His supporters will have to tackle the Bill, presented to the U.S. Congress in March to fulfill their ambition of seeing Modi as the Prime Minister of India
By Francis Adams
Can a modern, democratic, progressive India of today afford to have a Prime Minister who will be unable to talk to the United States in their own backyard? The response, of course, is in the negative, in all upper case.
It is with this trepidation that you frequently see leading English-language newspapers in India allowing prime space to experts (qualified political commentators) and various other columnists to write about Gujarat's longest-serving Chief Minister Narendra Modi's hot prospect of being the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance's worthiest candidate for the Prime Minister's position in the 2014 general elections. More on that later.
Soon after an article on Modi's prospect is published by a newspaper and a copy of it posted on the paper's web site, it attracts a barrage of comments, both, by Modi's supporters and those who wish to see his back.
Yesterday (June, 26), The Times of India, the largest-selling English-language newspaper in the country, ran an editorial titled "Split Wide Open" that spoke elaborately about Modi's prospects as BJP and the NDA's leader. The article was also published by the paper's sister publication Economic Times.
An article draws comments depending on which web site readers follow. In this case, the same article posted on The Times of India's site attracted 14 comments at the time of writing this blog to The Economic Times' Nil comments.The reason The Times of India attracts more comments could be due to the badge of honour it confers on people posting their comments. So, if you, as a reader post 25 comments on timesofindia.com, you are likely to earn the Wordsmith Level 2 badge. You could be crowned News King Level 2 for viewing 100 articles, photos and videos and an Influencer Level 1's badge if 100 people either click Agree or recommend your comments on the site.
Five of the 14 who have commented on the article on Modi, written by political commentator Neerja Chowdhury, are owners of all the three badges, which shows that they are prolific reader-commentators on the site. In this article, Chowdhury has focused on how the RSS leadership is inclined to promote Modi as the face of the party. She has also pointed out that according to the RSS's calculation, Modi is likely to emerge as a strong leader among the urban middle class and the youth, considering the current wave of disappointment in the country over a weak UPA leadership.
IBNLive too published an article, yesterday, in the form of a blog, on Modi's Prime Ministerial chances. The blog headlined "Why Nitish might have actually helped the BJP decide on its PM candidate" has unraveled the simplest reason why the BJP and the RSS are taking the 'Modi for PM' route. The blog says that the BJP
is optimistic of winning 200 seats under Modi's leadership in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections than 20 less under any other leader.
A few days ago, The Times of India's weekend special, The Crest Edition, published a Perspective insight into how Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar -- identified as the shrewdest among the regional party leaders -- has propelled himself for a stellar role in the 2014 elections, aided by his secular credentials and the positives from the negative comments on him made by the RSS.
Tehelka, which positions itself as the publication that invests in hard-hitting investigative reporting, also offered Ram Puniyani, a Mumbai-based communal harmony activist, space to write his Opinion "'Supreme leader' is a fascist" that speaks on "how the projection of Modi as PM is part of an insidious political agenda". In the article, Puniyani has drawn an analogy between the functioning of Hitler and Modi.
An Opinion piece by The Hindu, on June 23, titled "Counting wrongly to 2014", published on June 23, begins with the remark that the clamour for Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate has been set rolling by Modi himself. The article says that Modi seems to be in a hurry to showcase his national ambitions because of the elections only months away in his own State - Gujarat.
All the above are pointers from more popular and established media organisations. There are numerous others who are writing by the minute on Matters Modi and his strides toward the Prime Minister's chair.
It is here that the trepidation sets in because, surprisingly, none of these articles -- opinion pieces and expert columns -- have either tipped or written about the Bill titled "Recognizing the tenth anniversary of the tragic communal violence in Gujarat, India" that was presented to the 112th U.S. Congress, three months ago, on March 1, 2012 and referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Bill is also scheduled to be referred to the Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia on July 5.
| Keith Maurice Ellison |
The man behind the Bill or the Sponsor, as one is titled in the U.S. Congress, Keith Maurice Ellison is the U.S Representative for Minnesota's 5th Congressional district. African American Ellison, the first Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress, grabbed the spotlight when he, on being elected to the House of Representatives on November 7, 2006, took the oath by placing his hands on a Qur'an that once belonged to President Thomas Jefferson.
His act was also famously quoted by President Barack Obama, who while addressing nations with majority Muslim population on June 4, 2009, in Cairo, Egypt said: "And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Quran that one of our Founding Fathers—Thomas Jefferson—kept in his personal library." Obama used Ellison's example to emphasize the positive impact Muslims have had on America.
Although controversial, Ellison is also co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the largest within the Democratic Caucus in the United States Congress and an organization that fights a) for economic justice and security in the United States as well as global economies b) to protect and preserve civil rights and
civil liberties c) to promote global peace and security and d) to strengthen environmental protection and energy independence.
The CPC has the support and backing of liberal organizations including the Institute for Policy Studies, The Nation magazine, National Priorities Project, Peace Action, Americans for Democratic Action, and Progressive Democrats of America.
The Bill presented by Ellison, makes a resolve that the House of Representatives
1) recognizes the suffering of all people affected by the 2002 riots in Gujarat, along with those who lost their lives in the Godhra train fire.
2) shares the opinion of the U.S. Department of State that the Gujarat government has failed to adequately pursue justice for victims of the 2002 violence.
3) takes cognizance of reports from journalists and human rights groups about the complicit manner Chief Minister Narendra Modi acted in the 2002 violence.
4) lauds the U.S. Government for denying Modi a visa in 2005 on the grounds of religious freedom violation under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.
5) congratulates the role of Indian police officers who took personal risk to provide honest testimony about the violence in Gujarat.
6) Commends the independent media in India for continuing to highlight the Gujarat issue.
7) salutes the roles of the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court of India for effecting some convictions in the Gujarat riot cases and also for the arrest of few prominent leaders in the Modi administration.
8) acknowledges the work of Indian and Indian-American civil society groups for their efforts in educating people about human rights and religious freedom in India.
9) calls to the government in Gujarat to accept the recommendations of the State Department to restore religious freedom for all citizens in Gujarat.
It is these issues, along with the U.S. Department of State, the civil and human rights groups and all others involved that the BJP, the RSS and Modi will have to appease and manouevre should his ambitions of becoming the Prime Minister be realistic, unless Modi and his backers have strategies lined up their sleeves,
such as having lobby groups in the U.S. who will take care of such contentious issues and people later.
Nationally Modi's stake has undoubtedly risen, thanks to the development work he so zealously carried out in Gujarat over the years, thus, gaining the trust of industrialists Ratan Tata and Mukesh Ambani among others.
Meanwhile, among the strange development on the topic, the verified twitter account of the U.S. President Barack Obama ( @BarackObama http://www.barackobama.com ) that has 16,938,493 followers and says "This account is run by #Obama2012 campaign staff. Tweets from the President are signed -bo. Washington, DC" can be seen following the unofficial account of Narendra Modi -- Narendra Modi Blog (@thenarendramodi ) [This is an unofficial blog about Narendra Modi. (FYI) This is not real ID of Modiji.
Meanwhile, among the strange development on the topic, the verified twitter account of the U.S. President Barack Obama ( @BarackObama http://www.barackobama.com ) that has 16,938,493 followers and says "This account is run by #Obama2012 campaign staff. Tweets from the President are signed -bo. Washington, DC" can be seen following the unofficial account of Narendra Modi -- Narendra Modi Blog (@thenarendramodi ) [This is an unofficial blog about Narendra Modi. (FYI) This is not real ID of Modiji.
Gandhinagar http://www.thenarendramodi.info/ 11,344 followers].
Modi's official and verified-by-twitter account is Narendra Modi -- @narendramodi. It says: "Twitter account of Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat, India. Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India" http://www.narendramodi.in/
Links to articles on Modi's Prime Ministerial prospects and others:
Why Nitish might have actually helped the BJP decide on its PM candidate http://bit.ly/NI2oFX
Split wide open http://bit.ly/MqPydD
Smart & secular http://bit.ly/MxMi1A
‘Supreme leader’ is fascist http://bit.ly/LMW645
Counting wrongly to 2014 http://bit.ly/LMWMGS
Everything you need to know about Narendra Modi http://bit.ly/MPTS79
No comments:
Post a Comment