Opinion ‘Narendra Modi has not changed one bit’

I have been keenly following your articles for years and am a great admirer of your skilful political analysis. Your latest piece titled ‘The Congress’s Modi’ reconfirms your analytic skills and journalistic brilliance.

Having served in the Indian Police Service for over 25 years,I have had several occasions to closely observe the working of many political minds,including that of Narendra Modi. The subscript of most of your recent editorial articles and commentaries are suggestive of your belief that [the Narendra Modi of 2013 has come a long way from the Narendra Modi of 2002,or his early days as an apparatchik of the RSS. The fact is that the core political beliefs and ideologies of Narendra Modi have not changed one bit over all these years. He continues to be the evil hate-monger that he was trained and indoctrinated to be. For him and his ilk,the politics of hatred is just a means to attain and perpetuate power. He has only become increasingly smarter,cleverer and [more diabolical than ever before.

Some of us have the naïveté to truly hope and believe that evil can and will relent over time. This misplaced hope and belief inspires the dark hearts to dream even darker dreams. History has shown us time and again that evil rarely relents… evil only changes form and masquerades as a more seductive idea. Evil must be defeated. And even when defeated,uprooted and purified by fire,evil leaves behind a seed that will one day germinate and,in blooming,again be misunderstood… giving rise to [a new cycle of even cleverer and highly evolved evil. If we deceive ourselves into accepting that [the Narendra Modi of 2013 has nothing to do with [the Narendra Modi of the past,then we would be not only threatening the meaning of our present,but we would also be irreparably endangering our future.

With warm regards,Sanjiv Bhatt,IPS