Narendra modi, Sushil Kumar Modi, Gujarmal Modi, Lalit Modi and the list goes on. India has had a fair share of famous and powerful Modis. But think about this: You hear the name Modi and the first picture that comes to your mind is of a man clad in a perfectly tailored half-sleeved kurta in his late fifties with a neatly trimmed white beard and a Montblanc fountain pen in his pocket. And if that’s not the picture that came to your mind then you’re either lying or have been living under a rock or just maybe, you’re a huge fan of IPL.
Narendra Damodardas Modi, born in 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar, Gujarat, epitomises the phrase rags to riches, or in his case, rags to royalty. He,in so many ways, is similar to a crop of politicians now in their late fifties or early sixties which,in different regions of india, rose from the grassroot level to become prominent figures in their regional politics. This list would include leaders like nitish kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, et al. But just when you think Modi is no different from these leaders, you read an article congratulating him on being the cover of TIME magazine, another mentioning his achievement of becoming the first Indian politician to interact with netizens through live chat on the internet. What also distinguishes him from the aforementioned leaders is his growing importance in the national polity. While both the respected Yadavs have in some phase of their lives dreamt of holding the prime minister’s office, and one of them still does, realistically speaking they are quite far from it. On the other hand, in spite of the apparent unease within the BJP hierarchy with Modi being projected as their PM candidate for 2014, a large section of the Indian population-both his supporters and his detractors- have started to realize the huge chance he stands as India’s next Prime Minister. Now, as free and advanced thinkers (as we like to think of ourselves) we must not deny the situation altogether but should rather try to understand what lies beneath this man, who in all probability, might be the next resident of 7, Race Course.
First of all, I’ll try to understand the way in which Mr. Modi tries to project himself and how, consciously or sub-consciously, contradicts that very image. That Modi is a simple and honest man with no love for money is probably something even his opponents would not deny. But what about his love for power? And even his proclaimed austerity can be questioned. Aakar patel, a gujarati journalist who has known modi for quite some time now, has tried to find out the distinguished features of Modi’s character. “Modi’s clothes”, he says, “especially the iconic half-sleeved kurta, might seem like khadi and often they are, but they are not inexpensive. His designer used to be the Ahmedabad store Jade Blue, the most expensive couture store in the city.” Modi is also known for his love for montblanc fountain pens which cost as high as a few lakhs. However, I must admit that Modi does come across as a very simple, honest and disciplined person and if I was asked to name the most honest among the top leaders, it’d either be A.K.Antony or him. But, while honesty is among the desired qualities of a leader, it’s not the only one. A country like India, which has people of different faiths and beliefs needs a tolerant leader. And Mr. Modi’s alleged exploits during the 2002 riots has shown his religious intolerance. Modi is not only intolerant when it comes to religious faiths but is also unwilling to listen to any sort of criticism. His autocratic behaviour is known by the public. Some would argue that present Indian system, with problems of rampant corruption, naxalism, terrorism, growing tension in diplomatic ties, needs a leader who can take decision and implement them. While I do not have a doubt about Modi’s decision making power, I do, however, have a problem with the way in which he takes decisions. We’ll have to admit the fact that India is run by multi-party alliance which, in some ways, is also good as it helps in the assimilation of aspirations of various identity groups. Now, if we have prime minister who’s got his agenda set and is not ready to listen to other allies, lo and behold, we’re staring at the collapse of a government which in any situation is not good for the common people.
But what’s the prime accusation levelled against Narendra Modi? That he is an extreme right wing leader with an undertone of a jingoist and that his rule in gujarat or in the centre will mean persecution of non-hindus in general and muslims in particular. To find out what do the gujarati muslims feel about modi, I read a few article on the internet. Here, I must admit that I was limited by the fact that most of these articles had a slant, still, I tried to infer as objectively as I could. Now, why did I just read about the sentiments of the gujarati muslims and not of the whole country, it’s because I feel that they can best describe Modi’s actions and intentions post-Godhra. A muslim or anyone living in, say bengal, can have resentments against Modi and is completely justified in doing so but can he objectively comment on Modi’s post-Godhra actions and his secular credentials? I doubt so. An article on FIRSTPOST talks about a civil engineer named Adil Bagadia, who post-Godhra, started growing his beard to highlight his muslim identity as a defiant response to the riots. He, the article writes, ‘ was a moving portyal of the angry young muslim, full of venom against Narendra Modi’. In the winter of 2012, the beard is still there but the anger against Modi seems to have diminished. However, when asked who would he vote for in the vote for in the upcoming polls, he says “congress”, but adds, “only if they field a good candidate”. He says that the congress can no longer take the gujrati muslim votes for granted. Contrary to the popular perception outside Gujarat, the muslim mood in Gujarat is not uniformly negative. Muslims still have grievances against Modi, but their numbers are shrinking. A very small minority could even vote for the BJP. The very fact that muslim sentiment againt modi has started to divide goes to how his growing poularity. But the question for me remains, can good deeds of 10 year wash away the sins that left indelible marks on the lives of thousands. Even if Modi is acquitted by the court for the riots, the fact remains that he was the head of the state government and he did fail to take actiions. Sometimes, failure to take actions can have as serious consequences as taking actions.
My problem with the man, however, is not so much his religious fanaticism but his autocratic style of working. That is why I changed the title of this article from The Rise Of A Fanatic to The Rise Of An Autocrat. In one of his interviews to a journalist of THE HINDU Modi states “ if we had the natural resources of an Assam, a Jharkhand and a West Bengal: I would have changed the face of India”. Notice the use of ‘I’, not ‘we’ but ‘I’. Now the question is, can India- a democracy of more than a billion people with various identities and scores of national parties- afford to have an authoritarian as it’s Prime Minister. There is a very subtle difference between an able, fast decision making leader and an autocrat. Even for all the corruption we have been plagued by, we can not afford to have a leader who intends to extend his personality to his party, government, administration and country. Will we be able to see him off? Only time will tell. But then I’m reminded of the person who, in all possibilty, will stand against Narendra modi in 2014. And I secretly start hoping that we’re better off with the autocrat than the confused prince. And then the existential angst occurs and I take resort in absurdism!
