Don't Credit Mr. Narendra Modi with Hindutva!

Narendra Modi is often hailed (and also bashed) as a Hindutva-Hero. We beg to differ. First of all, we have termed Hindutva as a confusing term, used by many people. Notwithstanding that, Mr. Modi is not to be hailed as a Hindutva-Hero.

There is an old saying, Give the devil his due. We must hasten to add that never give anyone what is not due to him!

B Raman, Additional Secretary ( retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies, an otherwise reasonable man, in his analysis wrote:

``The storm in the tea cup raised by some so-called secular elements over the praise by Anna Hazare, the social activist, of the rural development achievements of Shri Narendra Modi, their whipping-boy, in his State of Gujarat underlines once again the determination of these elements to keep Modi quarantined in his past and not to take cognizance of his achievements in ushering in an era of prosperity and development in Gujarat. ...''

The phrase quarantined in his past hints as if there is some inglorious past. That is, Mr. Modi did or did not do something, amounting an error of omission or commission, for which he needs to be judged!

We claim that:

1. There is no evidence to either effect. That is Mr. Modi did not favor Hindus, nor did he disfavor Muslims. If at all, he favored Muslims, and disfavored Hindus.

and more importantly, we opine that:

2. What happened, the so called reaction, was not inglorious. What was inglorious was the Police atrocity which stalled the spontaneous flow of reaction.

B. Raman continues:

``The venom and hatred, which these elements keep spreading against him, are because of his strong Hindutva ideology, which is anathema to them, and his perceived sins of commission and omission during the horrendous acts of violence against our Muslim co-citizens in the aftermath of the massacre of a number of Hindu pilgrims by some Muslims at the Godhra railway station in Gujarat in the beginning of 2002. ..."

Mr. Modi, like his RSS patrons, extols secularism, does not question it! This is the old fight between truly-secular and the pseudo-secular. The need of the hour is we need to question secularism itself!

Anyone who does not question Secularism can only be  promoting pseudo-Hindutva!

``There has been a perception---not unjustified---that Modi did not, in the initial stages, deal with the explosive situation vigorously in order to protect the members of the Muslim community from brutal and beastly reprisal attacks by the Hindus. The fact that the Police subsequently took vigorous action to protect the Muslims ---as evidenced by the large number of Hindus killed in police-firing--- would not mitigate from the fact that in the initial hours after the news of the Godhra massacre spread across the State, the administration dragged its feet in protecting the Muslims, thereby wittingly or unwittingly giving a free run to frenzied Hindu mobs. It was a horrible episode of which all of us have to be ashamed. ...''

Mr. Modi should then equally be accused of being pro-Muslim for not taking adequate security measures against the traveling Hindu-pilgrims, who were burnt alive in even more brutal, beastly and rather evil manner!

What is even more unjustified is the total absence of the recognition that Hindus are being repeatedly asked to be ashamed of something that everyone else is always allowed and encouraged to do.

Please recall that it is alleged, and possibly proved beyond reasonable doubts, that Congress goons were being encouraged to massacre Sikhs during 1984 riots in Delhi.

Mr. Binayak Sen has recently been granted bail despite the fact that he has been charged with sedition, for  sympathizing with reaction of the poor villagers, also called Naxals!

``After the frenzy of the initial hours, the State Administration did move in vigorously to bring the situation under control. The fact that no effective action was taken in the initial hours has left a scar in the minds and hearts of Muslims. This scar is likely to take a long time to heal. The cases registered in connection with the brutal attacks on the Muslim community are under investigation or prosecution. The investigation made so far has not produced any evidence of complicity by Modi. ..."

It is common dumb-fuckery in India to be satisfied by the bringing of a tense situation into a situation under control. How about justice? Articles after articles by our socialist and communist DF journalists are replete with claims that reactions happen because of prevailing injustice! Recently the media has been supporting Mr. Binayak Sen, who is being tried for reasoning in favor of Naxals. Why are the same journalists not voicing reasons in favor of reaction in Gujarat?

This means that only non-Hindus have a right to react in this secular country. And Mr. Modi is not reasoning in favor of the rights of Hindus to react as well! So what sort of Hindutva-Hero is he?

``Modi enjoys the unqualified support of large sections of the Gujarat population and is increasingly admired for his drive and administrative acumen in other parts of the country too by people who can by no means be called Hindutva ideologues. People, who look up to him and want him to increasingly play a pan-Indian role, are nationalists and as much secular in their outlook and beliefs as the so-called secularists whose main preoccupation has become stopping Modi at every stage. ...''

Mr. Modi must be duly praised and criticized for what he deserves. We are not discussing his drive and administrative acumen here, thus we will skip that matter.

However, Mr. Modi, or anyone for that matter, must not be praised or criticized for what he does not deserve.

Mr. Modi is not fighting for the rights of the Hindus. He is fighting for Secularism!

Of course, Mr. Modi is not Gandhian either. If he were a Gandhian, he would have gone on a fast unto death until the culprits in the incendiary act on coach  carrying Hindu-pilgrims surrendered to the Police! Or he might have done similar to dissuade the rightful reaction in Gujarat.

Mr. Modi did not do either. He could not stop Muslims from burning the coach carrying Hindu-pilgrims. And later he did stop the Hindu reaction to the barbarous incendiary act. So where has he shown any aggressive Hindutva, assuming that there was such a thing?

So don't credit Mr. Modi with Hindutva! You may credit him with Secularism!

We repeat our call:

O Hindus, realize that no politician is representing you! So you need to choose and send politicians from among yourselves. Make new politicians, make new political parties. Encourage people with spine to become your representatives. Otherwise you will be led by a bunch of Mohandas and Jawahar clones. And surely they will lead you to your doom!