Page 12 - Khabar Magazine (February 2020)

Editorial

Will communalism eventually derail the

Modi roller coaster?

A Hindu chauvinist bent on dividing the country unequivocal: Modi was guilty at least of crimes of omis-
over religious lines … A capable Chief Minister sion, if not commission, that allowed rioters a free hand
who transformed Gujarat with an impressive while police stood by doing too little too late.
focus on development ... A people’s Prime But in a civic society one must ultimately abide by its
Minister who took on much needed initiatives august institutions such as the Supreme Court, despite
such as Swachh Bharat (“Clean India”) and one’s personal reservations.
“Toilets before Temples” ... A bold executive who Moreover, in the span of the 12 years since the 2002
took courageous steps such as demonetization riots, a lot had changed about Modi. While his personal
to clean out corruption (or, depending on who credentials as a Hindu nationalist were never in doubt,
you talk to), a grandiose authoritarian who his public persona had morphed from being a communal
pushed the recklessly executed demonetization politician to becoming a development rainmaker who
experiment that massively disrupted the lives transformed Gujarat as its CM. As a Gujarati myself, I
of common Indians … A so-called business- have had numerous conversations with friends and rela-
focused PM who crashed India’s economy … tives in Gujarat who attested to how he made utilities
A religious ideologue who strong-armed the such as power and water more abundant and stable, and
revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomous how he incessantly courted corporations and multina-
status and gratuitously introduced the tionals to invest in the state, causing a drastic improve-
Citizenship Amendment Act to consolidate his ment in its economy.
Hindu base. As a prime ministerial candidate, Modi was all about
growth, progress, and development. His slogans, if not
The Modi roller-coaster, has been, at times, an his intent, turned distinctly unifying—a far cry from his
exhilarating ride; lately though, it’s gone into communal legacy.
a frightening free fall, weighed down by his It also helped that in a country where corruption
increasingly insidious communal designs. was endemic, Modi, with his spartan, yogic lifestyle,
seemed personally incorruptible. Here was a candi-
By PARTHIV N. PAREKH date who seemed genuinely uninterested in amassing
the kind of obscene wealth that his counterparts like
Mayawati, Karunanidhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and
Any objective commentator who has followed Modi Sharad Pawar, to name just a few, had.
over the span of his political career is bound to have With his passionate speeches about working tire-
had a roller coaster of opinions of this shapeshifter pol- lessly for every Indian, along with his glowing economic
itician. In 2002, I was a harsh critic of him, deeply dis- record in Gujarat, Modi was the first leader in decades
turbed about his role as Chief Minister in the commu- who showed the potential of transforming the nation
nal riots that killed over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. for the better. In contrast, his contenders were decid-
Yet, in 2014, to my utter disbelief, I found myself prac- edly uninspiring. Arvind Kejriwal had started out with
tically endorsing him for Prime Minister. Why the dra- great promise as a leading crusader against corruption,
matic about turn? but soon exposed his mercurial temperament when he
Modi was subsequently tried for his role in the abruptly resigned from his Delhi CM post in just 49 days.
2002 riots, and none other than the Supreme Court of Leading a massive nation like India needs more than
India exonerated him. I, like many others, were neither good intentions; it needs outsized capabilities and for-
convinced about his innocence, nor happy about the titude as well—which Kejriwal failed to demonstrate. As
verdict. The consensus of scores of independent inves- to Rahul Gandhi, enough has been said about his inepti-
tigative reporters as well as dozens of human rights tude and immaturity. It is generally believed that he was
watchdog groups—domestic and international—was even in the ring only on account of being the scion of the
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10 • FEBRUARY• 2020 KHABAR MAGAZINE