(Image source from: Are liberalists at threat from Modi?})
If you fear that the rise of Modi to power could spell devastation for the Muslims, know that you aren't the only one. Even intellectuals like Salman Rushdie, Homi Bhabha, Anish Kapoor, Deepa Mehta have unequivocally expressed their fears about a Narendra Modi-led India, never mind if their opinion yields little or no difference on anyone’s vote. Nevertheless, these erudits deserve applause for sailing against the tide in India.
The Congress has never been a staunch upholder of Rushdie's freedom of expression. And now the Indian British novelist and essayist has kicked down the ladder by condemning Modi in a note in The Guardian, reliving the 2002 incident when under Modi “the Muslim minority were overwhelmingly the victims of pillage, murder and terror, resulting in the deaths of more than 2,000 men, women and children.” This is the biggest fear among the liberalists now.
“Modi's infamous role in the massacre of Muslims in his state in 2002 is being brushed aside and he is promoted as morally 'fit enough' to lead the nation,” worries homegrown intellectuals like UR Ananthamurthy, S Irfan Habib, Mihir Pandya and others.
The liberals, fearful of the imminent Modi sarkar, are cloaking their own qualms by speaking up for Muslims, and in that way speaking up for themselves.
That said, the Modi government is likely to be more of a threat to the liberals than Muslims for the simple reason that Modi would never want to deal with another Godhra riot like incident again. He might never undergo a change of heart, he might never seek apology for having failed as a chief minister to protect people during the riots. But he knows that if another riot flares up under his watch, his future will go up in smoke. That is the one thing that the whole world would keep an eye on.
At a rally in the Meo Muslim village of Mewat, Zamil Ahmed said that the Muslims could not forgive Godhra. “Log Modi se nahin darten, log Modi se nafrat karten hai (People are not scared of Modi, they just hate him),” he said.
An NGO in Delhi said Muslim workers were willing to vote for BJP as they deem that Modi will have the most to lose if communal violence erupts under him again and therefore, he will try and keep a lid on it.
Liberals, especially dissenting liberals, however, are different. If Modi succeeds in saving the country from another riot, he would squarely take a potshot at them and there would hardly be anyone to defend them.
Liberals might rule over the op-ed pages but in a democracy it’s all about who can get more votes. Modi, not a very powerful Indian politicians, has no appetite for difference of opinion.
AW: Suchorita Choudhury
