To Modi, without Love

I chanced upon this article in Firstpost via a friend, which is a backlash on the detractors of Modi. Well, it appeared more like a Bhakts’ outburst on the people who continue to criticize his hero of “growth and development”. The hero, popularly known as Feku Modi.

First of all the writer starts off pretty philosophically, when we are polarizing Modi, we are hypocrites who have given “normal” human being his “controversial” image, which caused by the people who dislike him.

Fair enough, but like many other ModiBhakts, they simply forget mention the reasons for the hate towards Modi?

Anyways, the article, tries to ‘logically” defend the detractors’ claims by citing three reasons for the criticism and explaining why it is NOT so.

Now, there seems to be numerous allegations that the Gujarat CM has been accused of, not just the ones pending in the judicial courts or even the doubts on the “clean chits”. But then if you’re a Bhakt, does any of it matter ?

Modi not apologizing after the riots is the first allegation that the haters blame Modi for.

The writer cites the examples of other riots taking place in India from the time of Independence and none of the “accused parties” apologizing for it. Be it the riots of ’84 or the numerous state riots. But lest he forgot, that here Modi was the only one who had been implicated in this manner and one of the rarest distinctions for a Chief Minister. Not only “N” number of cases were registered against him, but he has been made to appear before committees put up for criminal investigations.

Imagine a chief minister coming out with a statement like, “Every action has a reaction”!! His love for Newton in comparing the Laws of Motion, with the riots of this magnitude, where the people of one community were made to suffer, is in itself sad when a CM is seen justifying the act. The riots happened in times of 24×7 news channels and to be insensitive to what message people would get from it, and to try and win the “Hindu pride” throughout was what remains etched in people’s mind and not JUST the fact that he showed no remorse or apology.

Besides, there have been numerous accounts where he has been famously accused of allowing the police to let loose the mob and avenge the lives of the Sabarmati express victims. Policeman, itself helping the mob in clearing away Muslim dominated regions, killing, rapes, burning of whole colonies, were all done with the help of the Police force. Officials from the police forces have even gone on to give statements against Modi accusing that it all happened at the behest of him. And to think, that a CM did nothing to stop this brutality.

Modi’s false Developmental claims

Well, you don’t earn a tag of “feku” just without doing anything.

Why Modi is called feku ?

The term “feku” is derived from “Phenku” which means to throw. Usually used for people who lie often. Narendra Modi is called feku because of his false development claims, making up facts which do not exist and even claiming accolades for work he has not done. He has strengthened this image by  saying wrong names, incorrect historical information and irrelevant comparisons in his speeches.

When people accuse Modi of claiming all the development works as his own, where it goes like many of the projects that were started by Chimanbhai Patel, the CM of the congress government and which got completed under Modi’s tenure luckily, they refute back with the statement that even the UPA government at the centre enjoys the fruits of 5 YEARS OF NDA RULE!!! Well , even assuming that they do, should we assume that there ain’t any difference between both the centre and the state governments. And that you are taking credit of others’ work like the other governments are doing. Wo kare to main kyun nahi ??

But then, your story does not end there. You not only claim of what you have NOT DONE but also things that are YET TO BE DONE!!

The Gujarat Model that is very much part of your propaganda is not a model of Growth and development but pure industrialization where your industrialist friends have benefited.

To throw some light on your “feku” developmental speeches, there will be a whole lot of things that would be lighted and the shadow of darkness on your followers who never fail to tow your “Vibrant Gujarat” lines. Although, I doubt that anything will help them in realizing this.

1. Hub for Investors: An RTI data had blasted Modi’s claims of 63.5 per cent implementation of memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed during 2003, 2005 and 2007 vibrant Gujarat summits, which is a platform for Modi to highlight the state’s “growth”. Reports say that only 25.25 per cent of MoUs signed during these summits were implemented. And figures available from union commerce ministry say that only 16 to 17 per cent of MoUs signed in Gujarat were implemented.–

2. Growth across Gujarat: Even the development of Gujarat is not uniformly distributed, the Eastern belt fares as the worst in terms of development. Farmer’s committing suicide is a regular scenario. According to RBI, Gujarat ranked 17 among the 18 largest states in India about spending on social sector which was just 31.6 per cent of the budgetary expenditure in Gujarat, much less than other states.

3. Happy Minorties: When it comes to development, the Muslim pockets fare even worse. Many of them having been reduced to slums, and there has been a growing fear among the community of similar backlash like 2002. There had been leaflets flowing during the time of riots to not do business with the community, and although that fear might have slowly been reduced yet the situation isn’t any good at all to talk about.

Gujarat happens to be one state which didn’t implement the minority scholarship schemes for students from low income Muslim community citing lack of funds, where the central government spends half of the money. And it is only that money (the 50% coming from the centre) which is being used. There is no cooperation from the Gujarat government

4. Handsome earning: According to NSSO 2011 figures, the average daily wage a labourer in the informal sector in urban areas can expect in Gujarat is Rs.106 against Rs.218 in Kerala (which ranks first). In rural areas, Punjab ranks the highest at Rs.152 a day while Gujarat stands 12th at Rs.83.

5. Healthy Children:  Human Development Report 2011 said around half of Gujarat’s children were malnourished. The United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said, “Almost every second child in Gujarat under the age of five years is undernourished and three out of four are anemic. Infant and maternal mortality rates have reduced very slowly in the last decade…. One mother in three in Gujarat struggles with acute under-nutrition….”

How can one forget that, “Girls malnourished due to being beauty conscious” said by the Guj CM.

6. Educated Gujarat: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election manifesto claimed to have achieved 100 per cent enrolment in primary schools and reduced the overall dropout rate by 2 per cent. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) statistics show that Gujarat ranks 18th when it comes to success in keeping children in schools!!!

7. Wealthy Gujarat: Statistics of the NSSO show that the percentage of reduction of poverty between 2004 and 2010 was the highest in Odisha at 20.2 per cent, and the lowest in Gujarat, at 8.6 per cent. Even though the per capita income is higher than the national average, the per capita monthly expenditure in both rural and urban areas is low when compared with other States and the national average.

8. Fresh Air: When, Modi talks about Growth and development, one should read it as Industrialization, industrialization at the cost of the environment. The industrially developed South belt actually boasts of environmentally dead zones, if these stats are to be believed. The Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI) where the levels of air, land and water pollution measurement technique and according to statistics from the Central Pollution Control Board, Ankleshwar and Vapi in Gujarat top the list of 88 severely polluted industrial areas in India. Ankleshwar has a CEPI rating of 88.50 while Vapi’s is 88.09. Of the 88 areas, eight are in Gujarat. Even Dhanbad in Jharkhand, with its intensive coal mining and a longer history of pollution than the Gujarat centres, ranks only 13th on the list. Anything over 70 on this index is considered to have crossed critical levels, that is, the pollution exceeds the capacity of the environment to handle it and it becomes a dangerous health hazard, but then that is what Gujarat’s development and growth is all about.

Being at the rejecting end of United States:

Well, imagine a Prime Minister not getting a US visa??!!

His supporters may definitely say, the US approval is not required, although the same ones were jubilant when their hero was seen on the TIMES cover!! Boasting, as to how even the US accepts his authority!! Wow, hypocrisy on display for you.

And the last point of being arrogant and authoritative

Having an image larger than the party, he fits quite perfectly in the mindsets of the “polarized” community for whom he happens to be the hope.

What recent example can one cite then the one displayed just yesterday, a mob, calling itself Narendra Modi Army protested outside Advani’s house, so that he paves the way for NaMo to become PM. This was fuelled by the fact that Advani didn’t went to the Goa party meet. Goa, one of the few states left under the BJP leadership, a state having nominal population. Imagine the supporters doing all this to their own senior leader. Especially of the magnitude of Advani, because of him Vajpayee didn’t take any harsh steps against Modi after 2002 riots.

If this does not scare you enough, one should just look at the kind of language Modi supporters speak in the online media. Hatred spews from each of their words, your one statement against Modi may invite ten abuses from each of the hundreds of Modi-fied fans available there. Bashing the minority religion, their religious leaders, mocking their religion, culture, etc isn’t a new thing.

And if this is the trailer which Modi wants to show us, at least I don’t want to watch the whole movie.

Sources: NSSO, Central polution Control Board, and images from Google