How posterity will view Modi legacy ?

 Vivekanand Jha, Ranchi: While millions go into frenzy at his mere sight, beholding their messiah, millions swear expletives at his fleeting glimpse, while some condescendingly dubs him as the ‘ Maut ka saudagar’, other disdainfully dismisses him as the ‘Divider in chief’, notwithstanding these myriad optics, the real Narendra Modi is beyond any pigeon holing or being straightjacketed into any precise definition.

India was on the verge of the general election of 2019 when the Time magazine had exploded a bombshell: Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, is a divider in chief. Coming as it did, just preceding the date of general election when Narendra Modi was seeking a re-election, the very coinciding of this article by Aatish Tasser, son of Tavleen Singh, a venerable journalist of India, whose columns in Indian Express routed for Narendra Modi, appeared inordinately perplexing and befuddling to Modi supporters. Unequivocally, though not publicly acknowledged, it had considerably upset Narendra Modi personally too, when the Prime Minister, posing a brave face, ostensibly dismissed the stigma of being hailed as the ‘Divider in chief’ as a Goebbelsian propaganda unleashed by the forces inimical to him. No wonder, Prime Minister simply insinuated that the author of the piece hailed from a country that everyone knows has never been positively disposed towards India.

Significantly, Narendra Modi was alluding to Aatish Taseer’s father, Salman Taseer, a former minister in Pakistan, who was gunned down for talking sense by the marauding fanatic. Nonetheless, Prime Minister and his cohorts, appeared subdued by the Time Magazine’s pejoratively debunking him in such abysmal terms. Small wonder then, being a Hindu nationalist then, rising to the occasion I had designated Narendra Modi as the ‘Unifier in chief’, whose summum bonum was to reunify the nation which stood hopelessly divided along the lines of religions. With the advent of Hindu nationalism in the polity, even though there was no wrong done to Muslims per se, unconscionable hypes and blusters notwithstanding, the Hindu nationalism, innocently though, has come to be treated synonymous with that of injecting a sense of divisiveness in the polity, a precursor to subordination of Muslims as the second class citizens of the republic. Incidentally, Congress, being extremely agitated by its own marginalisation, and Communists, sent into the comatose stage, needed some oxygen for its own resurrection, hence, the coming together of these notorious forces for reinventing themselves, began trumpeting that the Hindu nationalism was a surer recipe for the impending disaster for the nation. Unsurprisingly, when triple Talaqq, an unprecedented step taken towards the amelioration of the lots of Muslims, was deliberately underplayed, the CAA was mischievously blown out of the proportion to frighten Muslims into believing that it was the trigger for the impending Hindu Rashtra. No wonder the large scale Muslim mobilisation along these lines that their future lay at stake, contributed to polarising the polity further. But then Delhi riots, notwithstanding whose brainchild it was, exposed BJP’s ulterior motive to polarise Hindu for vote bank politics.

This sharpening of religious feelings, which became all the more apparent when the apex court had given its historic verdict on Ayodhya Ramjanmabhoomie. Irrespective of how it was brought about and who influenced it, it at least provided some solace for the decades old dispute on Ramjanma Bhoomie-Babri mosque where the conflict appeared prolonged, with no respite coming to Hindus. Worse still, the taint that too stuck with the majority community that, irrespective of their rabble rousing, they were powerless when it came to reclaiming their own legacy, so called legacy that related to the Maryada Purushottam, the soul of Bharat Varsha, a nation of Hindus. Significantly, Hindus were prisoners of their whims unless they seized control of their Sanctum Sanctorum of Maryada Purushottam. It was not the victory of Hindus, nor it was a defeat for Muslims, but the fact, neither which can be ignored nor glossed over, that all the previous leaderships, far from standing erect, bent backwards each time the Muslim fanatics raised their pitch of rhetorics. It was Narendra Modi alone who dared to open Ramjanma Bhoomie for Hindus and, that too, when there was hardly any murmur of protest, far less demonstration of any sort, which was customary for Muslims to bring the nation to a halt. Recall, how Rohangyas issue, which ought not to have found its reverberation across India, for being an extraneous one, took the nation by storm, when the minority rose in support of their brethren from far off India, and virtually forced the government to rehabilitate them. Regrettably, the greater feelings of Islamic brotherhood which united them as a cohesive unit, remains so inexplicably conspicuously absent when within India, if Hindus become an object of target. The plight of Kashmiri Pundits, remains a paradigm that illustrates how Islamic brotherhood cements them as a cohesive force which outweigh any other consideration. Modi’s rule, despite its multiple cons and substantive fallibilities, has given the Hindus a flicker of hope, a belief that it is their country, in the absence of which as Sonia Gandhi’s preposterous secularism, was demoralising Hindus, was made to feel Hindus guilty in their own country. Under Congress rule, Hindus were made to feel their duty to keep the minority Muslims in good humour, to keep pandering to their whims and fancy too. Little wonder, Manmohan Singh’s comment that ‘the minority had a preferential rights over the national resources’ irrevocably established this apologist mindset of Hindus. Especially when Hindus gave them asylum in India, in the wake of creation of an Islamic Pakistan. Should that majority compassion be so quickly be given a decent burial when the belligerent minorities, in their predatory mindset, strives to convert India into Gazwa-e-Hind? There was an immediate necessity to put a halt to it.

Narendra Modi, undoubtedly was the antidote to this hubris of minority. The strength that he has inculcated in Hindus, makes him the real ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’. This is the glorious Modi legacy that posterity too will applaud. Hindus looked upon India as their nation, and not apologists required to perenially feel themselves guilty of having the monkey of secularism on their shoulder. Modi, by one stroke, took that monkey off the shoulders of Hindus. But the buck stops there. The economic colonisation that has been kick-started is another important legacy that Modi will bequeath to the posterity. In fact, in the garb of heightened communal temperature, national resources is being handed over to Adani, Ambani, is another agenda that Modi has been smartly executing with the absolute concurrence of RSS. Where is RSS’ Swadeshi Jagran Manch? If the scarce resources of the nation is so unabashedly handed over to the selective private players, the return of East India Company days is not far off when the indigenous business imperialist will seize power from the backdoor. Unfortunately, this is happening now at the rapid pace. In the lockdown, Modi government has been going hammer and tongs to sell the public sectors and handing over the infrastructure like airports to its favourite industrialists. Thus, on the one hand it is driving a wedge into Hindu-Muslims and on the other, privatising India’s economy, will surely break India’s backbone. Also, in a Bismarckian vision of seeking a strong alliance with the neighbours, alienating almost all neighbours, is another low in the ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy of Modi government. Then, suddenly developing a fancy in Chanakya’s Raja Mandala doctrine where under your friend’s enemy is your friend, while seeking to embark upon ‘ Further Look East’ policy might appear fanciful and strategic on paper but not in realistic terms. No wonder then, Narendra Modi, an enigma for his detractors, Divider in chief for an outsider and ‘ Maut ka Saudagar’ for Sonia, is the manifestation of an individual in myriad costumes. Yet, for his millions of his admirers, he is the messiah born to redeem them, in fact, born to consecrate the Punya Bholmie of Bharat Varsha. A man who was born as the ambassador of giving an innate strength to Hindus, by liberating Ram lala, who was kept in captivity for centuries. Unfortunately, as victors writes the history, the pioneering contribution of Lal Krishna Advani is written off when he is very much alive, as it appeared on the day of Bhoomie Pujan, at Ayodhya when the latter was conspicuous by his absence and Narendra Modi hogged the limelight. Significantly, Modi’s foremost legacy to the posterity will be that of his liberator of Ram lala from Ayodhya, and therefore, Modi conducted the Bhoomie Pujan in tearing hurry. Also, another legacy that will be cherished by the posterity, is the abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A. He will go down in history as an architect of Article 370 and 35A. Ironically, the posterity will seldom know, far less remember that how he had botched up the lock down during Corona. Neither the historian will Chronicle it for the posterity, nor will they be allowed to do so, because victors writes history and at this moment he appears invincible. Vivekanand Jha is the only Indian to have written three books on Narendra Modi and Hindu nationalism: Delhi Beckons: RaGa for NaMo, 56 Inches and The Making of Narendra Modi, Unmaking of Jawaharlal.