When Narendra Modi was elected as the PM of India, it was the denouement of the grandest marketing gimmick in recent political history. One of the catch phrases of this gimmick was the promise of 'ache din' - the transformation of India into to an utopian society. It would be really unfair to expect these good times to arrive within hundred days, given the complexity and diversity of India. Nevertheless, the events that have been happening over the past few months makes me wonder if the ache din was actually meant for someone other than the people of India.
Communal Politics
When Modi urged Indians to shun communalism, casteism and regionalism during his Independence Day speech, it seemed like Modi was slowly cleansing himself off the communal stain caused by the Gujarat riots. But when the same 'talkative' PM remains silent when his partymen and key allies involve in communal violence in different parts of the country, it makes one wonder if it was just another of Modi's rhetoric. If this doesn't sound convincing, then look no further than the current BJP chief. Modi's 'Man Friday' Amit Shah has been rewarded with the post of party chief for helping the party secure a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. Even die-hard BJP supporters agree that Shah's modus operandi in orchestrating this massive victory was communal polarization. Infact he had been censured by the election commission during the campaign trail for his highly inflammatory speeches. So when Modi says he is serious about communalism, he is surely joking.
Dubious ministers
When you appoint someone as a cabinet minister and that someone was found unfit to serve as your party president on charges of financial irregularities, then it shows you aren't serious about corruption. That was the signal Modi sent out by appointing Nitin Gadkari as Union Transport minister. Another dubious choice is that of Uma Bharti as cabinet minister for Water resources, River development and Ganga rejuvenation. She had been indicted by the Libherman commission for inciting mob violence during the demolition of Babri Masjid, a charge she refutes but is proud to take moral responsibility for the demolition. Though she wasn't in Modi's good books, there is a belief the RSS pushed for her candidature. And our 'strong' PM had to give in. Finally there is Smriti Irani, someone who has probably occupied as much newspaper real estate as Modi himself. Her appointment as union HRD minister means only one of the two things - either there is no one better qualified than her for the post or the Modi government doesn't take the HRD portfolio as important as the other explicitly important ones as defence, home and finance. At some level it doesn't matter whether the education minister was a former actress or doesn't have very good educational qualifications. But it certainly is an issue when the minister lies about her educational qualifications.
Judiciary interference
Among the three pillars of democracy - legislative, executive and judiciary - the judiciary is by far the most respected in India. It is partly because it has been relatively free of the clutches of the legislative and executive. But all this is set to change with certain actions of the Modi government. The supreme court collegium is a judiciary body that elects judges to the supreme court and the high courts. As part of protocol, the collegium sends the candidates list to the council of ministers for consideration. The ministers can only give their reservations if any but the collegium has the final say. In an unprecedented move the Modi government unilaterally segregated the name of one candidate - Gopal Subramanium a supreme court lawyer - from the list of Supreme court judges. The reason given by the government is that of unsubstantiated allegations about the candidate in a report submitted by the IB and the CBI. But this sounds very unconvincing when taking into consideration these facts - one is that Gopal Subramanium's competence as senior advocate in the supreme court and his potential for judgeship is perceived to be impeccable in the judicial fraternity. And another that he was an amicus curiae in the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which Amit Shah was one of the accused. Looks like Mr.Amit Shah is the one having all the ache din!
Saffron saffron everywhere
The right-wing is back in town after a decade and they have already started to paint everything in their favorite color saffron. To begin with, the new chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) - India's premier body that funds historical research - is one Yellapragada Sudershan Rao who is a long time believer of the Sangh Parivar's Hindutva agenda. His appointment is seen by many historians as an attempt by the BJP to resume their history re-writing project that begun during the previous NDA rule. In a recent article in Frontline magazine it was reported that his approach to historical research was similar to other Sangh-affiliated historians who try to give simplistic, folklore-based explanations for significant periods of history and dismiss any complex interpretations and inquiry. He also seems to have scant respect for minorities, Dalits and justifies caste system based on brahminical interpretations of ancient religious texts. The Hindutavadis next stop seems to be education. Recently there were reports that the Gujarat government had presecribed a series of nine controversial books on Hindu culture for supplementary reading in primary and secondary schools. These books were written by Dina Nath Batra a long time RSS activist and cover a wide range of topics like science, geography, literature and mathematics. The problem with these books is that the author projects folklore as science, denounces rational thinking and endorses racism. To know more about this absurdity, look here. But the real problem lies else where. All these books have a forward written by Modi himself and these books have already traveled to Madhya Pradesh which is another state ruled by the BJP. So how long before it makes an appearance at the national chance is anyone's guess.
Gujaratization of India
The phrase that had been on the lips of most Indians for the last one year was 'Gujarat Model of development'. It was the creative output of the notoriously invisible but very effective Modi's PR machinery. Modi and his team used this as a springboard to catapult themselves to power at the centre. The core argument of this model has been that Gujarat transformed into the most developed state of India due to the highly efficient and corruption free government of Mr.Modi. But in reality a lot of credible reports have showed that in terms of economic development Gujarat was always among the top spot even before Modi came to power and data shows that he has just been able to maintain the status quo. And for that he can take credit. But at the same time in terms of social and educational development a lot of other states have done much better during his tenure. Infact the HDI index released by the UN places Gujarat at the 8th position taking into account different aspects of development. And now the government is planning to replicate schemes from this development template all over the country. Take for example the Ganga rejuvenation project. The government has directed the concerned officials to study the Sabarmati riverfront development scheme and implement something similar to it. But the fact is that the Sabarmati river remains as polluted as always and only a small stretch of it flowing through Ahmedabad has been cleaned up to create a recreational space within the city. So the Sabarmati example is just a beautification project and not a conservation effort that is required for Ganges. Another example of Gujaratization is the indication that the centre is planning to replicate the 'Beti Baccho Abhiyan' or 'Save the Girl child campaign' of the Gujarat government. But even after six years of implementation, the scheme hasn't been able to make any dent in the skewered sex ratio of Gujarat. Whereas similar schemes in Haryana and Punjab have had significant effects.
So where are the good days then ? Currently they are only in speeches, announcements and manifestos. Modi appears like the proverbial 'storm' after his 'calm' predecessor. But just in words. So if not a storm of ache din, the lest I hope for is a light breeze in the coming days.
Communal Politics
When Modi urged Indians to shun communalism, casteism and regionalism during his Independence Day speech, it seemed like Modi was slowly cleansing himself off the communal stain caused by the Gujarat riots. But when the same 'talkative' PM remains silent when his partymen and key allies involve in communal violence in different parts of the country, it makes one wonder if it was just another of Modi's rhetoric. If this doesn't sound convincing, then look no further than the current BJP chief. Modi's 'Man Friday' Amit Shah has been rewarded with the post of party chief for helping the party secure a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh. Even die-hard BJP supporters agree that Shah's modus operandi in orchestrating this massive victory was communal polarization. Infact he had been censured by the election commission during the campaign trail for his highly inflammatory speeches. So when Modi says he is serious about communalism, he is surely joking.
Dubious ministers
When you appoint someone as a cabinet minister and that someone was found unfit to serve as your party president on charges of financial irregularities, then it shows you aren't serious about corruption. That was the signal Modi sent out by appointing Nitin Gadkari as Union Transport minister. Another dubious choice is that of Uma Bharti as cabinet minister for Water resources, River development and Ganga rejuvenation. She had been indicted by the Libherman commission for inciting mob violence during the demolition of Babri Masjid, a charge she refutes but is proud to take moral responsibility for the demolition. Though she wasn't in Modi's good books, there is a belief the RSS pushed for her candidature. And our 'strong' PM had to give in. Finally there is Smriti Irani, someone who has probably occupied as much newspaper real estate as Modi himself. Her appointment as union HRD minister means only one of the two things - either there is no one better qualified than her for the post or the Modi government doesn't take the HRD portfolio as important as the other explicitly important ones as defence, home and finance. At some level it doesn't matter whether the education minister was a former actress or doesn't have very good educational qualifications. But it certainly is an issue when the minister lies about her educational qualifications.
Judiciary interference
Among the three pillars of democracy - legislative, executive and judiciary - the judiciary is by far the most respected in India. It is partly because it has been relatively free of the clutches of the legislative and executive. But all this is set to change with certain actions of the Modi government. The supreme court collegium is a judiciary body that elects judges to the supreme court and the high courts. As part of protocol, the collegium sends the candidates list to the council of ministers for consideration. The ministers can only give their reservations if any but the collegium has the final say. In an unprecedented move the Modi government unilaterally segregated the name of one candidate - Gopal Subramanium a supreme court lawyer - from the list of Supreme court judges. The reason given by the government is that of unsubstantiated allegations about the candidate in a report submitted by the IB and the CBI. But this sounds very unconvincing when taking into consideration these facts - one is that Gopal Subramanium's competence as senior advocate in the supreme court and his potential for judgeship is perceived to be impeccable in the judicial fraternity. And another that he was an amicus curiae in the Sohrabuddin encounter case in which Amit Shah was one of the accused. Looks like Mr.Amit Shah is the one having all the ache din!
Saffron saffron everywhere
The right-wing is back in town after a decade and they have already started to paint everything in their favorite color saffron. To begin with, the new chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) - India's premier body that funds historical research - is one Yellapragada Sudershan Rao who is a long time believer of the Sangh Parivar's Hindutva agenda. His appointment is seen by many historians as an attempt by the BJP to resume their history re-writing project that begun during the previous NDA rule. In a recent article in Frontline magazine it was reported that his approach to historical research was similar to other Sangh-affiliated historians who try to give simplistic, folklore-based explanations for significant periods of history and dismiss any complex interpretations and inquiry. He also seems to have scant respect for minorities, Dalits and justifies caste system based on brahminical interpretations of ancient religious texts. The Hindutavadis next stop seems to be education. Recently there were reports that the Gujarat government had presecribed a series of nine controversial books on Hindu culture for supplementary reading in primary and secondary schools. These books were written by Dina Nath Batra a long time RSS activist and cover a wide range of topics like science, geography, literature and mathematics. The problem with these books is that the author projects folklore as science, denounces rational thinking and endorses racism. To know more about this absurdity, look here. But the real problem lies else where. All these books have a forward written by Modi himself and these books have already traveled to Madhya Pradesh which is another state ruled by the BJP. So how long before it makes an appearance at the national chance is anyone's guess.
Gujaratization of India
The phrase that had been on the lips of most Indians for the last one year was 'Gujarat Model of development'. It was the creative output of the notoriously invisible but very effective Modi's PR machinery. Modi and his team used this as a springboard to catapult themselves to power at the centre. The core argument of this model has been that Gujarat transformed into the most developed state of India due to the highly efficient and corruption free government of Mr.Modi. But in reality a lot of credible reports have showed that in terms of economic development Gujarat was always among the top spot even before Modi came to power and data shows that he has just been able to maintain the status quo. And for that he can take credit. But at the same time in terms of social and educational development a lot of other states have done much better during his tenure. Infact the HDI index released by the UN places Gujarat at the 8th position taking into account different aspects of development. And now the government is planning to replicate schemes from this development template all over the country. Take for example the Ganga rejuvenation project. The government has directed the concerned officials to study the Sabarmati riverfront development scheme and implement something similar to it. But the fact is that the Sabarmati river remains as polluted as always and only a small stretch of it flowing through Ahmedabad has been cleaned up to create a recreational space within the city. So the Sabarmati example is just a beautification project and not a conservation effort that is required for Ganges. Another example of Gujaratization is the indication that the centre is planning to replicate the 'Beti Baccho Abhiyan' or 'Save the Girl child campaign' of the Gujarat government. But even after six years of implementation, the scheme hasn't been able to make any dent in the skewered sex ratio of Gujarat. Whereas similar schemes in Haryana and Punjab have had significant effects.
So where are the good days then ? Currently they are only in speeches, announcements and manifestos. Modi appears like the proverbial 'storm' after his 'calm' predecessor. But just in words. So if not a storm of ache din, the lest I hope for is a light breeze in the coming days.
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