Impertinent diatribes of intellectuals uninformed of ground realities

The following article was written for MyInd Makers. Pasting it here for reference

We had seen that during the anti-CAA protests many folks came in with their own agendas, that included freedom to Kashmir, cutting off the North East, Fee structure of JNU and what not! Social Affairs Editor of The Hindu, G. Sampath, felt left out so he went a step further. Actually, he went a step backward and bought in everyone’s favorite topic – Demonetization and GST!

In a piece titled “The tragedy of the regime’s co-travelers” , G. Sampath confidently tells us that “They are called upon to defend the government…”. I always wonder how it is possible for editors to be so very disconnected from the ground reality. Is this the bubble they are all living in? That the supporters of many of Modi government’s actions “are called upon to defend”. It is therefore little wonder that the country didn’t buy into their propaganda during the 2014 and 2019 elections!

The article begins with a banal reference to Kanhaiya Kumar. It is amazing how Kanhaiya Kumar, their “co-traveler” gets resurrected every now and then. G. Sampath then tries to psycho-analyse the various groups that support either the BJP or Prime Minister Modi. In his own words (emphasis mine), “These include individuals with an independent professional identity that preceded their association with the BJP — economists, historians, statisticians, diplomats, journalists, and all kinds of specialists whose loyalty to the truth of their domain expertise would, under normal circumstances, trump their allegiance, if any, to the regime in power.”

These arrogant journalists tend to forget that engineers, doctors, traders, businessmen, accountants, teachers, entrepreneurs etc have not only strongly supported the Modi government, they have also successfully and strongly exposed the lies of newspapers like The Hindu (where G. Sampath works for). Instead of reflecting on the agenda peddling, the author focusses on creating an imaginary “tragedy”. He claims Demonetization “killed the economy”. Our economy has continued to grow (at different rates) after the demonetization exercise too. Would G. Sampath bother to explain how a growing economy is the same as “killing the economy”. Or is it my “tragedy” that I have to even pose such a basic query to the esteemed editor?

He cites lynching, GST, Article 370, Triple Talaq and of course the CAA as “indefensible” and therefore supporters are finding it difficult to defend it! Clearly, the esteemed editor is not reading the 100s of articles on social media that validate the support of CAA and Article 370. Clearly, the esteemed editor has not even listened to one word of the various speeches of the leadership of BJP, starting from the PM himself. Instead he is doing what media does best – create imaginary divides and false propaganda.

Not to be left far behind, Pratap Bhanu Mehta wrote a long article in the Indian Express – “Beyond Electoral Identities”. He enlightens us with a startling fact – “The BJP wants to win elections. But it also has an agenda beyond elections and the normal workings of politics: The cultural transformation of India.”

Oh boy! How dare a political party aims to win elections? This one reason is enough to know how dangerous the BJP is! How selfish of BJP to “want to win”. I, for one, am totally convinced that the BJP should give up its “want” and let others win so that P.B.Mehta can get back to influencing policy!  

Elsewhere he asks us - “Would you really be a BJP man if you said something as decent as “let us listen to the protestors?”” Like I mentioned above, I often wonder the nature of the bubble these esteemed specialists live in. The government has answered every single question of the “protestors” at multiple platforms – Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, TV Interviews, Print interviews, Press conferences, and speeches to the public. There is a reason why the “protests” are now limited only to a small area in Delhi and have subsided everywhere else. If people like P.B.Mehta don’t want to listen to the fact that the government has heard the protestors, how is it the fault of the government or even the “BJP man”? Shouldn’t there be a limit to the chicanery these folks spread?

After ranting on Hindutva, P.B.Mehta goes on to talk about how BJP wants to make dividends through violence. I wonder where P.B.Mehta was, when “protestors” went on a violent rampage in the garb of protesting? Was that violence exhorted by the BJP? Or in his words, was the violence an “incitement by Amit Shah”? Their desperate craving for violence in India where the perpetrator belongs to a certain religion has been met with stony resolve and silence. Is that why these folks are so frustrated? Are they unable to fathom the fact that the vast majority of the country wants to go about living their lives in a peaceful non-disruptive manner? Are they shell shocked that their attempts to spread lies are met with steely resolve to ignore the lies and help in building the country?

To my mind, nothing else explains these continuous rants on the party, leadership and the supporters. The people of the country are wise enough to know when to punish whom. Today, the BJP has one of the best feedback mechanisms amongst all parties. The day they actually stop “listening” to people, the people will boot them out. Until then, journalists and their ilk must start listening to people too!