If you look at India from a historical perspective today, we seem to be in the middle of a storm that needs to be crossed if we are to sail into smoother waters. And this storm is nothing but a whirlpool of personal hate, determined efforts to break the nation, acts of sedition and the invasion of evil forces which are destroying peace, law and order, and our collective prosperity. Unreasonable protests, unscrupulous political alliances and irrational arguments are being developed in the public space to undermine our governance. A slew of foreign forces and India-haters with shockingly inexhaustible resources have unleashed a barrage of chaos.
Let us recall the major events in the past which have tried to integrate and bring prosperity to our nation, and put us on the trajectory of progress, but have faced fierce opposition. Demonetisation was introduced to undermine the power of black money and wean off the networks of terrorism, but it was opposed tooth and nail and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was painted as an evil figure behind all this. Article 370 was removed to integrate a fragmented nation and develop terrorism-affected areas of the country. But it was opposed by deeply divisive vested interests and the efforts of unifying the nation were undermined. Then, the government’s effort to bring justice to people of Indian origin in neighbouring countries by providing them with citizenship and ending their statelessness through a citizenship law was opposed with ferocity. Even the mere mention of building a register of citizenship, which is primary to the integrity of any nation, was painted as an undemocratic thought, keeping the nation away from organising information about its own citizens and retaining illegal immigrants and infiltrators.
Now, the farm laws, which have the potential to multiply farmers’ incomes, remove middlemen and raise India to attaining global standards of food security, are being contested, using support from global influencers who wish to see India remain underdeveloped. There isn’t an initiative which has not been opposed even before understanding the language of the text of their documentary instruments and actions. The Covid-19 action plan was opposed, the vaccine was opposed, the Budget was opposed, parliamentary proceedings are opposed, the Supreme Court is opposed and even the looks, gait, utterances and the presence of the Prime Minister are opposed, hated, ridiculed and trivialised.
The nation is in the sabre-toothed grip of personal hatred for a man who is counted among the most committed, selfless, hardworking and visionary personalities in human history. PM Modi does not come from the privileged background of the Nehrus or other political dynasties in India. His family is unknown, and he grew up in a lower middle-class family like most of us, with the aspiration of serving his nation and community. His sincerity, hard work, good intentions and virtuous deeds raised him to the highest pedestal of power in India and it is our fortune that a selfless leader like him leads the largest democracy of the world. But this does not suit the vested interests of the political dynasties of India which assume that it is their birthright to be in power.
The people of India—the electorate, the poor, the oppressed, the hopefuls, the young ones, and everyone who wants this nation to prosper, to secure a fulfilling life for themselves and their progeny—have repeatedly elected PM Modi so he can bring them better days. However, a section of the society—the press and social media, a cohort of power brokers that have faded to political irrelevance and divisive forces and stooges of foreign powers that get pleasure from the underdevelopment and destruction of India—has come together to oppose every move and every thought of PM Modi, that might lead India ahead on the path of resurgence.
Never in the history of independent India has the country seen such an evil nexus of opposition parties, NGOs and the Lutyens’ media which works overtime to paint anyone supporting the pro-people policies of the government as sycophants. Even the false narratives of intolerance and insecurity of religious minorities and the theatrics of “award wapasi” had been unheard of in the country before 2014. The only encounter that Indians had with intolerance, and that too in its worst form, had been during the period of Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi in 1975. The most brutal attack on religious minorities had been the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 and the massacre of Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s, perpetrated by the same political outfits who have styled themselves into champions of free speech today. Their aim is obvious—to unseat the Prime Minister, a man who is honest to the core and has the trust of people, the strength of commitment and a vision for progress.
A series of anti-establishment articles, triggering subversive activities with the help of foreign funds, instigating students on campuses and even calling the Prime Minister and his nonagenarian mother names have established an anti-Modi cohort which has used every tactic against him. However, these “flag-bearers of free speech” get restless even by some verbal utterances against the Gandhi family by a small-time actress Payal Rohatgi, prompting her arrest by the Ashok Gehlot government.
Thanks to this selective outrage, even a bullet now can be classified as “secular” or “communal”. Unprovoked police firing killing over a dozen from the Muslim community in Bharatpur under the Congress regime is “secular”, but police action against some dreaded gangsters of the same community in a BJP-ruled state is conveniently termed “communal”.
It is quite apparent that these nefarious designs are the outcomes of sheer frustration emanating from their collective failure in successive elections, their dwindling mass appeal and a bleak political future staring at them for want of a credible face.
But it is a testimony to the democratic impulse and tolerance of the Prime Minister that no bullet is fired on protesters, no opportunity for negotiation is negated, no voice is muffled, unlike what the political dynasts did during Emergency, and no moment for engagement with the nation is missed.
What colossal sin has PM Modi committed by choosing to put the “people first”? And what brings such elements, including the political bêtes noires, together when it comes to cursing the Prime Minister? Is it his disapproval of dynastic politics, his plain refusal to mould into an elite Lutyens’ club member, or his commitment to correct the political blunders of the Congress-Left combine? Is it PM Modi’s humble family and origins or his global popularity that is causing such discomfort to his haters? Is it his firm stance against the politics of minority appeasement or his policy of ‘Nation First’ that is displeasing the self-appointed liberals? Why is there such inexhaustible hatred for Narendra Modi?
The writer is Chairman, Khadi & Village Industries Commission, Government of India. The views expressed are personal.
The people of India—the electorate, the poor, the oppressed, the hopefuls, the young ones, and everyone who wants this nation to prosper, to secure a fulfilling life for themselves and their progeny—have repeatedly elected PM Modi so he can bring them better days. However, a section of the society—the press and social media, a cohort of power brokers that have faded to political irrelevance and divisive forces and stooges of foreign powers that get pleasure from the underdevelopment and destruction of India—has come together to oppose every move and every thought of PM Modi, that might lead India ahead on the path of resurgence.