Prime Minister Narendra Modi offers prayers at the Kedarnath temple in Rudraprayag district, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. (PTI Photo)It is Diwali and the festive season ordains that I write about good things and think happy thoughts. This Diwali this is more needed because it is the first one in three years that we can celebrate without the evil shadow of the coronavirus looming over all festivities. I am celebrating Diwali this year in the Maharashtrian village by the sea where I spent the lockdowns. The lockdowns and endless stories of death and disease turned this little village into a zone of gloom, so it is doubly delightful this year to see the lights, the lanterns, the busy shops, and crowded beaches.
This village’s economy is built around fishing and tourism. This year the fisherwomen are back with baskets of freshly caught fish and prawns. And the tourists are back. So, the little beach shacks that fell to ruin have come back to life as restaurants and there are coconut sellers, horseback rides, jet skis, and beach buggies that rattle noisily up and down the beach. All these things make a happy change from last Diwali when the country was still reeling from the horror of the Delta wave. This Diwali is happier than the last but no matter how hard I try not to remember those bodies in the Ganga, those shallow graves on its banks and those queues outside crematoriums, I find it hard to forget.
Having said that, I would like to acknowledge that Narendra Modi rectified his mistakes quickly and launched a very successful vaccination programme. This revived confidence in Modi and in the BJP so completely that it became possible for Yogi Adityanath to win a second term in the state that was among the worst hit by the Delta wave.
Polls indicate that voters have forgiven Modi enough for him to continue being the most popular leader in the world. This despite the rupee falling to its lowest point against the dollar. This despite the price of food and other necessities having risen alarmingly. This despite unemployment being the biggest problem for young Indians. In a determined effort to prevent unemployment from becoming the biggest issue in imminent elections in Gujarat and Himachal, the Prime Minister announced a ‘Rozgar Mela’ during which 75,000 lucky people will get jobs on the spot. If this becomes more than just a grand gesture to win the coming elections, it will matter. Or it will fade from memory.
In the past few weeks, we have seen the Prime Minister praying in the sanctum sanctorum of two major temples. In Ujjain he entered the sanctum in the robes of a Hindu priest and TV cameras covered every moment of the pooja. Then changing into more political attire, he inaugurated a grand extension of the Mahakaal temple that will allow pilgrims to find places to rest and to soak up stories of their religion. In Kedarnath, he posed for TV cameras in robes that made him look like a lost Himalayan Prophet, after inaugurating a ropeway that will make it easier for pilgrims to reach the temple.
This is harmless religiosity. It would have drawn kudos from this columnist if the Prime Minister had opened his mouth once to condemn the ugly religiosity that has left deep scars since last Diwali. When you light up your homes tonight, say a prayer for those Muslims whose homes have been reduced to rubble because they were suspected of attacking public property and Hindu processions. Spare a thought for Bilkis Bano whose rapists, and the murderers of her family, have been released from jail and revived memories of her gangrape and images of her baby girl having her head smashed in with a rock. These despicable criminals should be condemned to spend the rest of their miserable lives in jail. Instead, they have vanished without a trace.
There is now proof that these monsters were released on the orders of the Home Minister. Did he do this at the behest of the Prime Minister? Was it done because the BJP’s senior leaders believe elections in Gujarat can only be won by dividing Hindus and Muslims? Speaking of poisonous religiosity, can someone explain why Gurmeet Ram Rahim, a convicted rapist and murderer, has been given a longish holiday from jail just before municipal elections in Haryana?
In this season of festivals that celebrate the victory of good over evil, it is important to remember those who have made such a huge contribution to spreading evil. At the top of my list are the Hindu preachers who continue to routinely pop up to demand that all Muslims be killed. Close behind come those jihadi fanatics who killed innocent men supposedly to avenge their Prophet being insulted by a BJP spokeswoman, who has been forced into hiding. At number three on my list of evil doers are those officials who ordered the demolition of homes of people who have not been convicted of any crimes. In countries where the rule of law matters more than it does in our dear Bharat Mata, these officials would be in jail for showing such utter disdain for the rule of law.
My personal wish this Diwali is that the Prime Minister finally discovers the necessity to speak out, before Diwali next year, against those of his ministers, party colleagues and supporters who have perpetuated without qualm the ugliest form of religiosity. Meanwhile, a very Happy Diwali.