Dear Editor,
It was quite interesting to observe the views of the contribution of May 19th, 2014 in the SN “In the Diaspora column”. As Chief Minister Mr. Modi has to be held politically accountable for the disaster that occurred in 2002 but he has been fully absolved of any civil or criminal charges by the Supreme Court of India. Notwithstanding this clean sheet, the cocktail and corrupt class and their apologists, that dominated Delhi and the world’s view of India, continued to use their office to peddle untruths about Mr. Modi.
The US Government was a victim of this Delhi propaganda causing them to make a grave mistake by withdrawing Mr. Modi’s visa. Well Mr. Modi did not need a US visa, he went to Japan, South Korea and China and brought them to Gujarat at great economic loss to the US. Today the US Government after observing how effective and wealth creative a leader he is; had to eat crow. President Obama personally extended an official invite for a State visit to Mr. Modi. So all these reckless labels of “state-sanctioned massacre” are nothing but the figment of this columnist’s imagination. Is there something this columnist knows more than the Indian Supreme Court and the Indian CBI (their version of FBI). Further, if anyone knows how the Gandhis’ operate, they would have buried Mr. Modi ages ago if they had any evidence on him.
Mr. Modi never denies his link to the RSS and his connection to hindutva? So what? Weren’t Father Jean Bertrand Artistide (former President of Haiti) and Father Fernando Lugo (former President of Paraguay) connected to the Church? Wasn’t Mohamed Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood when he won election in Egypt? Did this qualification make them unqualified to lead their nation? In politics, the only determinant that matters is the voice of the people and everything else is academic.
But this column has disrespected the will of the Indian people who overwhelmingly voted for Mr. Modi. Who is anyone else to dictate alternatives for a free people with the freedom to choose their leaders? India is not Zimbabwe.
Clearly India has much work to do with respect to Campaign Financing Laws but the BJP and Mr. Modi played within the rules which the Congress Party could have easily tightened as the majority Government until days ago. They thought not, so what is the fuss by this columnist about the spending of the Modi campaign? The playing field was level for all the players and the Congress Party could have spent 10 times more than the BJP and they would have still lost the elections.
Mr. Modi must be commended for branding himself using the latest western techniques, the latest technology, the best talent and national television to position his message. His message was music to the ears of the majority and they did what they felt was best. Therefore, no one has any right to second guess even the poorest villager on why he chose the lotus flower over any other symbol on the electronic ballot paper.
Yes, the election campaign was brutal and at time offensive from all sides, but which election campaign is not? Did this columnist read the revolting anti-Modi speeches by the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and a Minister in the just deposed Congress Government, Dr. Farooq Abdullah? Dr. Abdullah said those who vote for Modi should “jump into the sea” among other vile statements? Well the people of his district threw Dr. Abdullah into the “electoral sea” since he lost his seat in an overwhelmingly Muslim district to a party that said it is willing to work with the Modi Government.
For anyone who has travelled in India, it is a country of extremes and much prejudice. But that is a national issue, not an exclusive Gujarat issue as the Columnist attempted to portray. And if Gujarat is such an oppressive state, why would Mr. Modi win every single seat in that state, even in the Muslim areas? Everyone knows that it is standard operating procedure to used caste and religion as a system of vote banking at election time in India. However, these 2014 elections offered much hope because the youths broke down the caste silos. Youth from all castes voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Modi. For example in Uttar Pradesh, the dalit-centric party (BSP) was vanquished with their core base breaking with the past to stand with Mr. Modi’s team.
But what got me convinced that Mr. Modi will be a great leader for India was when several hundred alumni from Goldman Sachs, Oracle, IBM, Barclays, JP Morgan, IIT, Harvard, LSE, MIT left their solid careers to back pack into the Modi campaign a year ago to take the Modi wave to the next level? Most of these people are young PhD and MBAs with many years of real experience in the western world. Why would they want to line up behind Modi?
It is sick of anyone to try to deny the will of over half a billion people. The truth remains Modi filled a political vacuum created by the Congress Party and he cannot be faulted for that, after all he did not wrestle power from them; they provided it to him on a golden platter by putting up one of the most un-prepared politicians I every observed in my life; Rahul Gandhi.
In the final analysis Mr. Modi will be a resounding success for ordinary Indians because he has their overwhelmingly support. It is time the corrupt class in Delhi and their apologists around the world humble themselves and watch how development for the people, by the people is done. Go Modi with the blessing of over a billion, the naysayers will have to eat crow.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Singh
