It was Ayodhya’s images this Diwali that inadvertently highlighted to me the flaws in politics and governance in the “new Indiaâ€. The first image was of the Chief Minister wearing a saffron turban to match his ascetic robes, standing on the banks of the Saryu and proudly announcing that this year nine lakh ‘diyas’ would light up the banks of the river. And, he added with a smirk, three more lakh “diyas” would be lit in the temples of this city that Hindus have believed for centuries to be Ram’s capital in ancient times. Then on my TV screen appeared images of thousands of flickering clay lamps and psychedelic lasers lighting up the moonless sky. An amazed celebrity presenter said the event would be listed in the “Geenis Book of Recordsâ€.
Later, on social media, “old” India surfaced in footage of what happened after the lights went out and TV reporters left. As the clay oil lamps began to sputter, barefoot women and children sneaked around collecting whatever oil they could in plastic bottles. The reporter who took the photos said he had seen this happen year after year since the “ascetic” who ruled Uttar Pradesh for the past five years decided that his legacy would be to make Ayodhya a major tourist attraction. In pursuit of this goal, he is seen in Ayodhya every Diwali bowing deeply to actors dressed as Ram, Lakshman and Sita, and every year tried to increase the number of “diyas†on the banks of the Saryu. It is as if he wanted to deceive the inhabitants of Uttar Pradesh into believing that Ram Rajya is already there.
This year, he seemed particularly keen to use melodrama and an ad blitzkrieg to create that impression in case some remember the things he continues to deny. He never admitted that at the height of the brutal second wave of Covid, desperate people were abandoning loved ones who had died in the Ganges or burying them in shallow graves on its banks because they could not afford the last appropriate sacraments. Asked about this, Yogi’s response has always been that there are Hindu communities that traditionally do this. I haven’t seen an interview in which he was asked why there were queues outside the cremation grounds and why pyres burned all night, but if asked he would deny probably such a thing happened. Just as he has always denied that people have died in hospitals for lack of oxygen, beds and medicine.
Denials, dramas and massive publicity campaigns have become the weapons the Prime Minister uses against any criticism of his governance, so why should his prime ministers not follow his example? In all fairness to Narendra Modi, it must be said that these weapons have worked so well that opposition leaders have made a habit of copying them. Those leading the pathetic rump that remains of the once mighty Congress Party regularly make sure these days that TV cameras follow them when they visit temples. And, Arvind Kejriwal made sure the Diwali pooja he performed at his home was televised live, and urged the people of Delhi to pray with him. Modi has managed to write the rules for what he likes to call the ‘new India’, but the real question is whether it is possible to hide the old problems of old India under the luster and glare of change. illusion and melodrama?
Polls say unemployment continues to be a huge problem, and it will continue to be a problem because the economy is still stumbling rather than moving forward. The Prime Minister’s acolytes point out with respect and admiration that he has announced all the reforms necessary to lift the economy out of stagnant socialism. But we won’t really see India change until there is serious administrative reform. If massive advertising campaigns can be organized overnight, why is it so difficult to change colonial, cumbersome and obsolete administrative procedures?
Modi’s promises of change are plentiful. But where are these smart cities promised seven years ago? His new promise is that every Indian household will have clean drinking water by the next general election. How will this be achieved? This column has often praised the Swachh Bharat campaign, and it is remarkable that open defecation has become socially unacceptable, but to say that India has freed itself from this ancient habit is not true. . Swachh Bharat should include hygienic living conditions, so why does garbage keep rotting in public places? Why do humans continue to be sent down filthy sewers to clean them without protective clothing and the right tools? The eradication of manual cleaning should be an essential part of Swachh Bharat, and yet it is hardly mentioned there.
No matter how many “diyas†light up the banks of the Saryu and how many temples we build in the ancient capital of Ram, we cannot fool people into believing that Ram Rajya is already there. Beneath the surface of the shiny new India that we see in endless advertising campaigns, still exists an older India that has been unable to deal with the basic problems. Modi might have treated them better if he hadn’t distracted them by putting too much emphasis on religion and temples which did not bring us closer to Ram Rajya.
