Even after three months in power, the BJP has not got a grip on the country nor on the issues facing the country and is unknowingly scripting its own downfall and writing its own deathknell. The BJP can find the answers to its problems in its own behaviour and actions in the last 6-12 months. For that we must first understand what brought the BJP to power, why the majority population veered towards the BJP and why we are now seeing cracks in this grand spectacle.
Analyse Mr Modi’s poll plank: My religion is India first and my religious book is the Constitution he said with much grandeur which made people think that here was an alternative to the Congress. Then Mr Modi said my motto is small government, maximum governance. Even after three months there has been no sign of the restructuring of the government and reallocation of human resources without in any way resorting to downsizing or alienating the government staff.
The third and most crucial point is that the majority Hindus voted the BJP to power and gave it a clear and overwhelming mandate because under the erstwhile Congress, Hindus felt alienated in their own land and felt persecuted due to the Congress' high handed policies against the Hindus and appeasement of the minorities and mollycoddling them. But Congress high handedness has been replaced by another form of short sightedness.
RSS chief Mr Mohan Bhagwat’s statement that India is a Hindu nation and India’s identity is Hindutva and those who do not agree with this should leave the country is bound to be misread and misunderstood by the Opposition. Let’s go back in history. During the start of the Muslim invasion in 950 AD or so, the Muslim invaders termed the country east of the river Indus as Industan and the people living east of the river Indus as Indus. This was later corrupted to Hindustan and Hindus due to phonetical and pronounciation problems. So technically yes, the people living east of Indus are all Hindus since all people then had the same religion. But this was in 1,000 AD.
Today the situation is different. In the last 1,000 years, 15 per cent of the population in India is Muslim, and another 10 percent Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists and Parsis. To term them as Hindus in 21st century India is a misnomer and against the tenets of the Constitution. Mr Modi said that all religions are equal in India and followers of all religions will be given equal opportunity. So why is Mr Bhagwat unnecessarily stoking fire and courting controversy?
The third and most crucial point is that the majority Hindus voted the BJP to power and gave it a clear and overwhelming mandate because under the erstwhile Congress, Hindus felt alienated in their own land and felt persecuted due to the Congress' high handed policies against the Hindus and appeasement of the minorities and mollycoddling them. But Congress high handedness has been replaced by another form of short sightedness.
RSS chief Mr Mohan Bhagwat’s statement that India is a Hindu nation and India’s identity is Hindutva and those who do not agree with this should leave the country is bound to be misread and misunderstood by the Opposition. Let’s go back in history. During the start of the Muslim invasion in 950 AD or so, the Muslim invaders termed the country east of the river Indus as Industan and the people living east of the river Indus as Indus. This was later corrupted to Hindustan and Hindus due to phonetical and pronounciation problems. So technically yes, the people living east of Indus are all Hindus since all people then had the same religion. But this was in 1,000 AD.
Today the situation is different. In the last 1,000 years, 15 per cent of the population in India is Muslim, and another 10 percent Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists and Parsis. To term them as Hindus in 21st century India is a misnomer and against the tenets of the Constitution. Mr Modi said that all religions are equal in India and followers of all religions will be given equal opportunity. So why is Mr Bhagwat unnecessarily stoking fire and courting controversy?
Finally, Mr Modi must devote and dedicate the next 5 years of his term to building efficiencies and efficacies across the government systems. If he can do this and maintain a balanced and secular character, a bright second term awaits him in 2019, but if he caves in to Bhagwatisms and Shahisms, there is no doubt that he will be more and more deviating from his core electoral message and will be on his way out sooner than later.
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