Chun chunke hisab lena, yeh meri fitrat hai
Narendra Modi, March 4, 2019
I quoted the above comment not to rub in the point that Hindi — even when spoken by a “masterful orator”, as Modi is proclaimed to be — is replete with words taken from Urdu, Arabic and other languages, a fact that the self-appointed guardians of “Hindu culture” appear to be unaware of.
Rather, the quote is to underline how Modi’s demagoguery works in practise — and how easily people fall for the dog and pony show he routinely puts on.
Take a few moments to listen to this speech in full, and as you listen (and watch), note how he plays on the emotions of the crowd, how he hustles them along to the seemingly inevitable conclusion that he is the only one strong enough to deal with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism; the only one capable of “descending to the seventh circle of hell, if need be,” to avenge Indian lives lost. Listen:
Note the date: March 4, 2019. 15 days later, the Election Commission of India sent out an advisory as follows:
“Political parties/candidates are advised that their campaigners/candidates should desist, as part of their election campaigning, from indulging in any political propaganda involving activities of defence forces”
Campaigning in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, on May 12, 2019, Modi did exactly that: he invoked the “ghar mein ghuskar” meme and told his adoring audience that this is the reason why “desh kamal kila raha hai”.
The Election Commission “took note” of this blatant violation (also committed by Home Minister Amit Shah during his campaign). It cautioned Adityanath to refrain from talking of “Modi ki sena”, and said it was looking into reports of the violations and would decide shortly.
Nothing further was ever heard on the subject again. Read the report linked to at the start of this para, and see how many ways the EC found to weasel out of giving a straight answer — to wit, that Modi, Shah and cohort were in violation of its advisory.
This post is not to flog a dead horse — though at a time when lies are the accepted currency of governance, truths bear repeating — but to make one point, and to record one fact that will gain in salience in the coming months:
In the nine days before the chest-thumping triumphalism of having vaccinated 100 crore Indians (about that, a Twitter thread, and a reminder that a mere 21% of the country is currently fully vaccinated) Modi, who today “addressed the nation” to provide a revisionist history of India’s vaccination odyssey, has not said a single word about the ten Indian men in uniform who, along with over a dozen civilians, have been killed during this period.
Mandeep Singh. H Vaisakh. Yogamber Singh. Vikram Singh Negi. Karnveer Singh. Jaswinder Singh. Ajay Singh. Harendra Singh. Saroj Singh.
Spare a thought for them, and for the continuing trauma of Kashmir, because the government does not even have time for the usual ‘kadi ninda’ and ‘thoughts and prayers’. And neither does that section of the media that, at other times, drapes itself in flag and uniform to question the patriotism of those who ask questions of the government.
“…in every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both, to deceive and overawe the people”
The June 16, 1918 anti-war speech by American political activist and trade unionist Eugene V Debs is as relevant today as on the day when it was first delivered at Canton, Ohio. Read the full speech here.
(The header image is courtesy PTI. Since memory is short, a reminder: This was Modi celebrating Diwali with the troops in 2020, “taking a swipe” at China, and promising to “give a fierce reply if provoked”. How many deaths will it take…)
