The Invisible Indian

No, this is not yet another new superhero character materialized by Marvel or DC comics. I am turning the arc lights towards a man of great depth and stature and yet has been kept at a nearly unreachable distance from the glory and celebration he truly deserves. 

This great man is a behemoth, a larger than life individual who has single handedly, changed the face of a great state of India. A politician by professional affiliations but a true blue statesman and an amazing visionary who is definitely worthy of emulation and admiration. 

Portrait of the Invisible Indian

I am talking about the Indian state, Gujarat's one of the most illustrious sons after the Mahatma and Sardar Patel, Narendrabhai Modi.  

A quick browse on the internet readily provides all information on this celibate Chief minister, I will not discuss on the usual facts of when & where he was born, who his parents were and what he studied. What intrigued me was his inclination towards politics even when he was just a young boy which later got more evident in his adolescence. Being an active member of the nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) got him involved in many anti corruption movements and his tryst with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat, the BJP's student wing soon escalated him the national political scenario. However, his domiciliary state beckoned him to assume a more active role in the reconstruction & reinforcement of his party's image that had taken a nose dive in the early 90s. 

His party's national leader Lal Krishna Advani's legendary Rath yatra from the historic temple of Somnath in Gujarat, heralded a new era in Indian politics and it gave the BJP unprecedented support and following by swathes of people. While in Gujarat, the BJP formed Government with an astounding majority. Modi, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state in 2001 and he has been the incumbent ever since. He is the state's longest serving Chief Minister with successive 3 terms. 

The only blemish on his illustrious political career is perhaps the most unfortunate incident of the Godhra train burning and its aftermath, when a communal riot broke out and a large number of the 'minority' sect were massacred in alleged vigilante justice. The sad part about politics is that all of them are bloody opportunists. The crooked men in Khadis merely convert all penury & misery to a political advantage and resort to slander and cheap mud slinging. It is the politician's birth right and perhaps second nature to be an opportunist. Likewise, after the embers of hate settled down and the issue was open for public judgement, the opposition seized this chance to make a scapegoat of this progressive Chief Minister and created a wave of hate sentiment. They were gunning on minority shoulders & some of his own party allies at the center suffered a major brain deficiency and demanded for his ouster fearing a severe backlash from the minorities at their home states. The effervescent speaker, was quick in handing down his position but emerged victorious like a phoenix in the ensuing state elections with a resounding majority. The people had announced their verdict. 

During the 9/11 attacks on the world's lone superpower, the Republicans were in power and yet the Democrats displayed appreciable solidarity and avoided unnecessary politics when a nation grieved its loss. However, the situation is always different in India, when the parties not in power always exercise their vocal chords against the one in power. Their single point agenda is repossession of lost power, no matter what the cost the nation may have to pay for it. 

Narendrabhai Modi has been absolved by 2 consecutive Special Investigation Teams appointed by the Supreme Court of India, both times when his own party was not in power at the center. The Indian media, always hungry for sensationalism often act as courts themselves and pass their own judgements which is tantamount to contempt of court. We can easily dismiss the state broadcaster as being partisan but what is really the fact is that most of the so called independent news channels in the country have strong yet clandestine affiliations with many political parties. In fact, news channels in many regional languages are owned by politicians themselves. Anyways, I have also likened the Indian media to Dick Tracy since they assume a detective role more often than once. 

The reason why I have named the post as "The Invisible Indian" is because of the continuous disregard of the Indian judiciary system by the Imperialist regime of the United States Of America. Narendra Modi's visa applications have been time and again receiving cold shoulders from the Liberty land, apparently because of strong lobbying by prejudiced minority groups. While lying, conniving & double crossing Pakistani politicians receive red carpet welcomes and also inspect the guard of honor, this man has been at the receiving end only because his name was used without cognizance in the communal riot case in Gujarat. We often forget that Abraham Lincoln sent troops to the south to control rioting & marauding lynch mobs when he had passed the anti slavery bill and set to unite the south with the north. While America celebrated Honest Abe, India continues to denigrate their one honest and hard working politician. 

Though, the union Government at the center hasn't been able to prove one count of accusation on this man, they have been painfully silent on the issue of Visa rejections by the US Govt and now by the UK Govt. It is their rejection of India's growth story & conformance to mere allegations and false accusations. 

In India, it has become most fashionable to drub the vast majority in favor of a few supposed minorities. India's numerous pseudo intellectuals go hand in hand with the majority sentiment and are too scared to even voice their personal opinion. Of course, I do not advocate the eye for an eye rule and I strongly condemn sectarian violence as it is a huge concrete block tied to Mother India and it holds back her sprint towards victory. 

I think it is time, the Indian Government show some solidarity towards a great statesman and at least voice its support for him forgetting for once about dirty politics. Such is the fear of losing a 'vote bank' other politicians are busy washing away their hands from issues that are known to gather storm and generate a lot of controversial buzz in global & domestic media circles. I am sure the people of Gujarat realize this great man's true worth since they are all basking in the glory that he has created for their state. It is now one of the most prosperous states in India with excellent records of literacy, employment, industrial and agricultural development and a good law & order situation. No wonder, Indian and Multinational big wigs have all set up shops in Modi's Gujarat and even the villages get uninterrupted power supply 24 x 7. When the people, irrespective of their caste and creed have unanimously chose their leader on 3 successive occasions, It leaves very little to our imagination about the state of affairs of Indian politics. 

This post is not sponsored by any party and nor am I a blind supporter of this party with alleged 'right wing' political views. I am a supporter of honest & clean politics and I want the Gujarat success story to be repeated across all Indian states. I do not mind if a party with secular, leftist, rightist views do that for me. I just don't want any Indian to be invisible to the world's eye.