The Art of Keeping Silent

(I want to start by saying that my constitution grants me the right to criticize my leaders as much as our Prime Minister. Although present times are risk ridden where speaking or writing against Mr Modi is like committing suicide. Be ready to be slapped with UAPA, and talk against the govt you may be jailed and harassed. I might be taking a risk if I dare to share it on SM and god forbid if it at all goes viral.)  

Maun vrat is an old practice which forms a part of yoga therapy. Wonder if our politicians have ever heard of it. Its so much used at their convenience but. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was given the acronym of Maun Mohan Singh during the UPA regime from 2004-2014. Why! Because he was a ‘silent’ Prime Minister. New Delhi rose like a tsunami in the wake of December 16, 2019 it took many many days for PM Manmohan Singh to utter words of condemnation for the heinous crime, Sonia Gandhi too was pilloried for her silence as the UPA Chairperson. The country was taking note.

Gone are the days when Prime Ministers used to introspect, cajole their conscience and even ministers who would resign in case of a train accident. These are times when the Prime Minister works under the unsaid rule of holding a demeanor of a no nonsense man, which may coax you to infer that a Barak Obama or a Bill Gates cracking a joke or for that matter dancing with children and laughing with colleagues, has the potential of getting taken for granted. Intellectual hara-kiri eh……

There is a deafening silence when words are needed most. Keep silent when religious fanatics give a call for genocide. Keep silent when the farmers sit on your borders for 30 months braving cold, heat and rain for repeal of farm laws. Don’t talk to the press (as if you are not accountable for anything going wrong), Keep silence when our boundaries are being captured by China, Keep silent when China builds road and bridges on our northern and western borders, Keep silent on the hate speeches by your own people, keep silence when farmers are being mowed down in Lakhimpur Kheri, keep silent when Gujarat was burning in 2002, keep silent when thousands die of lack of oxygen during corona pandemic, silence when dead bodies floated in the Ganga, silence during Delhi Riots, and many more occasions.   

But you only speak when come elections!!! So, the Prime Minister is only and only vocal at pre decided events. One, on the Independence day when he exercises his vocal chords at their fullest, for hours together, a time when he sings unabashedly on his myriad of ‘old wine in new bottle’ schemes. Second when he visits foreign lands and thirdly when he is abusing his opponents, you can guess (Congress). Also depends from state to state which he is in before elections or inaugurating some national asset. Oh yes, also when he talks to the nation on TV. Any other occasion is not of his ‘Wordsworth’.

How does one explain the change of demeanor and body language when on home soil as opposed to foreign soil.( cant be missed!)  His cold, stiff personality as if wants to deliberately send a message that he is not from one amongst us. Despite calling himself a ‘chaiwala’ more often than not at every election rallies, depending on which side of the support one is..pro or against, will the sympathy undertone play out. But for the man of the moment its all about being there at the top and the perpetual desire to always  be there. A humble background blessed with the fortune of top class fashion brands at the smallest of events consciously flaunted, every dress has a deeply designed message. Did we anticipate such Modi as our Prime Minister! Coming in on the wave of a poor tea seller who understands the plight of the poorest of the poor the countrymen did not know he was here for himself and his multimillionaire friends.    

Or what explains an unspeaking and otherwise silent Modi to be obsessively engaged in the camera glare for hours. Meticulous lens management for his smallest of behaviour and act is made to repeat over and over again to the audience ..oops, countrymen’s disgust or admiration, depending on his constituency.   

But don’t underestimate his silence, you ll be mistaking. Painstakingly rising up his way to see his dream come true, by hook or crook, carefully crafting his image and personality that he had been probably nurturing since his early days when he was brooming the BJP headquarters. The man is out to command, to rule, to prove his mettle. He cannot be defeated? Whatever is done is with a purpose. So if the farmers bill was repealed the consequences were well thought of for a longer run…elections in the farmer dominated belt. His silences are as carefully calculated as his words. Some daring media calls it his ‘sly, insidious silence’. It needed a New York Times article in 2017 to make Modi comment on violence on muslims and Dalits in UP afraid of his international image being tarnished.

So does one believe that Modi vouches for polarization, genocide, killings and violence! Does India deserve a Prime Minister who displays unsecular, immature, narrow minded, unsympathetic approach to the people, history, and demography of the great country!! Unfortunately an international watchdog on genocide has predicted one for India as well. The country goes where the leader takes it.  

#SilentPrimeMinister #India #PMModi #Genocidecall

Worshipping should not become a show of strength;same gotra marriages are immoral: Haryana CM Khattar

Haryana is as much famous for giving our country Olympic medal winners, world class athletes, wrestlers and sportspersons, their boys to the armed forces, glittering hi tech mega city Gurugram, earlier called Gurgaon as much as for skewed sex ration, Khap panchayats and bride scarcity.

Khaps are a unique phenomenon of Haryana. They often come in news for wrong reasons like honor killings, infanticide, intercaste marriages and the regressive fatwas issued by them time and again. Chief Minister Khattar, in a candid talk on a variety of issues spoke at length. Excerpts from his interaction give us a sense of the leaderships's direction and governance.

Betraying a sympathetic view of Khaps, Khattar said, 'Khaps have been the guardians of society since long and that marrying in same gotra was considered immoral. So to maintain that purity and discourage immoral activities khaps come in. Individuality in society takes us away from morality.' He emphasized,'Its wrong to say that Khaps do not do positive things. Khaps are very powerful community. They stood with the farmers in their protests. Power lies in their collective approach.' He attributed same gotra marriage to the influence of western culture and films.

On a year and  half long farmers agitations on Delhi borders against the three farm laws that wound up after PM Modi repealed them in Parliament, the Chief Minister said, 'the protest was divided into 2 types of farmers. One who were supporters and the other kind who had political ambitions.' He said the ones with political ambitions were misguiding the ordinary farmer who was being instigated to protest. We tried our best to convince them about the advantages of the laws but their plain ademancy made Prime Minister Modi withdraw them. This gesture of the Prime Minister has just but enhanced his stature.'It wasn’t a national protest and was limited to only Haryana, Punjab, some parts of UP. So whats right and whats wrong becomes irrelevant when something becomes a movement.'

On how will the farmer agitation affect BJP in the coming elections of UP, Punjab and Goa, Chief Minister said, 'Our popularity does not depend on farmers agitation nor has it been affected. We have done a lot for farmers too.' How about Jat votes being transferred after the farmers protests he said they will remain where they were, 'there will be no impact of farmers agitation on jat votes.'

Haryana was in news for importing brides from neighboring states due to low sex ratio in their state, Khattar said, that's not in our control.

One of the demands of farmers was to compensate the families of farmers that died during the protest. Striking an assuring note Haryana Chief Minister said, 'We do not have data of the exact number of people who died. There was no post mortem. The may have died for any other reason, say by accident or illness. So compensation will be given after tallying the list and confirming how the farmer had died. He assured that cases against farmers will be taken back.    

Lauding about more than a dozen schemes that have been rolled out in the name of good governance and the change that have leveraged in the lives of Haryanvi's Khattar said, 'Corruption is prevalent at all levels top to bottom. But how to set it right is the question. I have the will power to set it right and eliminate all corruption.'

Gurugram has been witnessing communal clashes on the stopping of holding namaz on the streets and public places. Calling such happenings as show of strength he said, 'Till namaz is for worshiping sake its ok but to turn it in a show of strength is not right. Some organizations do something for show their strength. It’s a matter of faith, can be done at a masjid, and there is no problem in doing it with the permission of the administration. Any faith can perform their activity with a proper permission.'

On the incident of a church desecration in Pataudi he said, 'such incidents are unfortunate, should not happen, I don't support them. They are not good for society and can be solved. They can approach the administration or the Peace Committees. Talks are the only solution to such incidents.'

On skewed sex ration and infanticides in Haryana and the action taken on it the Chief Minister said, 'In last 2 yrs it has fallen to around 912, Covid may be a reason too, we haven't been able to concentrate on this side. Around 300 FIR’s have been registered against people who have indulged in infanticide. We have decided on a target of 950 in next 2 years.' Sex ratio has touched 923 in Haryana, as per reports.

Parali burning in the fields of Haryana is a major environment issue for Delhi and neighboring states. The Chief Minister said they have given cash incentives to farmers to discourage them from burning their crops and find alternative ways. But in the case of no viable alternatives, farmers have not adhered to the government orders which is the problem.   

Lest we forget…. lets give 2022 a chance

 

Like others, we too are a nation that is in the race of calling ourselves ’New India’. Its the right time for India when the most powerful nations of the world are vying with each other in wooing India as an Indo Pacific heavy weight playing along with our desire to be a world power in the region. S400 (Russia) or F16’s (US), tech transfer or countering expansionist nations, trade or vaccine diplomacy, India has become the cynosure of the world’s eyes.

Ironically the years 2021 and 2020 if gave us recognition on the world stage it pulled us down as a country. The pandemic took away not just lives in thousands, it took away jobs and livelihood, increased poverty by manifolds, small and medium business shut albeit the few handful of rich became richer. Malnutrition increased. The GDP went down. But the business of the government went as usual. Elections, election rallies and Kumbh added to the misery as super spreaders of the virus. Have we learnt lessons from the floating dead bodies in the holy Ganga! Upcoming elections will tell. Afterall our elections are no holds barred whether Delta version or Omicron.  

It took a number of farmers deaths and a year and a half of torturous summer and winter of Delhi for the government to repeal the Farmers bill in the Parliament. Although we cannot doubt Prime Minister Modi’s intention of bending down to the will of the protesting farmers, but does elections in UP, Punjab and Goa anything to do with it! Anyone’s guess. Lakhimpur Kheri murders or massacre, call it what you may, a fallout of the farmers agitation, sent chill down the spine, still hasn’t seen its closure as the union minister’s son still awaits arrest inspite of the courts ruling. In the same vein there can also be no denying that this is the same class that send their children to the borders, who were labelled anti national, terrorists, Khalistanis, treated like enemies come to attack the government in Delhi. A tweet of an American Pop star Rihana came handy to the powers that be too. The followers though have a different take.

We have surely become stronger in terms of our defence needs with upgraded air and naval power which has boosted our preparedness in the changing world scenario although countering the imperialistic aspirations of China does not come easy. This, juxtaposed with hundreds of schemes as a welfarist state for citizens domestically. But no amount of development can justify hate speeches. Societal polarization is destroying the national fabric ensured by our constitution and thousands of years of culture. Churches being desecrated, activists attacked, mob lynching in the name of religion, call for genocide, fringe elements being mainstreamed and the powers looking the other side!!!!!!! The fact that people with great credibility like retired Generals and top bureacrats have voiced against recent happenings should cajole our conscience. It should worry us all. 

Session after session saw Parliament pass bills at will. Opposition complained of the temple of democracy becoming a rubber stamp.  As per statistics 60% of the bills passed without scrutiny. In the winter session itself Parliament passed 11 bills, only four of those were referred to standing committees. The Farmers bill, The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which links Aadhaar numbers with voter cards, bill defining the powers of the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor, Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, Bill to raise the age of marriage of girls to 21 years, are a few of them.     

Last year saw hundreds, thousands of deaths due to the pandemic. People died of scarcity of oxygen. They were left on their own to fend for themselves. There was no household that did not loose a loved one. It was apocalyptic, nightmarish at the least. Lest we forget we will be condemned to suffer again.

Upcoming elections in states of UP, Punjab and Goa in 2022 will be a barometer of who may stand where. Congress, yet the main opposition party, is a hopelessly incredible force. Lack of leadership, fissures within (G23) and no vision to take the country ahead has made the electorate scramble for an alternative at the national level. Talk to people and the absence of an alternative is a majboori. Just with 3 states in its kitty Congress and Congressmen themselves do not know their future. Regional parties hold better position and promise.   

Unfortunately dissent or difference of opinion is a forgone thing. Journalists, free thinkers, social catalysts and opposition voice is not a welcome trait. Do it at your own risk. On the other hand social media has topsy turveyed freedom of speech. One is either a supporter or an anti national. Taking cues from China, Russia or Turkey and Iran cannot work in the context of our ‘great’ nation.    

Ranking 142 out of 180 in press freedom does not augur well for a democracy like India. Barring journalists from Parliament access to report the proceedings, UAPA being slapped at the slightest of disagreement or questioning is but a reminder of emergency. Social media is unbridled. Reporting on farmer agitation saw some serious reporters land in jail.   

Nation comes first. Civilizationally we are the same India as yesteryears. Proud of our heritage and culture that has taught us to coexist peacefully with harmony. Changing times do not justify hate, violence, bigotry or injustice. Lets live the India of Vivekanand and Mahatma Gandhi. Cherish hope for future for a peaceful and progressive India.