It would be fitting to state that the Modi government should be thankful to the electorate for elevating the BJP to power with a thumping majority, for in the post-independence era, apart from the Congress, no other party or alliance was elected with such sweeping majority like the present NDA, other than perhaps the Janata Party that was voted to power, under the Jayprakash Narayan wave in 1977, after the nation was battered and bruised during the emergency period of 1975-77.
Nonetheless the BJP should not take the verdict for granted and stop uttering statements that are likely to create dissension among communities. The statement made by Swami Sakshi Maharaj, the BJP MP from Unnao constituency that madrassas are hubs of terror and jihadis is deplorable. Such immature statement without any clinching evidence to substantiate his point would put the BJP and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a terrible fix. It can only incite communal passion between communities and create unrest in the otherwise peaceful society.
His other remark that the madrassas do not hoist the national flag on the Independence Day and the Republic Day and that only green flags are seen but not the Tricolour will also not be taken in good spirit. We are all well aware that no one can insist others to hoist the Tricolour on national days.
In the past the highest judiciary has even ruled that no one can be forced to recite the national anthem, when some community of Christian denomination had objected to participate in the national anthem, contending that it only owes allegiance to god.
We should know that all such reactions are an outcome of lack of adequate national spirit, which cannot be extraneously injected in a person but is infused from within. Let us realise that there are more issues of national importance and in my opinion the Modi government is in the right track, at least so far, as far as steering the country aright. Let not the bickering of a handful of frustrated elements ruin the good works of the government.
