A few days after the Gujarat Communal Riots in 2002 had taken place, I, along with a friend of mine, visited Ahmadebad – the textile city of that state, and one of the worst affected places in that pogrom. Our host was a Gujarati Jain. The principle of non-violence is the most distinctive and well-known aspect of Jainism practice. The understanding of non-violence in this religion is more radical and comprehensive than even in Buddhism.
When I asked our Gujarati Jain host about the communal riots in which more than 2,000 human beings, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists, lost their lives, and more than 2,500 were injured, he said: “We have not seen anything. In the morning we heard something had happened here or there last night, but no trace was there in the morning.” His answer got me so dumbfounded that I could not ask him another question about the pogrom.
Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat in 2002, and he still is. The special investigation team, whose mandate was approved by India’s Supreme Court, has absolved Modi on charges of conspiracy in the riots in his state. Whether or not Modi failed to follow the “Raj Dharma” when the riots took place, the allegation of his involvement in the riots, though not proven, has made him a great hero among Hindu nationalists across India. According to the Raj Dharma, a ruler must not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed, or culture. Did Modi discriminate when the riots took place? Not proven officially.
Till now, being a constitutionally secular India, the number of Hindu nationalists has been increasing day by day and very fast. In Muslim majority Pakistan, Muslim nationalism is the foundation stone of that country. India’s Muslim minority wants the country to remain a secular one, but very soon, the Hindu nationalism in India will grow, nudging secularism behind, as strong as the Muslim nationalism is in Pakistan, eliminating the difference between the two countries in terms of bigotry.
The Indian big business houses are supporting Modi overtly for his economic success in Gujarat. In terms of economic success, is he really the most successful chief minister in India? The stark statistics do not say so.
The Indian state of Tamil Nadu, under its chief minister Jayalalitha’s leadership, is ahead of Gujarat in various indicators including social indices and industry. The percentage of people below the poverty rate is 16.9% in Gujarat while it is 11.3% in Tamil Nadu. This state is also better placed in terms of infant mortality rate, at 21 per 1,000 against Gujarat’s 38 per 1,000. maternal mortality rate in Gujarat accounts for 122 against Tamil Nadu’s 90. Jayalalitha’s state ranks third in terms of gross state domestic product, two places ahead of Gujarat.
The number of industries in Tamil Nadu outweighs that of Gujarat. In Tamil Nadu, the food grains production touched 10.15 million tonnes in 2011-12, while Gujarat produced only 8.87 million tonnes that year. This comparison between the economic and social performances of the two Indian states clearly shows that Gujarat’s (development) model, which is dubbed the “Modi Model” by his supporters, is a myth successfully created by the well-orchestrated propaganda machine, which belongs to Modi.
At the end of the day, does everything go Modi’s way? After the Gujarat riots, the media relentlessly maligned Modi and that ultimately made him a household name in the country, and now a section of the same media has created the Modi wave.
Modi abandoned his wife a few days after their marriage. In the last 45 years, he has neither recognised her nor divorced her. In Hinduism, a marriage is eternal; being a devout Hindu, how could he divorce her? But he ruined the life of a human being, his wife. His walking away from his wife has also turned into a plus point for him. His supporters are now comparing him to Gautama Buddha, who also left his wife and son for the sake of society.
Modi’s supporters not only compare him with Buddha, they have elevated him to the stature of Shiva to exploit religious sentiment of the common people to win the elections. The slogan “Har Har Modi” used by BJP workers means Modi is Mahadeva (Shiva). According to Hinduism, “har” is the root word for destruction while Shiva is “hara,” because he carries away or destroys the “samsara,” or the sins of man.
It is encouraging that Modi is now trying to distance himself from his religious extremist supporters. The supporters who are making provocative suggestions like those who do not support Modi must go to Pakistan. He has called them irresponsible and told them to stop through Twitter messages. It may be a part of his election strategy, or it is from his own realisation that the prime minister of India, the largest democracy in the world and a multi-creed country, cannot afford to be an overtly biased individual. The founding father of India, Mahatma Gandhi, was a devout Hindu in his personal life but a secular man in his political life.
Intolerant Muslim nationalists have gripped Pakistan for a while. In the present, Hindu nationalists are gradually but firmly gaining ground in India like Muslim nationalists in Bangladesh. This is of great concern for the liberal minds, not only of this subcontinent. The whole world is turning into a hotbed for bigots.