This has reference to recent headlines in national newspapers which were screaming that Shinde’s journey has been from auto rickshaw driver to CM. Just like Modi was tomtoming about his transition from chaiwala to PM, we have another transition that is making a virtue of coming from a lack of privilege. Draupadi Murmu’s candidature for the President is also similar with the added spice that she comes from a tribal background. Such transitions we can celebrate but unfortunately we become exposed to the risk of the country remaining restricted in the boiling pots of chai or confined in the cramped spaces of an autorickshaw. This precisely is India’s problem currently languishing at the bottom of every single international index be it economic or that measuring the quality of life. We will continue to be in the dregs in world ratings if we persist in such nominations. The other thing that is afflicting India currently is extreme combativeness bordering on dogmatism, one does not say that it is yet fanaticism. This posturing of combativeness has come about because of the BJP’s back to back victories in elections both at the State and Centre, the size of their leads in the legislatures where they have come to power and the ineffectiveness of the Opposition parties.
There is a downside to combativeness when pursued by the top leadership, which is that there is every chance that the interpretation of this at the grassroots can be different and may assume greater virulence. The people at the grassroots then assume a laissez faire attitude and are convinced in their minds that they are doing the right thing and believe in the implicit support of the top leadership because of their public utterances. We have seen this in the case of Nupur Sharma making improper comments about a religion that set off countrywide protests.
We are again seeing this in the ‘beheading’ of the tailor in Udaipur lately which incident has the potential of spinning off a larger problem across India. Even Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing the GST Council, makes the faux pas of calling horse racing, horse trading while mentioning the GST on gambling. This was probably because the political crisis in Maharasthra was uppermost on her mind and she was anticipating the questions on that issue at the press conference after the Council meeting. If this affects a Finance Minister then one can imagine what would happen to the lesser ministers in the cabinet.
Another case is the arrest of Teesta Setalvad, Sreekumar and another just a day after Modi got yet another judicial clearance, this time from the Supreme Court, that he was not culpable for the Gujarat riots in 2002. The timing of the arrest raised doubts on whether it was an act of revenge and which could have been easily avoided by pushing out the arrest by a couple of days. The arrest also immediately caught the attention of the UN who commented on this human rights offence. India had obviously the need to retort. This was a change and signifies that the respect in the UN for India has lessened compared to the past. India earlier was less obvious and more circumspect and would sidestep needless controversies that arose in foreign affairs. Now we are ‘bold’, ‘effective’ and to Narak (Hell) with the world!
