Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay’s excellent biography of Narendra Modi was written two years ago, so in a sense, it is now dated. But in many ways it is not. First of all, in its writing, the author had access to Mr Modi, an access now denied to all writers and journalists. It is understandable, of course, that the Prime Minister of a country has very little time at his disposal for one-to-one conversations with the media.
But, as we all know, Mr Modi has carried this hands-off policy to an extreme, not even giving a single press conference in the year gone by. In keeping with that policy, he is also the first Prime Minister of India to discontinue the practice of taking Indian journalists on the Prime Minister’s plane on his travels abroad. As we all know, Mr Modi has racked up more travel miles than most foreign ministers, so several opportunities for inter-action with the media were lost. Or rather, deliberately dismissed.
It is significant that the only interview he has given is the one very recently to the Time magazine. This confirms two things: our Prime Minister has decided that by being overseas and making himself accessible to world media, he develops an international image which he then hopes will percolate down to his own country. As a corollary to this, we can add that Mr Modi has a deep distrust of Indian media.
In this context, one passage in Mukhopadhyay’s book is significant. Speaking indirectly of the 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat and the religious divide between Hindus and Muslims that this represented, Mr Modi says, “There is one conspiratorial group which keeps this emotional hurt alive by digging up the wounds. When that group stops its work, the wounds will get automatically healed.”
That one passage says so very many revealing things about our Prime Minister, the most significant being his belief that if only things were left alone, we could all forget about what happened, and everyone would be happy again. Overlooked is the fact that this “conspiratorial group” has been fighting a lone battle to bring those guilty of mass murder to justice, and had it not been for this “conspiratorial” group, 126 people, including a Gujarat Cabinet minister, would not have gone to jail to serve long sentences. It’s hardly a secret that this group is the Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) of which Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand are the main activists, and for the last one year they have been hounded by allegations of “misappropriation” and have had their bank accounts frozen, this almost completely paralysing their work.
The use of the word “conspiratorial” also tells its own tale, and shows us why the operations of Greenpeace and the Ford Foundation, amongst others, have come under the baleful gaze of the government. Greenpeace has been an irritant to many countries, not just India, but in spite of its exaggerations, and occasional disruptive methods, its motives worldwide are the same, which is to protect the environment. The Ford Foundation, on the other hand, has a well-earned reputation for funding worthwhile projects throughout the world. For it to come under the radar of the government, is puzzling, to say the least.
But Mr Modi’s suspicion of NGOs is obviously deep rooted: if you remember it was just over a month ago, addressing a meeting of high court judges he made that odd statement warning the judiciary not to be swayed by “five-star activists”. To this day, it is not clear what, or who, he meant. Did he mean five-star, as in movie ratings, where five stars is best, or did he mean members of the NGOs who stay in five-star hotels? It doesn’t really matter; what matters is the animus that statement contains. (To be fair to Mr Modi, he is not alone in this. The United Progressive Alliance government, particularly Kapil Sibal, had started turning the screws on NGOs; it’s just that the Bharatiya Janata Party government has brought matters to a head).
There are two sides to this, as there are to most things. There exist a very large number of useless to fraudulent NGOs. In fact, in Delhi, the story is that many NGOs belong to the wives or children of senior bureaucrats. That way the bureaucrats don’t actually have to receive a bribe. Give a donation to my wife’s NGO, they will say. Many other NGOs may not have relatives in high places, but they also receive donations for which they do no work.
On the other side, there are very many NGOs doing the kind of development work which the government really should be doing, but its efforts get mired in corruption so that state money allocated for good works never gets to the intended recipients. How many organisations work selflessly, and for hardly any monetary reward in the fields of basic education, health and nutrition, women’s welfare and rights, and other such fields? Very many, and without them, our country would be a poorer place, and those suffering deprivation wo-uld be further deprived.
Governments, both at the state and Central level should see these NGOs as their allies and not as their adversaries. They should see that their work complements government’s welfare measures, and this ultimately brings goodwill to the government in power.
One suspects however, that the government — any government — is concerned more with the “political” and social agenda of some NGOs because it conflicts with the agenda of the ruling establishment. This is where a true democrat stands up and says, “So what? This dissent, or contrarian point of view, only strengthens democracy.” If, for example, CJP brings criminals to justice, does it not strengthen our judicial system, and give people the message that wrong-doing will always be punished? This may not suit the government in power, but it is of immense benefit to the country, and to so many of our important institutions.
So, astute politician that he is, Mr Modi must encourage civil society, even when it is out of step with him. This will only enhance his international reputation as a true democrat. And as a result, many more Time magazine covers will follow.
The writer is a senior journalist
