<div><em>Today there are two camps, one that will never believe and acknowledge that Narendra Modi can make mistakes and the other that will ridicule his every move, muses <strong>Manish Kumar Pathak</strong></em><br><br>The Delhi heat can be quite sapping, and after another ‘normal’ day, when the sun absolutely hammered down, the evening came as a respite. Cool breeze, and a considerable cloud cover eased the temperature, and I strolled towards the park. Trudging along, I saw a man, aged around 40 gulping down a bottle of water, and then almost as a reflex action fling the empty plastic bottle down on the pavement. I went to him, patted his back, and asked him rather meekly if he was even aware that in this ‘small’ way he was littering his own surroundings. What followed certainly gave me a shock. He snapped back, swore few words, and mentioned that the ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan’, ( a thought that did not even cross me) will never be successful in India, as long as the Modi Government does not shed its communal tag, and then without bothering to bend down he sauntered away.</div><div> </div><div>I then realised, that this raging debate of secularism and communalism has penetrated so deep into the mentality of the common people that it has almost become unbearable to hear the rants that are dished out. Every other policy, every second issue, and almost everything is inadvertently related to religion, and then the concerned parties take sides, decide who is communal, who is secular, and start hurling accusations at each other. Even if somehow the religion aspect takes a backseat, instead of the pros and cons, the mentality of the policy makers are discussed.</div><div> </div><div>Be it the recently concluded Yoga Day, or be it any trivial celebration of anything anywhere, everything has a religious connotation attached to it. The mindset has seeped deep into the psyche of mainstream media, and it seems as if the day is incomplete without raising issues of religion. It has become very difficult to understand that why we cannot differentiate between being a devout follower of a religion and being communal? Religion is an intensely private affair, and it should remain so.</div><div> </div><div>On one hand when the world was receptive towards the benefits of Yoga, Indians found a way to somehow extract controversy. The tweets that were flying in from all sides, made it absolutely sure, that even this landmark day would not pass without any hullabaloo. </div><div> </div><div>The politicians and the media were all out pushing through their own propaganda. Infact, Sitaram Yechury even claimed that this mass mobilisation to celebrate International Yoga Day by the BJP-led NDA government is an attempt to promote Hindutva agenda at the cost of India's secular democratic fabric. </div><div> </div><div><br><br>Kiran Bedi, went the other extreme by tweeting a selfie from the venue itself. </div><p><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/kiran300.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 306px; margin: 1px; float: right;"></p><div>Then there was the controversial tweet from Ram Madhav questioning the absence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari from the event, without being aware of the protocol. Although, he apologised later, this statement clearly shows, that politicians without any clue of the laws, love to dish out their own theories. Yoga Day was a great chance to showcase the soft power of India, and unfortunately the sheen of the event was eroded because of these continuous jibes taken by the pro-Modi and anti-Modi camps.</div><div> </div><div>The Lok Sabha elections 2014, was dubbed as an election where the media was divided into two segments. One that was pro-Modi and the other anti-Modi, and quite easily secular and communal issues flared up. There is this segment of main stream media, which is hell-bent in painting everything with the colour of religion. The situation has aggravated even after almost one and a half years. As a result many alternative media platforms have emerged, which offer radical theories on either side. Are we hurtling towards a scenario, where any step we take will be judged through the prism of religion, and where every movement will always ignite furious debates?</div><div> </div><div>This is the tweet that invited a lot of criticism during the Prime Minister’s visit to France. The concerned journalists clearly are no fan of Modi, but journalism should be more objective.</div><div> </div><div> </div><p><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/mihir-large.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 608px; margin: 1px;"></p><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/sagarika-large.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 371px; margin: 1px;"><br><br><br>When two senior journalists, just want to push forwards their own agenda, the actual picture becomes rather hazy.</div><div><br><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/swapan-large.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 522px; margin: 1px;"><br><br><br>And it concluded like this:</div><div> </div><div><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/raj-large.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 179px; margin: 1px;"><br><br>One can only draw the conclusion about the inclinations of the concerned individuals. Having an inclination is no harm, but in the veil of a certain tilt promoting their theories as the truth is dangerous.</div><div> </div><div>When the results for the Lok Sabha elections were announced, there was this feeling that just because a right-wing government is assuming power, every minority segment will be muted, and unfortunately till today this sentiment has continued. Probably, the government should also be held responsible, because it has not been able to win the support of the minority. At the same time, the media should be held accountable for screaming, whining and lamenting over everything with just one yardstick: religion. </div><div> </div><div>Clearly, today there are two camps, one that will never believe and acknowledge that Narendra Modi can make mistakes and the other that will only have one agenda, which will be ridicule his every move. There is only black and white, the truth unfortunately lies somewhere in the middle, it is that grey shade.</div><div> </div><div>The rift is more evident on the social media, where almost every policy is scrutinised and criticised, and almost ridiculed. Be it the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, where it is often alleged that it is nothing more than a photo-op. While the so-called Modi-Bhakts jump in the defence, the anti-Modi camp launches an all out attack. Whatever then happened to cleanliness is next to godliness.</div><div> </div><div>The recent issue of the Rs 10-lakh suit was similarly blown way out of proportion, and the Prime Minister had to bear the wrath. </div><div> </div><div>The foreign visits made by Modi similarly had been highlighted very often, and there was this joke doing the rounds, that the Prime Minister seldom stays in the country to have an idea about the problems faced here. However, according to the information that was made available by an RTI, revealed that the number of foreign trips undertaken by Modi is equal to the trips made by Manmohan Singh. This is the grey shade that must be portrayed more often. </div><div> </div><div>This does not mean, there have been no mistakes committed by the government. The motor mouths in the government seem to be on a rampage, and they do not think twice before making inflammatory comments, that only creates a dent on the image of the government. The fanatical right wing parties have started spewing venom, which will only eat into the fabric of the nation. The Prime Minister has failed to curb such commentary, and this has to be addressed with sensitivity.</div><div> </div><div>Times have changed, but has India changed, or is it willing to change? The answer is a resounding yes, but for that we will have to strive harder to rise above the propaganda, and be the gatekeepers ourselves. We are living in an environment, where the Hindus will always have to prove they are secular, and the minorities will always have to prove they belong to the nation, and are equally patriotic. Perhaps India will be more Incredible, when this yawning gap is reduced.</div><div> </div>
