The
Importance of Being a Gently Spoken Prime Minister
Jawhar Sircar
The Wire, 21st August, 2018
Fate, they say, leads a man to glory but
hubris undoes what destiny confers. It is expected of those who are catapulted
to the highest posts or even those who propel themselves to reach such historic
heights to accept certain obligations. Among these, the most important is to
conduct themselves in a manner befitting the post. If they cannot enhance its
dignity, they are duty-bound not to devalue it. India has been lucky in this
regard as every prime minister, except one, has acted his or her role in the
manner expected – even when their personal inclinations appear to dictate
otherwise. The much reviled Pandit Nehru was known to posses a short temper,
but in public life he was the epitome of dignity. Frankly, it was he who set
the benchmark and Atal Bihari Vajpayee took this decorum to new heights. It is
in this context that we note with pain how the second prime minister from his
party appears so insensitive to his responsibility to be gentle in public
communication.
Never before has any prime minister’s
statement in the Parliament been so hurting as to be expunged from its records. Though the press appears to have
played it down – or was perhaps persuaded to do so – this apparently
small incident will remain an indelible blot on our reasonably commendable
history of parliamentary democracy. It is the same gentleman who began his
parliamentary career by going to the other extreme, with his theatrical gesture
of kissing the hopefully-sanitised floor of the Lok Sabha.
Cameras and practised oratory are not all
that matter – people see through insincerity much more than what leaders
think. On the August 9, he mocked B.K. Hariprasad, who had just lost the
election as the opposition candidate for the post of deputy chairman of the
Rajya Sabha. It was a wordplay on his name – which he had no business to
do – and someone needs to tell him that these are considered juvenile
acts. Every one of the countless government schemes that he has marketed in his
regime, most of which are just repackages of old or existing ones, come in with
acronyms that he then elaborates by playing on the alphabets – as if the
whole nation were a kindergarten class. All of Delhi knows how his fawning
advisors and his well-paid tag-line writers really sweat to keep up with his
childish word games.
Someone else may have been ‘condoned’ but
Narendra Modi appears to be a serial offender where insulting opponents is
concerned. We can start with his long tenure in Gujarat but we would not like
to remember the most tragic riots in which 790 Muslims (this is the official
figure) were killed, reportedly without any support from the police or the
administration. When asked about it in July 2013, Modi responded by saying that
the driver or the passenger of a car cannot be blamed “if a puppy comes under the wheel”.
This terribly insensitive remark and the
unfortunate comparison with the victim community created an uproar, but people
soon moved on. He was a bit more cautious during his historic campaign for the
2014 elections but his numerous rallies were really tests of stamina and proof
of his excellence as a mesmerising orator. Then came the Bihar elections in
2015 where he lost out to the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Yadav combine, but some BJP
leaders were unhappy at Modi’s unwarranted aggression. Bhola Singh, BJP
MP, openly declared that the prime minister’s
“unparliamentary language” during the election campaign was one of the reasons
why the BJP lost the Bihar battle.
No occasion stops those who belittle dignity,
either their own or others. He did not sparethe retiring vice-president of India, M.
Hamid Ansari and chose his sentimental farewell function to attack one of most
dignified men in public affairs. In August 2017, Ansari had dared to mention
that Muslims were feeling insecure, but was he really expected to say that they
are happy with constant lynching? The manner in which the prime minister sought
to run down Ansari’s long and successful diplomatic career in West Asia –
the same area he himself pretends to cultivate through many of his innumerable
foreign visits – sadly revealed perhaps his own poor upbringing. By
‘ghettoising’ Ansari’s association with the Aligarh Muslim university, he went
out of the way to insult India’s senior-most Muslim, quite intentionally.
His conduct deteriorates even further when
elections approach. In December of last year, Modi made a lot of very bitter
comments – even though he managed to win Gujarat by a slender margin,
mainly by splitting opposition votes. On December 10, he reached the rock
bottom in public indignity when he accused former Prime Minister Manmohan Singhand
the former vice-president of actually conspiring with the Pakistanis to upset
the Gujarat elections. Obviously, Parliament was very upset and proceedings
stalled – as MPs wanted the prime minister to prove his point.
When the matter began getting out of hand,
the suave finance minister – who incidentally is liked by all for his
dignified behaviour and pleasing manners – had to intervene. He
clarified to the House that the PM “did not question, nor meant to question the
commitment to this nation of either former PM Manmohan Singh or Former VP Hamid
Ansari”. Arun Jaitley apologised and stated that “we hold these leaders in high
esteem, as well as their commitment to India”. This saved the day but the PM
did not come out with his own version of good behaviour. It is surprising that
the man whose compulsory bear-hug of every foreign leader is such a public
embarrassment – as many recipients are distinctly uncomfortable with
it – could not reserve a few affectionate handshakes for the aggrieved
opposition leaders.
But dignity cannot be forced – not even
by the highest chair – if one is structured the wrong way and enjoys
street language. During the Karnataka elections, Modi was back to his
belligerent behaviour and what he said at a rally in Hubli on the May 6 this year is simply
unpardonable. “Congress leaders should listen to me with open ears,” he stated,
“if you cross your limits, this is Modi, you will have to pay”.
The attacked party complained to the
President – what else could it do? We must remember that parliamentary
democracy can only be sustained through some display of courteous behaviour in
public life, whatever be our views. It is also time to give a message to those
who choose to destroy the grand legacy that our forefathers have bequeathed us.
(This article was first published on Ananda Bazar Patrika in
Bengali.)
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