I was engaged in a very passionate discussion with a friend regarding the Current Political Scenario and the prospect of Modi leading the Nation in near future. My friend quoted an article in Outlook Magazine in its April 21, 2014 issue by Mr N Ram – “ Nearing Port, There’s No Abandoning Ship” highlighting that NaMo being “an outlier has propelled himself to the centre stage”.
It has been a long time since I had given up reading Outlook or any such magazine. But on hearing the alarming comments of my friend, I persuaded myself to read the article.
This article is a classic example of veiled hate mongering and spreading lies. It is a case study on how to insult your readers by assuming their stupidity. It is also an example of the typical arrogance of a journalist possessed by Ego and uncompromising hatred towards anyone who does not subscribe to the views of their self-styled Intellectual Leadership that they have been enjoying by virtue of their inherited position in journalism.
It opens up with an acceptance of the verdict of the on-going Election to be ejection of Congress from office. It also tries to position Rahul Gandhi as an effective Leader of the Opposition in the next Lok Sabha.
Then he goes on to raise some doubts about the possibility of a Third Front, dismissing it as improbable.
So, he proceeds now to ‘guarantee’ that the President would invite the leader of the Single Largest Party( BJP), Narendra Modi “ to have the first turn at forming a Government”. The twists start here. He seems to be suggesting that BJP is not going to get a majority. That would however be decided on 16th May, 2014 and this may not be the right time to discuss whether BJP would get a clear Majority or Not.
He then writes “ The overwhelming probability is that Leader will be ‘Vikas Purush’ Narendra Modi, NaMo to millions ( blaspheming consciously or unconsciously for a higher political cause, but who are we , unreconstructed votaries of free speech, to object?) – an ersatz version of the BJP (in the opinion of Shiv Vishwanathan writing in the Hindu on April 5, 2014 , an outlier who has propelled himself to centre stage against all the odds, causing much unease among the party’s old guard and exposing ‘ a deep fault-line’”
He has assumed the role of a social jurist and launches the offensive on the ‘millions’ who according to him are committing ‘blasphemy’ by calling their Leader ‘NaMo’! He does not stop there. He goes on to say that this ‘blasphemy’ may be conscious or unconscious! Either way he has reached the conclusion that millions of supporters are committing ‘blasphemy’.
Mr. Ram forgets that he himself has been named after a Godhead. Did his parents commit blasphemy too? In stating this I also claim the shelter of being an ‘unreconstructed votary of Free Speech’ as he seems to be doing in the article.
To seek further support to his unsolicited vitriolic he quotes Shiv Vishwanathan who, it seems, thinks these million followers or fans are an Ersatz Version of BJP. ‘Ersatz’ is an expression of contempt? It is a word in German that means ‘made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else.’ Does Shiv Vishwanathan really think that these ‘millions’ are an inferior substitute for the BJP of the Past? Was the BJP of the Past, then, a superior club? And is Mr Ram applauding this judgemental statement of Shiv Viswanathan on the sly?
NaMo is identified as an outlier who has propelled himself to the centre stage. Mr Ram and Shiv together have forgotten that NaMo is an elected Chief Minister of a State on behalf of BJP. How could he be an outlier? A CM getting to the Centre Stage may not be a tradition in the
Dynastic Parties. But that does not preclude BJP from giving the centre stage to a proven Leader.
Merely because it does not suit the designs of the Raisina Club, he does not become an outlier; more so when there are ‘millions’ who are even willing to commit a so-called blasphemy in order to support him! Show us one ‘inlier’ in any party who could garner such support, either in numbers or in the depth of passion!
Are these two self-styled journalists even aware of what they are saying? Or is it again a conscious attempt to derail the traction that the BJP campaign has got leveraging their covetous position as Senior Journalists?
They seem to be too worried about the ‘unease among the party’s old guard’. Having an access to Media and play the influencer by virtue of being a Journalist does not afford them the freedom to spread such imaginary ‘unease’ .
The ‘Deep Faultline’ referred by Mr Ram is only an error of judgement to say the least. In a political party, difference of opinion is a routine affair unless it happens to be a feudalistic party in essence. These differences cannot be called faultlines , though it would suit the ‘unreconstructed votaries of Free Speech’ to call it so.
Further ahead in the article, Mr Ram goes on to refer to NaMo’s role in what he calls an ‘anti Muslim pogrom of 2002 ‘. Not that his reference would dramatically make the world believe, now, that it was a pogrom. But, repeatedly referring to it, mindlessly, further reduces the credibility and acceptability of the journalist himself. But Votaries of Free Speech attach no importance to credibility.
He then proceeds to attack the delay in release of Manifesto and his perceived reasons for that. None of these reasons are going to take away any sheen from the Manifesto though. A futile attempt to divert the attention to non-events and imaginary events would only lead to further affirmation of the lack of credibility of Mr Ram.
At the end of the article, Mr Ram again wears the hat of a jurist and goes on to firmly state that Amit Shah’s speeches were ‘inflammatory’ and ‘criminally prosecutable’. This is like public judgement by a journalist and giving a verdict to influence the public mind and bypass the judicial process and make the bogey benefit from such ‘mis-information’.
Mr. Ram, you are positioned to write these articles due to your long association with Journalism by virtue of inheritance. Your career has been long. I cannot say, how outstanding it has been. But from your current state of hate-mongering against Modi and his fans, we do not get a feeling of any excellence in your past.
Free Speech Votaries – however well positioned cannot create such misgivings among the public and openly abuse the millions and least of all the One who has caught the imagination of these millions.
Time is near when you would have to make efforts to re-establish your credentials after having written so much of gibberish.
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Wonderful Read… Thank You…. 🙂
N.Ram.like persons are under shock to perceive that a mirage called NaMo is becoming a reality now.These seculers thought that 2002 Godhara riots would be enough to blow off a bubble of Modi,seculerism will again become a catchphrase to ward him off.They always undermined the people who they thought are damn fools to support corruption and oppressive politics.They thought the intellectuals are always on the side of a family rule to give always a chance to plunder.Nation is awakned now by a tea vendor who is at verge of being Pride Of The Nation.Now Anant Krishnamurthy like people will have to arranging their suitcases for permanent journey with one way ticket.
Accurate with no comments.Pleasure to read.