There’s a disquiet simmering among the Die Hard BJP supporters over the beginning of the second Modi government, it is actually a Modi Government and nothing else. Anyone who even for a moment thinks it is anything other than a Modi Government is living in denial. The mandate of 2019 was restoration of Faith and Trust in an individual named Narendra Damodar Das Modi. The BJP as a party and the RSS as the Mother organisation may feel the irrelevance scorned upon it by the electorate. Today’s BJP is Modi, very ably supported by his aide and now Home Minister of India, Amit Shah, the master strategist and an organisational man par excellence. The eulogies are genuine and the admiration for the inexhaustible energy shown by both is complete. The Opposition may complain of anything, from EVMs to Money Power, but it is absolutely clear that the people did not believe in what the Opposition had to offer.
The disquiet is not over the mandate or the stupendous success of the well oiled BJP election machinery but over the way the new government has started, a feeling of Déjà Vu is setting in even in the first month of Modi 2.0. It is not just a feeling but a genuine fear arising out of the actions taken by the government. Modi for as long as we remember has advocated the slogan of Equality for All and Appeasement of None. Somehow, in the aftermath of the unprecedented second term with a even bigger mandate has unleashed the Statemanesque bug in Modi template for development. The policy decisions of the government, the utterances of the ministers, even the governors betray a sign of the Modi 2.0 falling for Minorityism of the yore Congress governments. The sounds are ominous. To take them up.
Before elections, Art 370, 35A, Ram Mandir, CAB was a constant chatter and poll promises. Soon after, the first legislation which the government brings is Triple Talaq, definitely an issue close to heart of feminism, for Gender Equality but it definitely isn’t as big as Citizen Amendment Bill or the Removal of Art 370 or 35A. But the government is being led on the slippery slope of Minority Welfare, in other words, a latent Appeasement Policy is being bandied as some ameliorating exercise in shape of opening of Madarsas, modernisation of these Dens Of Jihad, announcement of 5 crore Scholarships for Muslim students, emphasis is on Muslim, not Minorities. A government must work for the betterment of its citizens, for economic, educational and political development of its citizens, for providing those who stand at the foot of the ladder but blatant Muslim Appeasement in name of modernisation or education doesn’t stand scrutiny in a democratic government.
Government schemes cannot be exclusively for Minorities or the Majority, it is against all that is good for the people in general. 5 crore scholarships for Muslims, fine. You need need win their Trust, Sabka Vishwas, but what about the smaller minorities, aren’t they citizens of this country?
Are they any lesser mortals?
Modernisation of Madarsas! :Are there any plans for development of Vedic Pathshalas or for studies in Christianity?
Modi 2.0 is a mandate of progressive politics and leadership not regressive Muslim Appeasement or Votebank Politics. How can a modern state aspiring to be a World Leader indulge in such retrograde practices where Madarsas are focal point of development?
How can a leadership inspire confidence that it has left the Minority politics of Manmohan era, where Muslims had the First Right to Resources of the Nation, behind if they continue from where Congress left?
If this wasn’t enough, the bombastic election campaign of removing Art 370, Art 35A or swearing by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and his sacrifice against Do Nishan Do Vidhan of Kashmir has whimpered to the Governor, Satyapal Malik openly advocating Talks with Hurriyat and Separatists, those who espouse the Cause of Azaadi, even Nizam e Mustafa.
The Governor has been more than forthcoming on Art 370 and is assuring the Kashmiri Muslims that nothing will happen to this insidious piece of legislation passed surreptitiously by the Parliament. The fate of lakhs of Western Pakistan Hindu Refugees is hanging fire since 1947, as Art 35A restrains the Constitution of J&K and our Constitution to provide citizenship to this beleaguered populace. These Hindus were persecuted by the Muslim majority of Pakistan and had to leave their homes only to become refugees again in the country which was supposed to be their protector. It is the insidious Permanent Resident clause of the 1927 Hereditary State Subject Order which was perpetuated by inserting Art 35A.
Incidentally, this diabolic insertion was result of the dubious 1952 Delhi Agreement at behest of Sheikh Abdullah. The article has single handedly destroyed any integration of the state of J&K with the Union of India. The idea of separation, the idea of being a Muslim majority state in India, the idea of an Islamic Caliphate, the idea of Nizam e Mustafa, the idea of Ummah all emanate from the Constitution which has perpetuated the reality of J&K being different from rest of the country. The fact that the mandate of 2019 was for BJP and the it has been given a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha, the constant crying over the lack of majority in Rajya Sabha betrays a lack of intent on part of the government rather than the lack of numbers. Government has not even stated its stand on Art 35A in the Supreme Court, leave alone anything concrete for its removal.
The disquiet is also over the discriminatory Right To Education or RTE passed by the Parliament, it has killed the Hindu educational establishments and institutions. The minorities educational institutions are exempted from the compulsory 25% admission to the Economically Weaker Sections. Strange, as it may sound but Hindu institutions are bound by law to admit poor students from Muslim, Christian, Sikh or Buddhist communities but a poorer Hindu student will not have the same rights extended to him by the Constitution. Why?
Are there no poor Hindus in the country? If Muslims, Christians and other minorities have the Right To Education in Majority run establishments what stops the Minority institutions to do the same?
The government is headlong into Triple Talaq but doesn’t have the Will to take up issues which are truly democratic and secular in nature. It is this pusillanimous behaviour which invokes disquiet.
BJP governments over the last two decades has left their Core voters high and dry, not once has there been a positive response to the issues which find prominence in the manifestos and the Sankalp Patras of the BJP but are quietly buried in the hurly burly of daily life. These are ominous signs of the things to come.
Ram Mandir will be forgotten till the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections, the perfunctory noises will be made periodically, like recently, there was installation of a wooden Ram statue in Ayodhya. You never know BJP may unveil a wooden model of the Grand Ram Mandir too. After all, Bhagwan Ram resides in our hearts, where’s the need for a Temple?
Either the government declares itself to be Secular in all its aspects or it should stop asking for Hindu votes on the sly. The constant fear mongering by the various affiliates of both the RSS Parivar and the BJP has buttonholed the Hindu into accepting that There is No Alternative to either the BJP or Narendra Modi or the RSS.
Hindu is facing a veritable onslaught on his religion, his traditions, his beliefs, his cultural moorings, his freedom of speech, even his Right To Existence is threatened by the massive foreign funded institutions both religious and civil. The curse of Evangelicals and the Missionaries can be felt in states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. A slew of Churches of various denominations passed Fatwas to stop BJP from coming to power in almost whole of the country.
The demographics of coastal and now interiors of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are testimony to the Conversion Mafia being run on violations of FCRA. NDA-I had banned some NGOs but there is a need for a comprehensive ban on Foreign Funded NGOs, China is the model to be followed in this respect. The Catholic Church cannot run its dioceses from Vatican, the control of Vatican must be eliminated. The Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals must not be appointed by the the Pope sitting thousands of miles away. Catholic Church is the biggest Landholder in the country, the lands were leases granted by the British, the leases cannot run infinitely.
The government is oblivious to the threat of Mass Conversions of Hindus, the voices in support of an Anti Conversion Bill are silenced by the government who wants to appear more than just Secular, in fact, the new mantra is Sabka Vishwas, winning the Trust.
Modi 2.0’ conspiratorial silence and retraction on issues which are displayed prominently and marketed aggressively before and during the elections is reason for this disquiet among its Voters.
