The MODIfied Cry in Secular India

Looking at this debate of Modi and anti-Modi on a daily basis in the social media, a sense of introspection is bound to set in any receptive mind. Democracy is not about what is right but targeting what is left. Yes, I agree Modi became PM by uniting Hindus and dividing Muslims and Christians and it is bad but that is exactly what Trump has done and doing in USA. But Modi did it in the name of development and not religion. He played the card of development camouflaged with Hindutva (perceived owing to his past antecedents). Still, the only reason I am a modi bhakt is because, the guy, like PV Narasimha rao has a vision on how to change things for betterment of all. In a poor society identities matter and that is the reason why if you draw an imaginary line connecting Kanpur and Chennai, the east of that line has states with regional bosses riding on identities for these states have low per capita income owing to lack of development and GDP growth.

The reason is simple, I have never heard of a person from Mumbai or Delhi working in  a Gorakhpur but lacs do in reverse order similar to millions of Indians working in US but not the same quantum from US working in India. So when there is poverty and lack of job opportunities people would tend to stick to identities of caste, creed, religion and localized identities. That is the reason why behenji to Didi to amma will rule for next many years till states improve in their per capita income and social economic index. In above comparison, the only exception is TN where a lot of development has happened and it has overtaken even UP to be the no. 2 state in terms of GDP contribution. It is the most urbanized state in India with 37% plus urban population.

I am pretty sure, if Modi wanted the godhra carnage would have had lesser causalities for his track record of being a good administrator and politician is not a doubt even for his critics. This is the standard line of grudge Modi-baiters have. Therefore, there is bound to be strong reactions to anything he does for the reason that he has a past he can’t probably wash his hands off. But what he can and is doing and which is visible now is changing what is happening across religious lines. It was put on record by Arnab Goswami and Pranoy Roy that BJP did get a sizeable chunk of Muslim votes in Assam.

I think the only way to loosen up this strong divide is to ensure these micro and macro identities erode from India for India as one identity. This can happen only when there is prosperity. Prosperity is possible only when there are enough jobs across spectrum and that can happen only by investments and investments can come only when there is infrastructure (physical and governance) across urban and rural landscape and that can happen only when we increase GDP. And that is exactly what he is trying to do. So in short a 2-digit GDP for a decade will wipe out sizeable and measurable disparity and therefore dilute micro identities and make India a better place.

Talking about Modi, another point I wish to make about riots and Muslims in India. Across the globe & since the beginning of time there had been and will be a clash of civilization. And in any such clash the ultimate cost and perils are always borne by the minorities. So whether it is within Muslims in Pakistan, ultimately Shias are at loss in terms of damage to them or if it is Bangladesh then Hindus lose out at the end and so if it was Kashmir, Pandits lost out and if it was ‘84 Sikh riots, Sikhs lost out and if in post-Godhra Muslims lost out. So it is always a majority that retaliates and minority loses out in the end. And the reason why such clashes happen is only for two reasons, one, identity crisis and fear of not being treated at par with majority, and clinging to identities subsuming the larger social or economic or class identities. If a Shah Rukh khan marries a Hindu there is no back lash and if Salman khan brings Ganpaati bappa home there is no fatwa but if Aamir khan questions the national identity there is a furore. The same thing any person does in Haryana country-side, it will lead to honour killing. That is because, these celebrities have risen over caste and religious identities and created their own identities as a separate social class. And the only option for all of us is to accept this norm which is prevalent across civilizations. Another point I would like to make about Indian Muslims is that it is only Indian Muslims who are democratic, they have faith in constitution, courts, there is a visible effort amongst masses to bring about change in sharia and they are not joining terror organisations in the same proportion to their population. They are us and they believe in India and think themselves like Indians unlike in all other parts of the world. It is also because as Tarek Fateh says, "Indian Muslims are Indians first also because of the Hindus and that the democracy not just in the country but in its culture and civilization".