a banana peel in a banana republic.

The BJP will rewrite all that, however. They are rewriting a whole lot of things. They are particularly obsessed with Muslims. The Nehru family is the second obsession.

Theirs is not just hatred. There is a grand design behind this falsification of history. As N C Asthana wrote recently, “by demonising Muslim rulers and their alleged atrocities, they [Modi and his followers] indirectly imply that the present-day Muslims, claimed to be ‘inheritors of the character and values of those invaders are similarly demoniacal in character.” Asthana goes on to say that Modi & Co will deepen the communal divide to achieve electoral benefits. The Muslims will be dehumanised in the process.

The Congress Party is almost annihilated. The next target: Muslims. And when they are done with? There are other minority communities. And then the low castes. Annihilation has always been the predominant entertainment of characters like Modi and Shah.

A lot of money, intellectual power and time are spent on these destructive processes. Instead of spending resources on the welfare of the citizens. That is why India keeps sinking low in the hunger index year after year especially after Modi came to power.

The solution is obvious: a paradigm shift. First of all, stop driving the car looking into the rear-view mirror. Let the Mughals and the Nehrus sleep. They are gone. Your duty is to take charge of the present and deal with it. Not to keep blaming the dead.

Secondly, India has a lot of resources. The biggest resource is its youth which constitutes the majority. Half of the Indian population are below the age of 25 and more than 65% are below 35. Use their potential for the country’s welfare. Give them jobs and job opportunities. Give them a future instead of the Mughals and the Nehrus.

PS. This was provoked by Indispire Edition 392: Banana republics need not necessarily have bananas. #BananaRepublic. Has India become a Banana Republic? No, not in the strict sense of the phrase. It has become worse.