A Very Personal Appeal Friends,
The sixteenth Lok Sabha election is just knocking at the door. The first phase will commence on the coming 7th, just about two days after. While there is no promise on the horizon for a better, more democratic, and more egalitarian India post-election; there is a distinct possibility of the secular-democratic edifice of the Indian nation-state which had come up as an outcome of India's epic freedom struggle to rid itself of the yoke of the British colonial rule may come under unprecedented severe attack if the predictions of the "professional" psephologists really come true and thereby seriously endanger the lives and limbs of large sections of Indian people - the "minorities", the dissenters, the conscientious. Given the sheer grimness of the situation, the central task in the forthcoming election for those who value democracy and secularism is to halt Modi's march to Delhi. He poses a unique and overwhelming threat to India, its people, its secular-democratic commitments. That makes everything else, right for this very moment, secondary. An elaborate explanation, at this point of time, is rather superfluous. Even then, as regards my own estimation of the spine-chilling implications of the RSS/BJP coming to power, may look up two topical writings of mine: 'BJP's Real Agenda' at < http://www.sacw.net/index.php?page=imprimir_articulo&id_article=768> (and also at <http://www.epw.in/discussion/bjp-s-real-agenda.html>) and 'Nuclear Exhibitionism: Footfall of "Hindu" Fascism' at < http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article30114> (and also at < http://www.epw.in/discussion/nuclear-exhibitionism-footfall-hindu-fascism.html>). These were carried by the Economic and Political Weekly back in Feb. / May 1998. The issue in broader context is discussed, at some length, in my 'Indian Nationalism, Hindutva and the Bomb' (See: <http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article10225>) in September 2003. In the specific context of what the Modi Brigade expects of Modi, a very recent, and revealing, sample is: 'Nepal will be 'Hindu State' if Modi takes power: VHP' (see: < https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/india-unity/conversations/messages/53438 >). >From all these above, and, more importantly, starting from Modi's actual track record of presiding over a hugely bloody mayhem, at the very commencement of his chief ministership, to his rather recent deployment of the state security agencies to monitor the movements and phone calls of a private citizen - his alleged love object, and all those connected with her by simply trashing the rule book and in flagrant violation of all ethics just to satisfy his personal whims, and, in between, the gory staged encounters to project himself as a target of the "terrorists" - being a great "patriot", one may draw one's own inference. As regards his inflated claim of "good governance" in Gujarat, there are many good exposures. Just two examples: <http://narendramodifacts.com/> and <http://defencelover.in/2014/02/19/reasons-for-not-voting-modi/>; and also < https://www.facebook.com/SachKaSafar2014> and <truthofgujarat.com>. As far as actual voting is concerned, one - who values democracy and secularism (there is no "democracy" without "secularism"), to my mind, should, at the constituency level, opt for the candidate perceived to be best placed to defeat the BJP, and is likely to oppose it post-election if elected. In this context, given the lack of acceptability of his main challengers to many democratic-minded people for very good reasons, I'd like to recall a past French Presidential election in 2002 in which in the final round it was Jack Chirac vs. Le Pen. Jack Chirac, by all means, belonged to the hard Right, not even right of Centre. Yet the bulk of the French Left voted for Chirac. Many of them while voting had a piece of cloth tied over the nose to denote that Chirac stinks. Yet they voted for Chirac. And Chirac defeated Le Pen by a landslide." (See: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2002> and < http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/05/05/chirac.htm>.) So, to sun up, let us do all that we can do to avert the looming disaster. Let not other considerations detract us from this immediate task of overwhelming salience. Let us try to ensure some breathing space and time to fight out our more fundamental struggles for a better India - a better world. Sukla -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
