Opinion Mr and Mr Modi

In spite of his preoccupation with foreign affairs, Modi has not been short of “local” ideas like the Make in India and Swachh Bharat campaigns, the Jan Dhan Yojana scheme for financial inclusion and the unexpected emphasis on the protection of the girlchild in his Independence Day address. Add to that the sense of urgency shown in pushing through important legislation like insurance, land reform and coal allocation bills through ordinances, and you get a picture of a man in a hurry to move the nation forward.

The second Narendra Modi, the Great Revivalist, is omniabsent, if there is such a word. Under this Modi’s invisible watch, the dark clouds that have been gathering all over the country grow more ominous day by day. Every morning’s newspaper seems to carry new evidence of this darkness:
communal violence on Muslim and Christian minorities, churches attacked and burnt, the VHP in Chhattisgarh forcing missionary schools to instal Saraswati idols and insisting that principals be addressed as “pracharya” and teachers as “sir” instead of “father”. Christmas is sought to be turned into Good Governance Day, while the “ghar wapsi” and “love jihad” campaigns rear their ugly heads. Obscurantists like Dina Nath Batra now set the school curriculum in Gujarat and Haryana. An unknown historian with dubious credentials is made head of the country’s premier history body and begins by asserting that the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are historical texts.

Subramanian Swamy calls Ravana a UP Dalit. The Hindutva brigade mounts a violent campaign against the successful film PK, mainly because a Muslim (Aamir Khan) plays the lead. And if this isn’t disturbing enough, the Hindu Mahasabha wants to instal a statue of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse.

The second Narendra Modi is “omniabsent” in all this. The man who has centralised power like no recent prime minister; the PM who monitors his ministers’ travel plans and the appointment of their official staff; the man who, like a headmaster, cracks the whip on office timings of bureaucrats; the prime minister who seems to be micro-managing the running of India; the same PM wants us to believe that the regressive actions of religious fundamentalists are happening without his knowledge or consent. Does it, or does it not strain our credulity?

The appointment of the young, unqualified and inexperienced Smriti Irani to full cabinet rank as the country’s HRD minister makes complete sense in this context. The dropping of German language teaching in all Kendriya Vidyalayas and making Sanskrit compulsory is a purely RSS-dictated move. But this is only one small step for Irani: already a member of the University Grants Commission has publicly complained of her “excessive interference” and her “arbitrary and abrupt” decisions, and the director of IIT Delhi has resigned, ostensibly due to interference from the HRD ministry.

This theory of the two Modis makes eminent sense if you look at his record as chief minister of Gujarat. On the one hand, there was the infrastructural development of the state, the quick decision-making and cutting down of red tape and the absence of corruption, all of which endeared him to people, especially to industrialists and the like. On the other hand was the violence of 2002, which resulted in the killing of hundreds of men, women and children of the minority community. Perhaps Modi had no direct hand in it, as he claims, but he didn’t need to, did he? He was omniabsent there too.

After over seven months in power, it seems obvious that Modi is happy to let these two contradictory Modis coexist within himself. He seems to think that the first Mr Modi, who so obviously wants modernism and development for our country, will be successful in his efforts while the second
Mr Modi simultaneously turns a blind eye to the regressive forces that are pushing through their backward agenda. Has the savvy politician been so blinded by his RSS ideology that he can’t see what is glaringly clear to all of us?

For that, let’s go back to the time when he was CM of Gujarat. In spite of his achievements and the ensuing local popularity, he was ostracised by the world community for his perceived role in the 2002 killings. It was only when he became PM that the developed world was ready to shake his hand. Compulsions of statecraft will ensure that he continues to be officially welcomed by other countries, even when the dark forces run riot in our country. But major investments will be another matter. As for multinational corporations, if they see that India is overrun by irrational organisations, that freedom of expression is being curtailed by violent intolerance, that mob rule prevails everywhere, they will quietly pack their tents and leave. Where will the large investments and modern technology come from, in that case? How will Modi No 1’s dream of development be realised then?

Dharker is a writer and columnist