On Monday 18 May 2009 3:21:13 am Badri Natarajan wrote: > Shiv, can you tell us what you think of Modi?
Badri - I don't think about Modi at all. All my "thoughts" about Modi are based around what others say about him. But when I listen to others I have the option of giving equal weightage to two or more sides of a story. When you look at Modi through this sort of lens the "jury is out" about Modi, if you like. Modi's initial rise to national prominence was based around the riots. But he seems to have been an effective administrator after that - so clearly there are at least two sides. He is the darling boy of one side and the Hitler of another side. When only one side of a story is given a lot of prominence it smacks of a political agenda that is utilizing the "saleability" of horror to smear someone and obfuscate issues while debate is scotched. In India the people who like to describe themselves as "secular" have been given a bomb proof shelter to hide their own mistakes by events such as the Ahmedabad riots and that event is being milked to the fullest extent without any hint of introspection about what relationship the state of india has developed with people of different faiths under the guise of secularism. My "torn shirt - open fly" analogy works very well here. The so called "secular parties" have a gala time dissing the open fly of Modi's Hindutva while all discussion of their own torn shirt is suppressed. This is a national mistake. In that sense the "Modi" issue is a veil behind which other issues are cheerfully and mindlessly suppressed in public debate. shiv
