Why we expect Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of the Union of India, for god’s sake, not the daroga of Dadri, to speak on every issue??

His subordinates are taking his silence as tacit approval

The Indian Prime Minister who was till now silent on growing intolerance in the nation and recent lynching to death of a Muslim citizen over rumors of beef eating has finally broken his silence for good. “Dadri incident or the incident against the Pakistani singer is sad and unwelcome. But what is the role of the central government in it?” the Prime Minister asked. PM is right in asking such an question, it was not under the jurisdiction of Centre government that these incidents occurred, but is there nothing that he could have done to ease the tension that prevailed aftermath of it?

For those who are unaware of latest turn of events in India, a 50-year-old man, Mohammad Akhlaq, was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son severely injured on a dreadful night in UP’s Dadri, allegedly by residents of Bisara village, after rumors spread in the area about the family storing and consuming beef which was later found to be goat meat after ‘forensic reports’.

Recently, concert of Ghulam Ali, world renowned Pakistani Ghazal maestro was called off after protests from Shiv Sena who is ally in BJP led Maharashtra government. Just two days ago the Sena again managed to grab the attention of prime-time news by throwing ink on former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni. His crime, to arrange and host the book launch of former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. Shiv Sena is not new to such display of muscle flexing and hooliganism but it uses such tactics to grab headlines more so during elections. So these things are imminent given upcoming local elections in the state!

Then there are killings of Kalburghi, Pansare and Dabholkar. These killings occurred under the congress ruled states but fingers are ripe pointing at right-wing organizations particularly Sanatan Sanstha which was responsible for multiple blasts in Madgaon, Goa and Pune, Maharashtra.

To sum them all, yes, none of this incidents happened directly under Mr. Modi, the PM as opposition and most of the mainstream media would like us to believe but can he as supreme head of the state shrug his responsibility or more importantly, was there nothing that he as an influential and most popular leader could have done?

Though this incidents have nothing to do with central government yet few of central ministers and leaders (read Yogi Adityanath, Sakshi Maharaj, Sadhvi Prachi, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma) have polluted the space with insensitive comments and at times inciting the crowd. Don’t want to bore you with who said what but time and again these leaders (there are other leaders from other parties too but these are part of the ruling regime) have politicized the already tense atmosphere raising slogans that have sowed seeds of divide. Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma even had addressed a public meeting at Dadri after meeting the family of Mohammed Akhlaq which was prohibited under law then. Prime Minister per se had no role in all these incidents nor is he required by law to comment on all these sad incidents. It is the Chief Ministers of respective states who should be held responsible and asked for comments! Alright. But what about the callousness of his ministers? Shouldn’t the leader be held responsible for his subordinates’ behavior? Shouldn’t the leader if he doesn’t agree with what his ministers speak, reprimand them and take them to task in cases necessary? His silence in a way appears like a tacit approval of their words and that is heartening. If PM expresses his opinion on every major issue that is plaguing the nation then it’s more than welcome but he need not necessarily. It is his opinion to do so or otherwise but he must speak about his ministers, leaders of his party who further damage the already fragile atmosphere after such uncalled for incidents.

Nobody has even an ounce of doubt about Narendra Modi being the most popular political leader today and his popularity continues to scale even on global map. With great power comes great responsibility, said some old wise man; Narendra Modi must realize just that.

Mr. Modi has finally spoken and that’s good. But why did he kept silence all the while? Imagine the scenario if only he had spoken just after such unprecedented events. When a leader who is respected across the cadre speaks, his people follow, they toe the line drawn by their leader. It in a way sends strong signal about what is expected and what is not. Take for example the Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan. Today, everyone is talking about cleanliness, be it on TV or our boardrooms, we are discussing it, debating it. Such is the case when it comes from the top especially from a leader who enjoys huge popularity among masses. It’s not that Modi is silent like former PM Manmohan Singh but he is not as responsive as himself when he was the CM of Gujarat. Remember how he used to tweet on all matters although much of them had nothing to do with Gujarat, the state whose head he was then? That was the leader we choose to be our PM and not the current Modi who keeps silent on an issue when it’s at its prime and chooses to speak when his words will have very little or no effect at all! Sad, isn’t it?

Moreover it’s not that Mr. Prime Minister is so busy that he can’t tweet and raise his concern, he can for he tweets almost on every stuff. He manages to wish every world leader or his minister or other important figures on their big days, he pulls himself to wish us on festivals, he tweets selfies; he does them all, why not a little more?

Those who allege others of being harsh with Modi must know the mood of the nation at the end of previous government. People were all disillusioned with the regime and from that hopelessness Narendra Modi rose or to put it simply, Mr. Modi cashed in on that hopelessness. He sold dreams, and we all brought them. Now it’s time to deliver and people are getting impatient, they question his every move from the prism of their understanding. That in parts is the reason why we expect him to speak on every issue because he can! We never expected Manmohan Singh to do that; one, he was not elected out of high hopes or from hopelessness. Second, he was simply not the kind of leader Modi is. The energy and dynamism Mr. Modi brings to office are all new unlike his predecessors so are our expectations.

There is problem with his followers too. Each time someone shows the problem with current regime, they point fingers at the havoc caused by previous regime. Why don’t they understand there is reason why the previous regime lost and people of this nation voted a new government with whooping majority? Don’t you see that? Stop comparing your wrongs with their worse’. If you are going to continue the mistakes of previous regime, what good will that bring upon us, the citizens? We wished you will be different, unlike them, which you seem to be are in a lot different ways we didn’t wish you would be!!

Hope things will change. My Prime Minister will be more proactive and will use his words more often, and at times when it holds weight and not when they are mere words. I believe, one can expect that from him given his prolific oratory. More importantly, he must act now and not just sooth us with his powerful oratory. We’re tired of words, we long for actions now. Speak up, more often with your actions. And to his admirers, slow down, pause a little, people are not trying to bring your leader down nor can they bring the one who rose to height from humble background. My leader, your leader is strong enough. He has faced many such storms in his lifetime. It’s not even a storm but just a wind that shall pass. The more we like someone the more we take interest in him or her. That in my opinion is case with Mr. Modi.

P.S. There is reason why many are returning their awards and accolades. Many feel like the current regime is not listening to its critics, that it is bulldozing the other view. It is true or not can be asserted only when the leader speaks from the front and doesn’t leave it for a gruesome guess game with his alleged tactical silence where his ministers do irreparable damage and then the leader speaks. It’s like people pouring water after fire has already burned the city to ashes!

We seek the Modi that he lured us into voting and not the MMS with new packaging…