Learn to respect our soldiers

Bhim Singh

On Thursday, four of the five jawans killed in the Poonch attack on August 6 were cremated with state honours in Bihar. To see the pain in the eyes of the widows of the jawans and the blankness in the eyes in their children was enough to move even the staunchest of critics of the Indian Army. However, Bihar’s rural works and panchayati raj minister Bhim Singh was not moved and even went to the extent of ridiculing the sombreness over the killings by suggesting that they were doing what they were paid for. Singh’s statement that “Jawans are meant to be martyred” is abominable, to say the least. After Singh’s statement backfired, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar apologised. Singh also apologised and latched on to that favourite excuse used by politicians whenever they are caught on the wrong foot — that he was misquoted.

This callousness, or rather crude apathy, shown by our political class is a reflection of a general indifference towards the armed forces. The ‘it’s-their-job’ attitude belittles the sacrifice of our armed forces to ensure that our country is safe. Guarding our borders is not an easy task. With Pakistan relentlessly sending militants, and even its own troops as in the recent attack, across the border and with Chinese incursions on the rise, the job of guarding our borders is getting tougher with every passing day. The armed forces also endure harsh weather conditions, be it the biting cold in the Himalayas or the scorching Sun in the deserts, and this is lost to the political class and public who think that ‘that’s-what-they’re-paid-for’. The Siachen Glacier, at a height of about 5,400 metres, is a strategically important post for India and is one of the harshest border posts in the world to patrol, and it is our troops who guard this front.
The Centre, after the initial flip-flop by the defence minister, has pinned the blame on the Pakistan army. This was an avoidable mishap, especially at a time when the armed forces are in need of more personnel. Statements, like the one give by Bhim Singh, will have a detrimental effect on the youth who aim to join the forces to serve the nation. The government should also look at ways in which the families of our slain armed forces personnel are taken care of. Though no monetary benefit will be a substitute for the lives lost, it is imperative that the families are not forgotten. Politicians should also refrain from politicising the martyrdom of our soldiers and the public should be more sensitive towards the service they render towards making life better for many of us.

Modi: The virtual is more powerful than the real

Narednra Damodardas Modi is an interesting phenomenon. I say phenomenon, and not person, owing two reasons: not much is being talked about Modi the person. While the media, along with other political parties, lose no chance to amplify and dissect the lives of other politicians, little is discussed about Modi’s life. The second reason is that there seems to be a conscientious effort to project Modi as a larger-than-life person. The latest effort in this direction was Modi’s virtual addressing of overseas Gujaratis in 20 cities in the United States on the occasion of Gujarat Divas. The subject of his talk was more or less on predictable lines — the prosperity Gujarat has seen under him, his vision for development and the peril the country is under the leadership of the Congress-led UPA. Interestingly, he also sought contributions for a statue — twice the size of the State of Liberty — of Sardar Patel.
This is not the first time Modi has made news for being the Lawrence of Arabia among Indian politicians for being the pioneer to use the World Wide Web to connect with the people. From 2005 Modi has been addressing the Gujarati community in the US on Gujarat Diwas. Modi became the first — and probably the only — Indian politician to address a rally using 3D hologram projection technology. His 3D virtual show that was simultaneously telecast at 53 places in December 10, 2012, using the Pepper’s Ghost Illusion technology entered the Guinness Book of World Records. News is that the BJP is all set to go bigger with the 3D show that in the next few months more such virtual appearances are expected where the Gujarat strongman will address people in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The NaMo Gujarat TV, a cable network channel that was launched prior to the Gujarat elections, is dedicated to highlighting the achievements of the BJP and it is all set to cater to a national audience.
On March 21, Modi spoke to thousands of netizens using Google+ Hangout on how IT technology has been used for better governance. Modi also has a very strong presence on social networking sites. When last checked he had more than 16 lakh followers on Twitter. That is a little shy of 17 lakh 70 thousand followers minister of state for human resource development Shashi Tharoor commands. Modi also has an active presence in Facebook, Youtube and Google+. This is an achievement not many chief ministers in India can boast about.

While in his virtual avatar Modi seems to be a towering edifice, in reality there appears to be chinks in the armour. Modi makes it a point to highlight the prosperity and development Gujarat has achieved under his leadership. The industry houses rushing to set shop in the state are proof of this. However, there is also the other side of the story where Gujarat has high levels of malnutrition and very poor social indices. Despite his juggernaut victories in the assembly polls in Gujarat, he has not been able to replicate that victory in any of the other states. His campaign speeches and visits during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh polls and the recent Karnataka elections seem to have a damp effect given that the party did not fare well in both the states. In the recent Karnataka debacle the party got such a thorough hiding that the effect of his campaign visits in the south is being questioned.
The allies in the NDA, of which the BJP is the principal party, are also not keen on projecting Modi as the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate. Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s chief minister and JD(U) leader, in April made it clear that his party was not for Modi. There is also an element of doubt surrounding the acceptability of Modi as the party’s candidate within the BJP. The party’s dilly-dallying in naming him as its candidate reflects this difference of opinion within the party and the RSS.
As of now, going by the results in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, among others, it seems that Narendra Modi has a virtual presence outside Gujarat. He has proved, three times in a row, his stature in the state, but beyond the state borders it is not as luminous as projected or perceived to be. However, there is a lot of time between now and the 2014 elections and it is hard to predict how things will shape up by then.
For now, the shrill cry of the thousands of Modi followers (fans) is akin to the fans of an Upendra or Mohanlal strongly pushing for their superstar to have dominance in Bollywood.