Indian Mujahideen makes Modi’s job easier….

The blasts in Patna yesterday, reportedly carried out by the Indian Mujahideen (IM), must be like manna from the skies for Modi. A few more of these, and his “development” plank would become irrelevant. Even without it, the sole savior of this nation, the only one who can take on such terrorists, would be elected PM.

The IM is a terror organization which the Indian government banned in 2010. Other countries, including NZ and the US, have either banned it or placed it on their watchlist. IM is supposed to be made up of former SIMI terrorists and has been held responsible for several crimes in India. It’s an organization that produces fear in the minds of ordinary Indians. The kind of fear that makes people lose rationality and start surrendering to the divisive agenda of a few political parties (both Hindu and Muslim). It is activities like these blasts that make ordinary Muslims hang their heads in shame, and seethe with anger for the wrong branding the entire community invariably gets. For the majority community, this fear drives them to the waiting arms of the Hindu parties, most notably the BJP.

I wrote this in my post of 27^th July, 2012 “Newton’s third law of motion and Narendra Modi….”: “Newton’s third law of motion states that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. Modi’s interpretation of Newton’s 3^rd law should be seen in the context of his political strategy. Incite the Hindus somehow, so that they vote for him en-masse. No where else in the country is the Hindu voter so united and committed behind the BJP as he/she is in Gujarat. None of the caste politics that pervades much of North India even seems to make a beginning in Gujarat. In fact, the Hindu voter has conferred Modi with the title of “Hindu Hriday Samrat” – something that no other politician has managed to earn”. With blasts in Patna, it is the IM which has incited the Hindus, and the opposite reaction will be for Hindus to unite and vote for Modi.

A similar thing happened recently in Muzaffarnagar. Forget who was responsible for the riots there. But the upshot was that the decades old relationship of the Jats with the Muslims was shattered, and their support – on whatever grounds – to Ajit Singh has probably been replaced with support to whoever else – on “religious” grounds. The beneficiary of the Hindu vote is obviously the BJP, as all media outlets and political experts have reported. The Muslims will now probably vote for whoever they think will protect their interests better. A few more blasts and a few more riots, and all of India will be cutting itself up on religious grounds. Willingly or by chance, the BJP will find itself gaining.

Modi’s apologists have already been tweeting the “Modi stayed calm through the whole scene” kind of stories. If by this they mean that Modi wasn’t shaken and stirred out of fear, they are right. But shaken and stirred he must have been out of extreme joy. It was this joy that would have been difficult to mask. Of course, for a good orator like Modi, nothing could have give him more fodder for talk than this. Once someone else has done his work, Modi can actually publicly do the reverse – apply fake balm as he did in his speech – and count on the same apologists to present Modi as the new symbol of peace and unity.

The IM has no business to disrupt Modi’s meetings or harm his followers. It has no business to even have a political view. It forgets that with all its follies, India is not a country that fights its political battles with violence. The opposition to Modi’s brand of politics is an ideological one….and there is no place for a terrorist organization like IM to be a part of it. Whether it is the BJP or the Congress or a 3^rd front government, the IM will always be targeted, and stay banned. Those who oppose the BJP don’t want it to lose because of the activities of outfits like the IM. They want it to lose because of its regressive ideology.

But here’s an important point to consider. Never in any of the past elections have there been such terror attacks on political rallies or riots, especially in rural areas. It’s only now, when Modi has ascended to the top in the BJP, that they have started. What’s the reason for this? Why is it that Modi makes dormant issues of religious divide come alive and become active? I cannot say this with proof but it seems logical that when someone has a past like he has, and when he unabashedly affixes the word “Hindu” before “nationalist”, he arouses those dormant spirits. But then that’s the strategy, isn’t it?

One other debate that must get revived is the need for the NCTC. The IB had apparently, even in this case, given leads to the Bihar police, but without any executive powers, it could do no more. The BJP has to answer why it continues to oppose the NCTC.

The real truth is that with every such incident, Newton’s 3^rd law of physics kicks in, and Modi benefits. “Agitate the Hindus and get their votes” is a sure-to-succeed political strategy. How does it matter who agitates the Hindu???? The IM has given Modi an advantage….