Modiji I can't hear your Mann ki Baat
Its hard not to admit that PM Modi’s “Mann ki Baat” radio program is a refreshing introduction to Indian politics and a much-needed change after wondering for a entire decade if Dr. Manmohan Singh is capable of speaking. And even if he did open his mouth, I suppose it would take a very high-speed camera (talking about several thousand frames/sec) to capture that spectacular phenomenon. But I am going to stop myself here – I am being unfair to Dr. Singh knowing fully well that puppets don’t speak. We’ll let that pass and focus on the present.
Coming back to Mann ki Baat – so what exactly does PM Modi talk about when he is on the radio? Well, apart from jamming with Obama, I’ve noticed that he is generally found talking about new initiatives (clean India, yoga day, organ donation, etc.), encouraging students, pushing his ideas on manufacturing and growth, and so on. All in all, a simple but highly efficient way of reaching out to millions of Indians (especially in the rural hinterlands). One would expect nothing less from a man who used 3D-technology on the campaign trail.
The big question
How on Earth did PM Modi lose the plot completely and let a bunch of goons and motor-mouths go scot-free after making insensitive and downright criminal statements? A man with “Mann ki Baat” at his disposal, a man with oratorical skills second-to-none, a man who doesn’t need notes (unlike Rahul baba who can’t remember what the three monkeys signify with the help of a cheat-sheet), a man whose vocabulary goes far beyond “women empowerment” and “my grandmother” – what was he doing all these days?
Rahul Gandhi’s monkey-baat (photo-credit : NDTV)
Silence is slowly and steadily becoming a feature of Modi’s prime ministership. When Vasundara Raje and Sushma Swaraj got entangled in the Lalit Modi visa issue, he kept quiet. When the Dadri lynching occurred, he kept quiet. When the poor little dalit children were killed, he kept quiet. When Kalburgi was murdered in Karnataka, he kept quiet. When the award-wapsi charade took place, he kept quiet. Arnab Goswami’s debates were getting painful to watch with the Congress spokespersons holding on to only one question - “Why doesn’t the PM talk about all the intolerance in this country?”
Come on PM – you could have held a radio/television special broadcast and talked directly to the nation. You could have given a subtle warning to the motor-mouths in the BJP and RSS to shut it and think a zillion times before they opened their mouths. You could have innocently suggested that the Samajwadi Party and Congress get their act together and make sure that such incidents never take place again in their states.
In a single swoop, you could have shut the award-wapsi charade even before it began. Or at least you could have put some perspective into the whole award-wapsi thing. How many Karnataka Sahitya Academy winners returned their awards? Close to none! Kalburgi and Janardhan Poojary were killed in Karnataka which is being ruled by the completely inept Siddaramaiah and yet, nobody in the media bothered to grill the Congress party. Stinks of supari journalism no? It is such a coincidence that award-wapsi stopped as soon as the Bihar election results were announced. Perfectly timed huh? A few words from Modi might have tilted the balance in BJP’s favor. But he chose to stay mum and the opposition pounced on this silence and branded him as the champion of intolerance.
Unfortunately, you chose to stay silent and poor Anupam Kher had to play the role of the night-watchman. The power of speech should never be underestimated and I am not sure which modern-day Chanakya is behind this goof-up, but he certainly needs an upgrade.