Disclaimer: Written by Shail Derashri and Varun Kulkarni those who supported and voted for BJP and Narendra Modi.
How to read the article series: Approach to this article series needs to be objective. Each article in this series should be read in its entirety prior to drawing conclusions. Many facts can be hard hitting and may act as triggers, but it should be noted that all of the points mentioned within this article series are taken from statistics, press releases, interviews, election rallies and official social media handles of the government and/or its office holders.
Introduction:
“KA-BOOM”! The overpowering sound of firecrackers drown out the cheers as drums, trumpets, dholaks, nagadas, ladoos and colors of Holi begin a celebration of Victory! A Victory of the people’s mandate! A victory of defeating corruption! A victory of the Hindu voice! A victory of the Gateway to the South! A victory of Congress in Karnataka!
In a state with almost 85% Hindus, how did Congress become the victory of the Hindu voice? In a state which saw stalwarts like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah address election rallies and conduct road shows, how did Congress become the people’s mandate? Did BJP not convey its “Hinduwadi Party” USP strongly enough? Are Hindus of Karnataka unaware of the non-Hindu threat that looms over them in the form of Congress? Were the policies of BJP not “Hindu” enough for the Hindu voter? Or worse, did the Hindus of Karnataka reap all the benefits from BJP policies, but back-stab them in the elections?
Are the Hindu voters failing to grasp BJP’s message and rejecting it in state elections like those of Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and the latest being Karnataka, or is there more to these mandates than meets the eye?
Part 1: 2014 – 2019: The Dawn of Hindutva Era in Modern Day Bharat! Or Not?
Year 2014. The press around the world was rife with Bharat getting a Hindu Nationalist as its head of state. Narendra Damodardas Modi. A name that invoked pride among every Indian and re-instated the “Hindu esteem” in the hearts of millions in India and abroad. BJP’s victory rode on the tide of anti-incumbency of the 10 years of UPA government. This decade not only saw some of the biggest and worst scams in the politico class of India but also were a witness to an “unelected Prime Minister” and an unconstitutional “Super Prime Minister”. The absolute
majority of NDA (BJP and its allies) came as little surprise owing to the latent anger brewing in the people of India about the inconsistencies in policies, incompetence in governance, inability in understanding the pulse of the nation and the incomprehensible money swindling that. the UPA was caught red-handed doing
Narendra Modi, with his oft-touted “Gujarat Model” was a natural choice for projecting as the Prime ministerial face if NDA was serious about winning the Lok Sabha 2014 elections. Narendra Modi was being projected as the poster boy of Hindu Politics owing to his pro-Hindu stand on various issues in months leading up to the elections. Back in the day, Mahatma Gandhi was projected as the savior of Hindus and India too, but look at what he did here ?
2014 Manifesto Promise
While the image being projected was that of a “Hindu Hriday Samrat”, what did the 2014 Lok Sabha elections Manifesto of BJP hold within itself which went against the projected image of “Hinduwadi Party”?. The 2014 manifesto of BJP has a section dedicated to minorities in India. BJP recognizes “minorities” based on Religion alone, rather than on gender, physical ability, linguistic category, or marginalized sections of the society. And watch this, in case you didn’t know what these “minorities”, who came and are still coming to India, legally and illegally, have done to the demographics of several states.
Image Source: BJP 2014 Manifesto (https://library.bjp.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/252/1/bjp_lection_manifesto_english_2014.pdf)
A close look at the section reads as follows, “…. It is unfortunate that even after several decades of independence, a large section of the minority, and especially Muslim community continues to be stymied in poverty. Modern India must be a nation of equal opportunity. BJP is committed to ensure that all communities are equal partners in India’s progress, as we believe
India cannot progress if any segment of Indians is left behind…”. This statement essentially clubs all religious minorities under the roof of “Muslims”. If this is getting ahead in thinking, then let’s take a look at the various promises it makes to
the minorities:
The party promised facilitating modernization of Madrasa education, empowering the WAQF Boards and preservation as well as promotion of Urdu language. It may also be noted that augmentation of traditional artisanship and entrepreneurial skill was brought forward as “Hunar Haat” which again has Muslim exclusivity. Considering that Bharat positions itself a secular state, we searched for similar promises done to the hindu community. However, apart from one time mentioning that “…India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here…” not once have there been schemes promised for the Hindu community in BJP’s 2014 manifesto. Neither is there any mention of working towards reviving the Gurukula culture, or promoting Sanskrit and other regional languages, or freeing Temples from Government control.
The Pink Revolution:
In 2013, Pot-shots were taken at the Center’s UPA government by Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister of Gujarat accusing them of promoting meat export and cow slaughter, and calling this act a “sin”. He mocked the then UPA government for abandoning the white and green revolution and instead embracing the “Pink Revolution” adding that those who worshiped cows could never do such a disgraceful act. Statistics reveal that India exported 1,765,000 tonnes of beef in the year 2013.
With Bharat and Brazil competing for the number 1 spot in Global Beef Exporters, Bharat exported enough beef from 2014 – 2016 to become the largest global beef exporter. Such were the election rally optics versus the actual operations.
Making the SC/ST Act Ultra-Draconian:
On March 21, 2016, the foundation stone for BR Ambedkar Memorial was laid on March 21, 2016 where Narendra Modi delivered the Ambedkar Memorial Lecture. As Narendra Modi took to the dais to deliver the lecture, the inauguration hall was filled with slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. With such an electrifying atmosphere, the Prime Minister was naturally being expected to cheer the nationalistic slogans. It came as a surprise when Narendra Modi began sloganeering with “Jai Bhim” instead of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. 36 minutes into his lecture, Narendra Modi made the infamous “Hisab Chukta” jibe on the un-reserved category (General Category) people of Bharat saying that those who belong to the SC/ST category were discriminated in the worse possible ways by the “upper-class” people either by disallowing their entry into temples, or by not sharing clean drinking water with them, or by denying the right to education to their children. This was seen as a dog-whistle and a justification for any harm that was meted out to the “upper class” by people of the SC/ST community.
In August 2018, the ruling NDA government under Narendra Modi overturned the Supreme Court
order on SC/ST Act and made the act even more stringent. The Supreme Court had passed an order that FIR under this Act would be lodged only after a preliminary inquiry. However, the government passed an amendment bill to make the act even more draconian than it already was by stating that preliminary inquiry was not required for registering an FIR against any person. The Act previously contained 22 conditions under which FIR could be registered, however, this amendment increased the conditions to 47 – essentially clamping down on un-reserved categories even harder than before. The adverse effects of this amended act have begun showing within the societal fabric as a wedge in the Hindu community.
Conclusion to Part – 1
The first term of this “Hindu” government was nothing less than a dream-run which saw tectonic shift in the daily lives of people by noticeably improving their quality of lives – be it the cleanliness drive, or the push for digital transactions, or impetus on sanitation and hygiene, or easing the access to cooking gas, etc. But a closer look at policies reveals that the tag “Hinduwadi” is no more than a farce, since nothing was done specifically either for the Hindu population or the civilizational state of Bharat. This can be better understood by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet of March 1, 2018 where he tweeted the following:
The first term was NDA led and hence, all “Hindu” promises were reduced to being a “moving – target” as to “we shall do this if we get absolute majority”. The Hindu community waited patiently for 5 years as they were given the same logic repeatedly, while the other religions had policies made as well as implemented for them despite the “Hinduwadi” government being in power.
The Hindu waited….. waited for 5 years to get BJP to absolute majority – absolute power. But was it also the wait for absolute madness and unabashed contempt for the Hindu!?
Author Bio:
Shail Derashri: Chemical Engineer and MBA by Qualification | AEE’s First Woman CEM of Bharat | Internationally Recognized and Awarded Energy Auditor | Root Cause Analysis Expert | Founder of Assets Alive | Student of Truth, Values, Stories and Learnings of Dharma
Varun Kulkarni Mechanical Engineer by qualification, Engineering manager by profession. Youtuber. History Enthusiast. Strong believer of Vedic values and Sanatan. ISHA Volunteer