The silence of PM Modi and his ministers on Telangana’s honour killing reflects on their attitude towards other social evils such as rape.
When a husband (and soon-to-be-father) gets killed right in front of his pregnant wife just because he was born in a scheduled caste family does not attract the attention of the Prime Minister, then what else will?
Understandably, a PM is a busy man. Arguably he does not have enough time to address such trivial matters that garner no political mileage.
That said, PM Modi does have time to:
1. Spend hours speaking to the BJP’s Karyakartas (party workers) while being in public office.
2. Spend hours thanking his fans on Twitter for complimenting his incredible growth chart (let’s drop the facts here).
3. Spend hours travelling across the country giving hour-long speeches before and after elections in personal and public events.
4. Spend hours doing ‘great public service’ by interacting with kids in schools where a CM is already there to inspect the work done.
Our PM celebrating the emerging New India at the cost of social evils being ignored reflects the attitude of the government towards other concerns such as rapes.
Crime Against Women in India
Over four women are raped in India every hour. That means one woman is raped every 15 minutes and a staggering 106 rapes happen in the country every day.
To put it in perspective, 108 kids are born in Singapore every day. That’s some developmental record.
Even worse, four out of ten rape victims in India are minors.
Is the government not aware of this? If yes, then what is this celebration of New India? Are these rape victims free to live a respectable life in this country?
Has the government assured fast track judgement against rapists?
If anything, the government should be ashamed of its silence on crucial matters and hyperactivity on divisive politics.
Is this not a political worry for the Modi government or Rahul Gandhi?
The Congress party has spent hours on press conferences attacking Modi, and the BJP has spent more to counter them. Unfortunately, both have done none against more serious problems.
It appears that the politicians of today are not even interested in talking about discrimination, rapes and many such issues that bring ‘bad light’ to this righteous country.
From what we can hear from the corridors of power, PM Modi doesn’t like to be questioned or criticised. And from the kind of leadership we have seen from the leader, he has kept himself at an arm’s distance from any controversial matter that may push a question down his throat.
Yet, if not the PM, then at least the people can expect the cabinet ministers to give at least a formal statement.
If not, then it is a sheer lack of intent and not for the lack of time because the incumbent ministers are not only handling their individual portfolios but are also ‘helping’ each other out.
The Multi-talented Cabinet
India’s law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad says the BJP will rule for 50 years, rhetoric that would’ve sounded better from the mouth of a party spokesperson.
But since Mr Prasad believes that it’s the BJP’s hard work that will keep it in power, the efforts behind the aforementioned rhetoric can be attributed to his hard-working nature.
It does not come as a surprise that Mr Prasad has not yet held a press conference about the deteriorating state of the judiciary.
From what we know, over 420 vacancies in High Courts across the country remain vacant and that at the current speed of appointments, it would take 15 years for them to fill up.
But that’s not worthy of a press conference for Mr Prasad.
Let’s see then what issues Mr Prasad considers worthy of press conferences.
1. Press conference on the imposition of emergency in 1975 by Indira Gandhi
2. Press conference on Bharat Bandh
3. Press Conference on disruptions caused in Parliament by TMC and Congress
4. Press conference on the 38th foundation day of BJP
5. Press Conference on allegations made by Congress Party regarding Nirav Modi
6. Press Conference on Rahul Gandhi’s blatant lies inside & outside the Parliament
The list is endless, but these do give a gist of his hard work.
Let us not be unfair. Mr Prasad is not the only multi-talented minister of this government since we also have defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Madam Sitharaman has been busy tackling “anti-india forces” among JNU students.
“They are waging a war against India, pamphlets suggest. Their brochures say that. Such people leading the JNUSU, or JNUSU members, openly participate with such forces. Therefore you do not need to hesitate to say anti-India,” said Ms Sitharaman.
While she occupies herself with ‘party work’, Air Chief Marshal points out that “No country is facing the kind of grave threat that India is confronted with. Intentions of our adversaries can change overnight. We need to match the force level of our adversaries.”
Are the JNU “anti-India elements” a bigger threat to the nation than the concerns pointed out by Chief Marshal?
Is Pranay Kumar’s death a non-issue for the government?
Are the protests happening across the country against non-payment of salaries, discrimination, government failures, etc. a non-issue for the Modi government?
It does appear to be so and if this is how the Modi government proposes to be in power for next 50 years, then some dark days lie ahead for the people in New India, a Chimera.
Originally published at India Protests