IPM School Special 2017

It's not what Modi is saying about Muslims, it's why he shouldn't say it at all Many were expecting him to change his 'Hindutva' spots after becoming PM, but RSS teachings seem more powerful.

By Ashok Swain ASHOK SWAIN @ashoswai

in many inflammatory speeches for his 2002 election campaign.

ing from the RSS, which he had joined at aged 21. His Hindutva education forces him to see India and Hindus as synonymous and any non-Hindu as “the other”. The demagogue Modi is a Hindutva devotee and he continues to unnerve India’s minority population, particularly the 180-million strong Muslim community. A full-time RSS pracharak, Modi became CM of Gujarat in 2001, and within a few months, the state wit- nessed a pogrom against Muslims. Since then, Modi has been regularly accused of complicity, or at minimum, for miserably failing to maintain law and order. What was the extent of his culpa- bility can be a matter of judicial scruti- ny, but in the eyes of Muslims, he is the culprit. Moreover, in India, no political leader other than Modi has made a robust political career out of a terrible religious riot. India has witnessed many reli- gious riots, but the political leadership under whose watch the riot took place has always tried to distance itself from it. But not in the case of Modi. He has never apologised for the 2002 mas- sacre, rather he has used the criticism against his role in the riot as a badge of honour to mobilise his support base. Immediately after the riot, instead of assuaging the fear among the Muslims in Gujarat, CMModi went on a Gaurav Yatra and attacked Muslims

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing an election rally in UP's Fatehpur on February 19, 2017, charged the state's Akhilesh Yadav government for religion-based dis- criminatory policies. “If you create a kabristaan (grave- yard) in a village, then a shamshaan (cremation ground) should be created. If electricity is given uninterrupted in Ramzan, then it should be given in Diwali without a break. There should be no discrimination... bhed bhaav nahin hona chahiye,” he said. There is nothing wrong if the PM of the country asks the chief minister of a state to not pursue discriminatory policies on the basis of religion. However, when a leader like Modi makes this kabirstaan-shamshaan and Ramzan-Diwali statement, it is noth- ing but openly playing dangerous Hindutva politics. The reason is that it is not always what is said, but who says it. If any president of the US would say that his administration is commit- ted to improving the relationship with Russia, probably he (as it has always been a he) will be a strong candidate to get the Nobel peace prize. But when Donald Trump says it, questions are being raised about his motives. Similarly, Modi suffers from a huge trust deficit, particularly on issues related to minorities.

He had also used the Ramzan analogy then to target Muslims. The Congress had criticised him for trans- ferring Narmada water to Sabarmati river in the Hindu religious month of Shravan for political gains. Modi’s riposte to the Congress was: “When you come to power, you are free to bring water during Ramzan.” In that highly surcharged 2002 election campaign, Modi had also openly boasted of his refusal to run relief camps for riot-affected Muslims, alleging that they would become their baby-producing centres - "we are five and we will have 25 offspring (hum paanch, humare pachees)". As CM of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, Modi had done whatever possi- ble to strengthen the Hindu-Muslim divide in the state. Raking up Hindutva was always the most dependable election strategy for Modi when competition got tough. Even in the 2012 Assembly election, he used it to win the Gujarat election for the third time in a row. Modi’s mantra of communal polarisation, which helps him elec- torally, is at the same time dangerous- ly widening the gulf between India’s Muslims and their PM. (Photo: Reuters) When Keshubhai Patel threatened to dent the BJP votebank, Modi gave

Modi draws his ideological moor-

74 indiaparentmagazine.org

School Special 2017

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