May 18, 2014
World’s largest democratic process of electing the leader of the nation has officially ended in India. A sigh of consolation and relief supposed to have been set in the hearts of the people of India. People can now breathe the fresh air of the new cabinet headed by an experienced statesman Mr Narendra Modi, who will take control of the second largest population in the world. Hopefully India will move out of an economic status quo that prevailed for several decades. A few questions that whiz through my mind at this juncture are: Will India become a Hindu right winged nation? Will the minority of India really breathe the fresh air? Will the foreign policy of India change, particularly towards USA? Will Mr Modi put some money into the pockets of the poorest of the poor? Will India shine despite its longstanding religious taboo, in other words, will India uphold its secularism and pluralism?
Vatican Insider reported after Modi had won the landslide victory in the LokSabha elections, “India is officially in the hands of the Hindu right wing, the Catholic and other religious minorities are concerned with the new man in charge in India.” It is obvious that Modi is a Hindu, thus it is quite natural for him to have a soft corner for the Hindus. He might favour the Hindus, that is because he is born and brought up in Hindu environment. Is that quality enough to make premature judgements that Modi will not take care of the minority in India? If he is a real Indian he would take care of the minority because of the fundamental right of religious freedom. Thus the statements and reflection in the minds of the people on Modi as being a threat for the minority must be nullified until it is proved true.
It is not right for us to make premature conclusions even before he is sworn in as the next Prime Minister of India. Modi is a street tea vendor's son, thus he had a humble beginning which will come in handy when he sees the minority being persecuted by the Hindu fundamentalists. He is accused of causing communal riot in Gujarat, but he has proved it to be just an accusation. I only hope that Modi will prove everyone wrong that he is allergic to minority people and rather take care of them like the shepherd that cares for the wounded sheep. I only hope that Modi puts sanctions on the Hindu fundamental groups. This will console the entire minority population of India to breathe a fresh BJP (BharatiyaJanatha Party) air.
Technically Mr Modi must be the most powerful man in the world and certainly in Asia because he is the leader of the second largest population of the world. He is the leader of approximately 1/6 of the population of the world. He is the leader of the largest democracy in the world where about 814 million voters participated in the process of election. He is the leader of the largest emerging economies of the world. He is the leader a largest secular country in the world. Hence, I would attribute him as the most powerful man in the world. This is not to say his would be a dictator style of functioning but it’s to his credit that if he makes India as the most powerful country in the world.
Modi can make the Indian economy visible to the world, where the world will march towards India. But then it is a huge challenge for Modi because there is an ever-widening gap between the poor and rich. Every GDP statistics showcase the ever-rising growth in the India economy. That does not really qualify as real growth because most Indians live in acute poverty. Modi has a great challenge, first of all to alleviate the ever-growing poverty and then put the Indian economy on the world map. Modi knows what it is to be a poor, because he was a son of a street tea vendor. He does not have to make any effort to know the poor since he has gone through it in his early days.
The Indians like to celebrate life despite the social evils that were impassable during the past years. I have fond memories of celebrating Diwali with my Hindu brothers in my neighbourhood and celebrating Ramadan with my Muslim brothers. As a Christian, my family always distributed sweets and cake for the Hindus and Muslims in my neighbourhood. These are the few unforgettable moments of my life. I looked forward to this kind of celebration where we forget our differences and doctrines; rather we celebrate as human family. Modi was not brought up in a compartmentalized Hindu family, rather he is from a mixed neighbourhood. He too has had umpteen numbers of Muslim and Christian friends. We can hardly come across any Indian who never had a close friend of another faith.
For Modi it is not a huge challenge at all to safeguard the secular style of government where his cabinet will be made up of ministers from different religious backgrounds. It is hard to have sheer Hindu cabinet of the government especially in a country like India. Thence, Modi might have to watch out for people who influence his decision to favour only the Hindus.
I am always sceptical about people talking about Modi being inclined towards establishing a Hindu nation. I might be completely wrong, but my instinct says that Modi will rise as the superstar of Asia and put India in the limelight. As far as I see, Modi will be more concerned about the Indian economy than the religious allegiance. Modi has a strong charisma that will allow him to make his own decision that would help a nation that is limping for the past one decade. Being a minority Indian, I might sound very optimistic about Modi, it is because Modi's passion for his country. We have witnessed his passion for India through his untiring election campaigns throughout the past year. His electrifying election campaigns have overshadowed the lousy and ineffective campaigns of the Congress party. Finally, I wish that this most powerful man, Modi, may modify India and make each Indian, poor and rich, proud. Let every Indian may proclaim, 'We needed this man at this time'.