March 10, 2019 will go down as the or one of the worst days of Modi’s political life. His concerted attempts to keep the Rafale deal documents from the purview of the Supreme Court was brushed aside by the Court, EC took a giant stride in an attempt to try and restore some of its fast diminishing credibility of being an independent body by delaying the release of Modi’s biopic. It also ensured that Modi’s propaganda channel, NaMo TV gets no more airtime. But the biggest dent has been caused from the most unlikely source. None other than the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, endorsing him as PM for another term.
Now why doesn’t the government want the apex court of the country to see Rafale documents? If they have been stolen as the government claims, it could well be in the public domain now. What is it about the documents that the government is so fiercely guarding from the eyes of the Court?
Thankfully, the Court has bypassed all the ridiculous arguments the AG has posed before it and has directed that all relevant documents be produced before it. Moreover how much time has passed since the files have been “stolen”? Why hasn’t the government initiated an investigation into the theft and recovered the files yet since the government itself claims the files are of high national security? Why isn’t the Court or the petitioners of the case asking this to the AG? Beats my commonsense.
A biopic of Modi is disconcerting to begin with. It has drawn comparison with a similar movie made about Adolf Hitler when he was the chancellor of Germany. Why would elected leaders in governance endorse and promote movies about themselves that glorifies them from the beginning to the end? What was Modi hoping to get by releasing the movie at the stroke of elections?
Was he expecting unemployed distressed youth and farmers committing suicide because of debt to get swayed by the movie and vote for him? I still do not understand why political parties and its leaders need pamphlets, flexes and banners to advertise about themselves. Good work speaks for itself anywhere. This is the fundamental flaw in Indian electoral establishment. We are expected to vote for political leaders who are thrust as our representatives by the parties.
Politics is their full time employment. Most of them are of the opinion that they can work for people only if they are elected and have power. We need to elect social leaders who have worked for people’s development and welfare in the past. Not a single politician in India has such a pedigree as Arvind Kejriwal who has won the Ramon Magsaysay award for his work with none other than the peerless Mother Teresa. It is high time we started rejecting political leaders without social experience.
This is one reason why I denounce AAP for advertising its achievements and spending people’s money for it. If they are working for the people, people will speak about it and there has never been and will never be better marketing than word of mouth. So more marketing and trumpeting amounts to lesser governance and less work for people. To go as far as a biopic and propaganda TV channel indicates how little Modi has done for the people.
This takes me to the NaMo TV facade. Absolutely hilarious and disgusting at the same time. Who on earth would go to this extent for self publicity, that too by flouting all rules and bypassing all required licenses? This clearly shows Modi’s desperation to hold on to power by any means and why he has been using every available government machinery at his whims and fancies. People were increasingly expressing their resentment fiercely on social media and were incensed at NaMo TV being pushed to them on multiple channels by some service providers. EC could no longer play pied piper to Modi’s tunes.
The last and the most important brow beating that Modi has received has come from the most unlikeliest of sources. From out of nowhere, Imran Khan, the PM of Pakistan has endorsed Modi as PM for a second term and said he believes some sort of settlement could be reached with the BJP nationalist government regarding Jammu & Kashmir if Modi is elected as PM again. His statement is wide open for multiple interpretations.
It could mean he wants Hindu fundamentalism to take over the country, destroy democracy and become like Pakistan and then Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists can sit together and smoke peace pipes. But what I believe in is a larger message to Modi through endorsing him.
What most people haven’t realized is that the endorsement is a double edged sword. Modi’s agenda for this election is largely national security which means every conversation he has and every speech he delivers will have Pakistan in it. By endorsing him, Imran has effectively choked that narrative in Modi’s throat. Imran’s message to Modi seems to be “Do not make Pakistan your punching bag to fool the people of India and win their votes”. Now, if Modi wins the election and becomes PM again, Imran can throw his endorsement right back on Modi’s face and pull him to the negotiating table on Jammu and Kashmir. Imran has thrown the gauntlet to Modi and the whole world knows about it.
Imran is Oxford educated and he will always be remembered as one of the shrewdest cricketers and captains ever. Pakistan cricket teams of every era have been abundance of skill and talent which has always made them dangerous and unpredictable at the same time. Leading such a highly talented group of players to the World Cup, holding them together and inspiring them to win the cup against all the odds at the age of 40 defies all conventional logic. Modi should have had spoken to Indian cricket players before continuing with his anti-Pakistan rhetoric after Imran became PM.
If Imran was to play for any country now, he would walk into the team automatically as its captain, coach and chief selector all rolled into one. He had carried this reputation over to social service when he set up Pakistan’s first cancer hospital against all odds and after everyone had derided him. No politician in India has the wherewithal to handle the guile of Imran. Modi should have realized this at least when Imran clean bowled all of Modi’s plans by returning Abhinandan to India unconditionally and gaining global fame at Modi’s expense.
Imran’s endorsement of Modi seems to be the final nail in Modi’s political coffin. Modi’s bhakts (blind followers) have been robbed off all their narratives and rhetoric.
Some are saying Imran is endorsing Rahul Gandhi indirectly but it is far from true. Imran has ensured that there will be no Pakistan effect on the elections along with laying a political trap for Modi with regards to Jammu and Kashmir. After the dilemma between ousting Alok Verma and risking a CBI investigation, Modi has been caught again but this time it is between the devil and the deep sea. The only option he has left to avoid Imran’s trap is to not become PM again.
Of course, Modi is just the face. The master strategist and the brain behind Modi, Amit Shah must be fuming his lungs out.