Dear Prime Minister,
First of all, let me confess something that may or may not go down well with you: I’m not the one who was happy to see you become my country’s premier and reach the office that you have been calling yours since May 16, 2014. And I’m sure that this is not new for you. I’m sure you must be aware that while millions were ecstatic about you leading them, I, among other few millions, was disturbed. Very disturbed.
I had arguments with everyone who predicted you as our leader. To be honest, I was repelled by the very idea. But look at you: you did reach there, sitting and working in the office where Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shashtri, the much controversial Indira Gandhi, and your party’s most popular PM Atal Ji did! Those who were against the idea of you entering the sacrosanct space have had to accept the fact that you are there.
However, despite all my misgivings about you enjoying that post, I have to admit that I respect the fact that someone from such a disadvantaged community and background is my Prime Minister. Because this very act fulfils the vision of our Indian Constitution. When somebody spoke of a chaiwala (tea seller) leading my country, I felt proud. Proud of the fact that somebody who made chai for a living is leading the country of millions.
But Mr. PM, with all that said and done, I must shift my attention to why millions of Indians were and are perturbed by you at the helm. Who would know it better than you, that in 2014 voters either voted for or against Modi. It was an open and shut case of “whether Modi is the Desh ka rakhwala (the nation’s protector)” like you claimed to be or not? You must also take pride in the fact that wherever BJP stands today is because 31% of our population believed in your “promises of Achche Din (good days)” and to be honest, considered you their saviour. However, let’s not forget that the other 69% did not see you as their rakhwala (protector), neither did they believe in your rajneetik jumlas (political games). They disagreed with your concept of desh (nation). This concept of desh (nation) is based solely on the spirit of democracy. The same democracy which has allowed you to enter the PM office. So, the next time when you stand with your “big speech” to address your nation and want your mitron (friends) to listen to you, I urge you to revisit and re-understand (if you can) this concept of desh (nation).
PM Modi image for inuth.com (Photo: PTI)
When you do, please let me know the reason of your deafening silence on the subjects that were otherwise relevant national issues. Why were you silent when the alleged murderer of a soldier’s father was draped in Tiranga (the tricolour signifying the Indian Flag) and commemorated like a martyr and that too by your own party members? Why were you silent when a Dalit student committed suicide because of the atrocities he faced? And what about the infamous silence during JNU student protests when you allowed student politics to be blown out of proportion and hid behind your HRD minister? Where were you when an “integral part” of your nation (read: Kashmir) was burning? Where were you when two youth were hanged to death, courtesy: beef? Or when over 3,000 farmers committed suicide in the same state where you inaugurated a 3,600-crore statue a few days back? Why couldn’t you mention them in your “big” speech? Did they not deserve it? Or when your Information & Broadcast ministry tried shutting up a journalist who questioned an encounter which seemed staged (fake, I’d say but don’t want the I&B ministry to ban me as well, after all, my career has just started!)? Or about the approximately 100 people who lost their lives due to your pet policy aka demonetisation? Why were you not as vocal about these topics as you have been about our former PM Manmohan Singh’s silence? Where was your rally rhetoric lost?
I know your followers (or Bhakts as they are popularly known) would say that now that 2016 is over, I should not delve into the issues of the previous year. However, since I’m a firm believer of an Isabel Allende quote “write what should not be forgotten”, I’ll neither forget nor make it so easy for them.
You, Mr. Modi, have time and again looked up to Sardar Vallabhai Patel as your idol. But I hope you’re aware that the Sardar was the head of the Constituent Assembly’s Committee on Minorities. The same Sardar who gave educational, cultural and even religious guarantee to Indian minorities (I hope, you have read our constitution before taking the post?).
My father always told me that during his school days, a certain master ji (teacher) had a fixed set of punishments to scare the “chosen ones”. Memories of the 2002 Gujarat riots and the recent Muzaffarnagar riots are that cane. A scary reminder that says, “Beware, this is what will be done to you!” A reminder that no one deserves to live within a democracy. A reminder that has been embedded in the mind of millions.
It lies in your hands, Mr. Modi, to disperse that fear. You have the authority, the power and the obligation to do that. And I would like to believe that you shall succeed.
You know that all religious minorities in India, not just the Muslim, have always lived in fear. There is the fear of a sudden riot caused with real or staged political provocation and worse, returned with double the intensity. Dalits and Adivasis, especially the women and children, have lived through humiliation and faced exploitation all their lives. This unease, this discrimination, this de-citizenising, this need to prove their patriotism time and again. Address these, Mr. Modi, vocally and visibly and trust me you, you will become the first neta (minister) speaking for their interests.
However, what keeps slipping from your mind is that India’s minorities and Dalits and Adivasis are not a part or segment of the nation but the nation itself. And from your stand on Article 370 of the Constitution, the imposing of the Uniform Civil Code, the Ram Mandir issue, and your silence on the above-mentioned topics strikes fear and not trust. This fear, Mr. PM, is against the ethos of the Republic of India and you, Modi Ji, are the Republic’s foremost representative.
Another thing which is bothering me since your December 31 speech is how you have been repeatedly mentioning that we have lost our Sone ki chidiya (Golden bird) title because of our own aacharan (conduct). You do realise this Mr. Modi that by saying this you have conveniently wiped out our history of struggle during colonial oppression, don’t you? You reckon that you have conveniently blamed everything on Congress and other political leaders of the past, including BJP’s Vajpayee?
But let’s get one thing clear. Modi Ji, you are not the first Prime Minister to take crucial decisions (not that demonetisation is exactly “crucial”). Reality Check: You are not even the first Prime Minister to demonetise currency. There was a certain Moraji Desai too. Know him, don’t you? The difference, however, is that Mr. Nehru did not shout and cry in public when he set the foundation of the Indian economy. Indira Gandhi did not perform Oscar winning drama after nationalising banks. And Atal ji definitely did not try winning hearts by mentioning time and again how he left his Ghar-Baar (home and family), (in fact I wasn’t even born when you left your wife so if you can spare me the blame please!) when he conducted nuclear tests, gave us MTNLs & BSNLs, gave us expressways and ensured a better future for us. Your favourite target Manmohan Singh (whom you mocked for being silent. Something that you with your 56-inch chest size is doing for last 2 years) never even once mentioned during his 10 years of tenure how he brought millions out of poverty by his economic reforms.
None of them ever came up on stage and shouted, “Mujhe kisi bhi Chowk pe saza de dena (Punish me on any crossroad),” or “Mujhe zinda jala dena (Burn me alive)!” All of them came to the Parliament like politicians should and answered the Opposition’s queries. All of them held press conferences, gave interviews (unlike your “exclusive” interviews!), talked to the media and answered their own people. We have had some amazing Prime Ministers in the past, Mr. Modi, who have actually left their Ghar Baar Sab Kuch (home and family and everything) for the people of this country and still did not go around cribbing. You are not the only one, sir (not that I’m convinced if you actually are the one).
A historic journey this one has been, Mr. Modi, for which, I congratulate you once again. But I, as a fellow citizen, would suggest you not to focus only on the journey but also on creating a historic innings, which not only stun your supporters but also those who, like me, have been against you. Though I’m way too younger and inexperienced, I’m sure you will not mind this unsolicited but genuine advice from your country’s youth. Gain the applause of your supporters for sure but, equally, gain the trust of those who have not supported you. Be the premier of not only the bhakts but the religious and linguistic minorities, Dalits, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and all the underprivileged ones. You are our premier and I’m sure we can expect you to do this.
Be a Savarkar follower, if you must, but be an Ambedkar too because India can’t go on without Baba Saheb. We are not asking you to let go of the RSS-training in Hindutva, but Hindustan also needs its Wazir-e-Azam (a high officer in a Muslim government). Please be the wazir that the 69% have been waiting for. The same 69% who did not vote for you but might if you succeed to remove the fear from their hearts.
Our country doesn’t need a saviour. It never did. But it needs a leader who would provoke in our hearts unity and patriotism. Not the “I hate Pakistan” patriotism but “I love India” patriotism. I hope in this new year we’ll see that leader in you, Mr. Modi. Lesser drama and better leadership are all that I ask for.
With every good wish on the new year,
I am, an Indian (just like you and your followers)
Zainab Ahmed
Jai Hind!
