Modi had a good
chance to clear his name in the Amit Shah tapes scandal at his Bangalore rally.
But what did he do? He went of a typical rhetorical tangent, preferring to accuse
the Congress’s “dirty tricks department”. Why couldn’t he just give us an explanation
of what actually happened? Doesn’t the BJP demand an explanation from the PM
for decisions taken by him all the
time? Why then does it not give one when it is required?
The twitter world on
the other hand has been abuzz with the scandal. Questions have been asked,
blogs written, and caustic comments posted on why the explanations given by
Rajnath Singh and Meenakshi Lekhi look hollow. What emerges is that the girl
was hardly being protected; in reality she was being stalked. Whether this was
on the basis of her father’s request, or for some other reason, is a matter of
speculation. Besides, the question being asked is: How did the CM deploy state resources
to protect his “family friend”? Why did the CM likewise not deploy state
resources to protect and prevent the 450 odd cases of rape and 9000+ cases of
other crimes against women that took place in his state in just a single year?
The question that
hasn’t been asked yet, and which is the real worry considering the political
history of Narendra Modi is this: How
many more people are under official surveillance? Are opposition leaders
being observed illegally? Are youngsters who protest against the BJP’s brand of
politics being monitored? Are Muslim leaders under the supervision of the ATS
as well? What about constitutional authorities – the CAG with whom Modi hardly
shares a good rhapport, the RTI commissioners who Modi has refused to appoint
in adequate numbers, maybe the judges of the High Court who often rail against
him, members of the SIT…..god knows, how far and deep does this surveillance
operation go? Is it possible that what has been revealed by IPS officer Singhal
is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg? It is these questions that Modi
should have answered.
Because what is
clear, and the BJP hasn’t denied it, is that the operation was illegal. A person – and her friends –
were placed under surveillance without permissions from judicial authorities.
If this is true, then the larger question that also needs to be answered is
about Modi’s belief in the Constitution, the rule of law, the rights of
citizens, and the larger subject (which the whole world is concerned with)
about the right to privacy. How dare someone intrude my private world to keep
eyes on it? Even if my father has asked for it? But then does Modi even care
about rights of people?
Some of the responses
of typical BJP supporters provide an answer to that. One tweet by Madhu Kishwar
is worth reproducing here. She writes “56
yr old officer under watch of government 4 criminal misdeeds misuses posn to
sexually exploit woman yng enf to be grd dtr, parents shd say fine?”. Just
look at how saffronites think. First, she completely misses the point
that the girl is an adult and can make her own decisions. Did she write for
protection herself? Did she know that she was under surveillance? Second,
she talks about the officer being under watch. But a story in Ahmedabad Mirror yesterday
– again floating widely on twitter – shows that the officer was put under
surveillance after this snooping
episode, not before. He was punished for calling up Modi for this operation. He
was not under suspicion for earlier. If anything, this is a case of vendetta
against him. Third, if the girl was being sexually exploited by this
officer, then the girl could have gone to the cops, not to the CM. Why didn’t
she? Fourth, how does Madhu Kishwar even know that the girl was being
sexually exploited, unless she was briefed by the BJP? And lastly, just look at
the blinded defence of something completely indefensible that Madhu Kishwar
puts up. This is how political our media has become; it fights Modi’s battles
on his behalf. Why? What about the journalist’s code of ethics? If Madhu wants
to be a BJP acolyte, she has the right, but can she then please abandon her
journalistic credentials?
Everyone, including
the Congress, is missing the larger point here. Modi’s Gujarat is looking more
and more like a police state; something similar to what existed in Egypt, Iraq
and Libya before Mubarak, Saddam and Gaddafi were thrown out. This incident
shouldn’t be seen in isolation. It’s a trend that started with the Gujarat
riots in 2002, was followed up with the murder of Haren Pandya, the several
fake encounter killings, the crushing of bodies like the Lok Ayukta and RTI,
the refusal to rebuild mosques broken in the riots, the shifting of several
cases by the SC outside of Gujarat…..all of these tell us about Modi and his
style of governance. That’s the larger worry, not this single case by itself
(although it is bad enough).
Modi didn’t respond
to any of this. I got the impression he was on the back foot here. He hopes the
issue will die down on its own, and it very well could, given media’s current
obsession with Modi. The Congress is unable to organize large rallies against
this, either in Gujarat or Delhi. If the whole thing had played out in reverse
– with the Congress caught in Modi’s position – the BJP would have exploited it
to the hilt. But the Congress’s inability to communicate its concern is what
ails it. It’s not its performance that harms it; it’s its inability to assert a
political point that does. While Modi is a master with rhetoric, the Congress
is particularly inept. It resorts to boring facts and points of law. That’s why
Modi gets away with so much muck that is floating all around.
The real truth
is that by failing to respond, Modi has furthered the perception of his style
being autocratic, and Gujarat being run like a police state. The story creates
a perception that the surveillance operation is far more extensive than has
emerged so far. Much like the Radia tapes, these Amit Shah tapes hold a lot of
juice in them. Hopefully, the courts will intervene……and then Modi will be
forced to explain.
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