The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
While we remember Modi as the man who was chief minister of Gujarat state when anti-Muslim riots left 1,000 dead, some in India today see him as “Mr Fix-it.”
Given the myriad of problems that afflict the country, there are many who argue that the country’s biggest dilemma is the seeming lack of political will and determination to set things right. Modi for them seems a God-sent.
There are high expectations from Modi and the BJP, the party many say will come into power in the first half of 2014, when general elections are most likely to be held.
The reaction to the possibility is telling. In some circles I visited during my stay in Delhi, heated debates ensued at the mention of the man. But at other places like Jamia-Millia, I was met with stony silence when I brought up this possibility.
There are some who seem to be in love with dictators, and India is no exception. For example, I sometimes feel there may be more supporters for General Pervez Musharraf in India than possibly in Pakistan because of his “don’t-care-about-the-consequences” style of governance. This can-do attitude that some in India love comes possibly from their frustration with the manner in which their current set of leaders operate.
Has India been in capable hands in the past decade under Congress? To an outsider it seems so. The present crop of leaders have ruled by consensus. But this somehow doesn’t seem in fashion any more. It seems time has come for change.
The great hope of the last elections, Rahul Gandhi, seems a non-starter. While we in Pakistan seem to be inspired by his upbringing and approach, young India seems to have written him off. This is the same India that was inspired by a 40-year-old-man in the ‘80s and still mourns his loss.
But who will govern? The more optimistic in Delhi suggest that the Congress party may return with a motley coalition in place. Should that happen, many fear that it will be more of the same as far as governance is concerned. The Congress is blamed for corruption and a sluggish economy. The possibility continues to be highlighted by political opponents, led by the BJP, which also accuse the Congress of being too soft on Pakistan.
But are Indians ready to have Modi as their PM? The Gujarat riots were ably portrayed in the movie “Parzania”, which readers would do well to see to better understand the extent of what happened in that state in 2002. Till then, we knew Gujarat as the home of Mahatma Gandhi.
Now things are heating up. Already we have seen a rise in the BJP’s popularity with the naming of Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate. The Gujarat CM, who employs the same PR firm that is retained by the state of Israel for its image building, is credited with helping Gujarat’s economy achieve average yearly growth in the double digits over the past decade. He is popular among many wealthy businessmen.
Pundits predict a hung parliament next year. Both parties would need regional parties as coalition partners given that predictions suggest that neither would have enough numbers to form a government of their own. This is our assumption.
Some quarters may also be possibly working on another agenda, as witnessed in the Muzaffarnagar in September where 50 died. These were the worst communal riots in India in the past decade and many say their timing was significant. There are accusations that social re-engineering is taking place in some parts of the country where there is a sizeable religious minority in place.
It is no coincidence that the riots took place in UP, the state which contributes the most seats to parliament and where the BJP is expected to register gains. More tensions are expected in both UP and Bihar, say some.
One fears that after achieving so much, India will once again spiral into communal violence as this would be beneficial to some ahead of the 2014 elections. Should that happen, the gains made by the country in the past years may be lost. Perhaps forever.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2013.
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COMMENTS (47)
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i read some one had suggested all Muslims to leave. immature. muslims are part and parcel of india. totally integrated. there will be no bollywood without them there will be no music without them. there are very senior officers in ARMY from Muslim community. we had an excellent muslim officer as Chef of Airstaff. many Presidents were from muslim community. greatest scientist Dr abdul kalam is from tamil nadu.
we love them. we need them we will never part with them. they are our brothers and sisters.
My apologies for those irrational and irresponsible, immature d comments from some.
@Maula Jatt: Indian Muslims are Indian citizens and entitled to equal protection under the Indian constitution. This is unlike the Pakistani constitution which does not I've equal rights to Muslims.
Communal riots are very unfortunate and there is loss of life and property for the victims. In India though Muslims and Hindus die in communal riots and both deaths need o be mourned. The riot perpetrators of Gujarat riots have already been convicted and I have no doubt that the same fate will meet those involved in Muzaffarnagar riots.
However it is factually correct that most Hindu Muslim riots in my memory have been started by Muslims killing Hindus. This was true in 1993 Mumbai riots, it was true in 2002 riots and it is also true about the recent Muzaffarnagar riots. I do not think this justifies the killing of innocent Muslims either and I am glad that riot perpetrators are convicted and jailed.
If there are some Indians that ask Indian Muslims to leave India, they have no power o enforce their will because the Indian Muslims have the protection of a secular constitution as well as media and civil society which do not support such extreme views. Do check however what has happened o the proportion of non-Muslims living in Pakistan in the past 66 years. They have been either killed, forced o convert or forced to leave the country.
Dipak@Ticker: Don't worry about Modi. If he is elected PM of India, it woould become the strongest country in the world. He believes in uniting people, not dividing like Congress's Italian mafias and their Indian Hazoorias. Modi is a practical man demanding progress at every level. Indian Muslims will be free from Congress who have kept them down most of the 66 years. Modi has this galvanizing effects on people. Progress by Modi is a known phenomena. Industries, infrastructures, power generation, water distribution in remote areas of water starved lands can only be elevated by Modi. Others have no vision. Believe me with Modi, Indian Muslims will be more prosperous than ever. It's already showing up in Gujarat.
ET, why are comments by me and other Pakistanis being censored? All the while vilification of Indian Muslims is being allowed, such as blaming them for riots against them, questioning their right to live, and abuse of the Islamic religion. This is really low for a "Pakistani" website.
"There are some who seem to be in love with dictators, and India is no exception. " Modi my dear chap is a democratically elected leader. How can you call him a dictator?
@Jag Nathan
The 1940 Lahore resolution clearly indicated that Pakistan would be created to accommodate the Muslims in Muslim majority areas of British India and not all the Muslims of British India. There are around 150 million Muslims in Republic of India which was created in 1947. If the Muslims of Republic of India are not accepted as citizens, they can and they will struggle to create a separate country for themselves and would secede from Republic of India. There are already around 140 armed secessionist groups fighting for secession from Republic of India, which is the highest such number in any one country in the world. Whereas around only 32 such groups are fighting in Indian Occupied Kashmir, over 80 are fighting in North East India for secession. The manner in which Muslims from Republic of India are being treated, it is not long that there would be many many more such groups created and would add to the already fighting 140 odd.
And if the Republic of India's Hindu population wants to elect a self acclaimed Hindu Nationalist and fundamentalist leader like Modi (popularly known as India's Hitler in Republic of India) as the Prime Minister, it is likely to initiate further breakup of Republic of India as has happened before in its history.
I sincerely hope that Modi is elected as Republic of India's next Prime Minister.
Call it Modification or whatever else. We the majority citizens had enough with the minority appeasing pseudo secular Congress, SP and their allies on the left. India is coming to a stage where Muslims are being appeased at the cost of the rights of majority Hindus.and we are going to put an end to this. Pakistan was created for the specific purpose of accommodating Muslims of India who found Hindus and their culture abhorrent or dominating. Indians Muslims who find it a challenge to live among Hindus accepting our way of life are welcome to move to Pakistan or any other Muslim nation that will allow them to stone their women, amputate hands or slit throats. Irrespective of what is said or written here or elsewhere, Modi and BJP will dictate the polices of next Indian parliament irrespective of who wins the election.
@BruteForce: You are welcome to take the entire 150 million Muslims if you like. We really dont need most of them. At the end of the day, they are Muslim than India and their loyalty is therefore suspect.
This editorial is a bit disappointing keeping in view of the author's previous record of penning balanced and logical views. The author like any other Pakistani is paranoid of Modi donning the topmost post in New Delhi due to one unfortunate incident happened more than a decade back and the same never repeated till date. Most of the observations raised against Modi have been replied logically by gp65. What Pakistanis need to know is that Gujarat is the leading state in India where lot of Muslims has risen much more than any other state in the country due to development, and progress made in the past decade in this State. No wonder, many well known Muslim clerics who are keen on development and improving the lot of Muslims in their respective states are openly speaking in favour of Modi. A common man too who wants to get rid of corruption and wants development in the country is supporting Modi. Whether BJP will be able to muster the magic figure of 273 to occupy the Delhi throne in 2014 is still unclear, which only time will tell.
Political Islam and Political Hinduism are not the same. Hindus in UK are as large in numbers as Muslims, but you see Political Islam in UK, not Political Hinduism.
Same in India. Even though India has an equivalent population(1.3 Billion) to the Muslim world(1.4 Muslim world), the radical movements with Religion as the base is negligible.
Purely speaking in terms of numbers, Pakistan despite having 1/7th the population of India, has 7 times more the number of Islamic movements than the corresponding in India.
Not all ideologies are the same, not all are equally Political in nature.
Thank God, Indian Muslims have Pakistan and Bangladesh to turn to.
Pakistan should accept refugees who will stream in once Modi comes to power and in return the Hindus.
ETBLOGS1987
"As India progresses in leaps and bounds, one area of concern that has emerged is the possibility that Narendra Modi may be the country’s next prime minister".*
First of all it is unclear whether NDA led by Modi will be able to form a government. But if it does, it is unclear who is feeling concerned. The PAkistan establishment which tries to facilitate infiltration into India knowing how tame MMS' responses will be? They have reason to be concerned. Congress PArty of course has reason to be concerned - but that concern is political. For sure Gujarat's Muslims are not concerned as they voted for him in the last municipal elections.
"While we remember Modi as the man who was chief minister of Gujarat state when anti-Muslim riots left 1,000 dead, some in India today see him as “Mr Fix-it.”"
Interesting that you chose not to mention that not all 1000 who died were Muslim - infact 254 were Hindus. Also you chose to omit the fact that these riots occurred in 2002 Feb i.e. over 11 years back and there have been no communal riots in Gujarat for the last 11 years. You also ignored the fact that the riots were not triggered by some order by Modi or his government but by the actions of some extremist Muslims who burnt 58 Hindu pilgrims alive. Also on 3rd day of the riots he had called the army and that brought the riots to a halt. Oh and he had been in power for just about 3 months when these riots occurred. Now compare his performance with PErvez Khattak in ensuring law and order. Compare it with Shahbaz Sharif under whose watch Unilateral attacks on Christians continue to occur with o state response. Also compare his performance with Qaim Ali Shah where twice as many people have been killed in taget killing just this year and the killing fields have not really stopped since 2008. Will not talk about Balochistan and the situation of Hazaras there.
FInally in India at least a person is called "Mr. Fixit" if they use corruption as a way to move things forward. Modi has reputation of being totally clean.
@Malik T: "While we remember Modi as the man who was chief minister of Gujarat state when anti-Muslim riots left 1,000 dead, some in India today see him as “Mr Fix-it.”"
The land of Gandhi was also land of Sardar Patel. Independent India is determined to protect its land and its people. Unlike Pakistan where no party talks about getting a constitution which treats all citizens as equals or of removing 2nd Amendment which criminalizes worship of Ahmadis, no party in India including BJP has any interest in changing the secular constitution of India. The debate pertains to what is true secularism just as the debate in Pakistan is about 'true Islam'. It is unclear how a CM who has ensured that his state is free from communal riots for 11 years, who brought riots under control (triggered by aggressive monirity action) under control in 3 days flat and who is completely free from corruption and whom the Supreme court has given a clean chit is being criticized in Pakistan where the less said the better about the rights to minorities in the constitution and the those who oppress minorities are never prosecuted - let alone being convicted.
Sir just to correct you it's not 1000 dead it's 3000 dead officialy and 2000 missing now presumed dead by high court of Gujarat total is 5000 dead unofficial Indian Urdu newspapers put the figure at 7000 dead and over 1 lakh living in refugee camps even after 10 yes of riots.
Dear Editor...Modi is the need of the hour in India. Congress under Dr. Singh has only seen corruption on the rise with no action. Youth specially had seen a lot of hope in Sonia and Congress 10 yrs back but with each corruption case this faith has gone down. Also there are many issues which need to be delt with an iron hand cannot be handled by the congress Govt because of its hands tied with other parties and soft Dr. Singh. All that happened in 2002 in Gujarat with Hindus & Muslims being killed in large numbers was unfortunate and it happens in all countries where you have population of mixed communities and faith. Bur after that look at the developement in Gujarat state under the leadership of Mr. Modi. There has been no communal violence nor any big corruption case or sex scandals. The action taken is swift and accused taken to task. Surprisingly Muslims in that state support Modi to a large extend and that is how he is elected for 3 terms at a stretch. Muslim businessman have developed and grown side by side other communities with equal opportunities. What more do yo want? So lets not rake up 2002 riots and put down Mr. Modi. Then what about Bombay Hindu-Muslim riots of 1993 where Congress was ruling or 2010 Muslim killings in Assam or latest Muzaffarnagar anti Muslim riots in UP under Congress supported Goverment. This list will go on....so lets not single out Mr. Modi and support his governance and hope for a better India.
Why do you poke your nose into the internal political affairs of India? If a Pakistani views something about India that is not good, then it is really good for India. Sixty years after becoming an Independent nation, you have not settled down yet as a real democracy; and you are advising Indians!
The author should spend more time on how a 98% islamic Pakistan does not have the discipline to have peace in society. Is that not shameful even in most decent terms....
@ Razi, Shouldn't you have defeated Taliban Khan and Hafiz Sayeed's BFF Nawaz Sharif in your recent elections? Its a little rich on your part wishing the defeat of extremists in Indian elections! @ Kamal Siddiqi, An unsolicited advice, mate! Do a lot of unbiased research instead of anchoring your article on hearsay and folklore. Journalism is a serious matter since you journos are opinion makers, so please can we have an even handed, fact based and well researched piece? Does it matter if Modi has a PR firm representing him ( though even this is unsubstantiated till date) when Congress has virtually the entire print and electronic media on the take or scared stiff by their private Gestapo ( CBI, Income Tax Dept, Enforcement Directorate, Foreign Exchange Directorate et al)? And pray, what was your burning desire to inform readers that the very same PR firm represents Israel if it wasn't to discredit Modi by association? You say, you Pakistanis are inspired by Rahul Gandhi because of his upbringing and approach. This one sentence shows how little you have studied what little there is to study of him unless you are content with contrasting him with Bilawal. Sorry, but that isn't the benchmark we Indians have. You harp on the 2002 riots but evidently you haven't unearthed the relevant facts that Modi has swept even Muslim dominated areas of Gujarat ever since then with Muslim BJP candidates romping home even in local body polls. Are they contesting with a gun to their heads and are the voters terrorised to do so? Rioters, my friend, are uneducated, unemployed lumpen elements hence you won't hear of other minorities like Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Parsis rioting. Only Hindus and Muslims who are, at the lower strata at least, poor uneducated and jobless. Muzzafarnagar riots, if you had just taken the effort to research , was the reaction to the free run enjoyed by criminals in U.P ever since Yadav came to power. These criminals were, regrettably, muslims who are Yadav's loyal vote bank and the impunity with which they looted, raped and generally spread mayhem has infuriated all non muslims in U.P which may benefit BJP, but, hey, don't blame Modi for that! Also, please ponder why muslims aren't integrating with the general society world over, forget India. Have you heard or seen Christian, Sikh or Buddhist Ghettos or slums in India? Dharavi slum of Mumbai is a melting pot of all religions but Muslims have carved out a zone even within that. Playing victim can only take you thus far!
@Razi:
Even after suffering so much from extremists and terrorists you are preaching Indians.Don't worry about extremists in India ,deal with extremists and terrorists in Pakistan otherwise next casualty will be u and your family
What a transition for India, from the land of Ganhi Jee to a country where MODI has become an icon.
More I read articles against Modi from Pakistan, more I feel stringer on voting for him. And this passion is similar to millions in India. One thing Pakistanis do not understand is that Indians ( or Hindus as you would like to call us) do not hate muslims, they hate Pakistani muslims. Period. Reasons are plenty which understandably your government or military would not accept. And surprisingly Pakistanis, even the self proclaimed liberal ones, still want to believe on an establishment which had been caught lying from time to time. I honestly do not recall any country leadership facing such a humiliation of getting caught lying. Not once but almost every decade Pakistanis are caught red faced. So sir, since you are a Pakistani and as a normal Pakistani you believe your leaders, military and media and do not care to do any research but only work on hypothesis, I respectfully disagree with your perception of Modi. Rest assure, you guys like it or not. He will be next PM of India. And irony for Pakistan is, it is Pakistan's own doing that gave such a boost to Modi. Good luck for rough weather ahead.
Modi and the BJP simply lack the broad based support and Coalition partners, to form the next Government, unless a wave is generated to sweep it in. What he has done in Gujarat, everyone wants the same level of development in their State too. Gujarat also happens to be the safest state in the country, women can safely travel anywhere at any time of day or night alone, without fear. No wonder that women and youth are his biggest supporters.
Riots in UP happened not because of Modi but because the regional parties there wanted to consolidate the minority votes by creating fear. Bihar is another state where it can happen because the CM Nitish is losing ground and may resort to desperate measures. However the religious minorities are slowly understanding the dynamics better -- one one side are secular parties who harness their votes by creating and maintaining fear, other side is promising unhindered economic development. Difficult poll anyway !
I would like to assure Author that India will never become a Hindu Rastra , even if Modi becomes PM- which is very unlikely,as most of the regional chieftains are against him.
One fears that after achieving so much, India will once again spiral into communal violence as this would be beneficial to some ahead of the 2014 elections. Should that happen, the gains made by the country in the past years may be lost. Perhaps forever. SIR..... WITH ALL DUE RESPECT INDIA IS NOT IN THE 1980s OR THE 1990s.. INDIA IS IN 2013 AND INDIA IS NOT PAKISTAN...
Mr. Siddiqui let me ask you a simple question. If 59 Muslims returning from Hazz were killed at Lahore train station by Pakistani Hindus what would happen to Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan? The answer will not be a surprise, but you conveniently decided to fool the Pakistani publick from finding out the root cause of 2002 Gujarat riots. Narendra Modi is son of the great Gujarat as were Mahatma Gandhi, Quaid Jinnah and Sardar Patel. Narendra Modi is first leader borne to Mother India after the first indepenence of 1947. He will kick out the Italian Mafias currently ruling and destroying India. The second independence of India is just around the corner. And believe me that would be good for both India and Pakistan.
Modi will come to power... insha allah!
One thing the writer fails to mention is that Modi is scrupulously honest. This is a rarity in South Asian Politics or for that matter in most of Asia, except perhaps Singapore. He is a determined strong leader, and will take India to new heights. Pakistan does not have to be apprehensive about him, as he will be busy with development of India to challenge China, who is really our adversary.
Dude this is going attract lot of attention from "indian trolls". Modi has created bit of an earthquake in India and Pakistanis can sure feel the tremors too as we see regular articles around him. Has India been in capable hands in the past decade under Congress? To an outsider it seems so. The present crop of leaders have ruled by consensus. But this somehow doesn’t seem in fashion any more. It seems time has come for change.
The paragraph above is the crux of the matter. Indians, atleast the middle class does not feel that congress has done a good job and rightly so. Also consensus does not mean scams. This govt has been the most corrupt India has ever seen. There are two confused powercentres and both dont communicate to people. Decision making is slow and ineffective. Inflation is sky high and economics in doldrums in a government full of economists. Policies around infrastructure or investments are again messed up.
Contrasts this with Vajpayee Govts 5 year term. That govt did some decent job and it was sad they could not come back to power. Contrasts this with other inept congress ruled states and BJP ruled states. The answer is simple, Congress is not capable. Further, Modi or BJP is fighting election on development and policies and not on religion or caste. Congress is fightling election on creating fear of BJP among minorities, as if there no minorities living in BJP ruled states or as if they dont vote for BJP.
The comment by Indian above captures in a nutshell all that is wrong with Modi and his supporters. We can only hope that the extremists are defeated in the coming elections in India.
” … This is the same India that was inspired by a 40-year-old-man in the ‘80s and still mourns his loss. … “
Oh really, the same man who was playing golf in Gymkhana club while his supporters were killing 3000 Sikhs across Delhi for the death of one woman and when reporters asked cooly said " When a big tree falls,the earth shakes"
The very same man allowed Bofors Scam to take place and the one who personally escorted the CEO of Dow Chemicals after Bhopal Gas tragedy
The very same man who damaged our secularism by allowing muslims their personal law and thereby quashing the justice pleas by an elderly muslim woman seeking compensation for divorce
The very same man who broke the gates of Babur Mosque and asked Hindus to pray there as its their right thereby fuelling Ayodhya temple issue which resulted in the destruction go the mosque few years later....
Even after all these,he's given a Bharat Ratna,..Half of educational institutions,airports,awards are named after him....
Now tell me how Modi PR machine works????
" ... This is the same India that was inspired by a 40-year-old-man in the ‘80s and still mourns his loss. ... "
It was more like good riddance.
We are not routing for Modi blindly nor are we believing in his PR machinery. We have talked to the people of Gujarat. Any nation which aims to achieve prosperity has to show a long term planning. We have seen that in Gujarat which was power deficit state before Modi took over and now a power surplus state which even has 2nd largest solar power plant. All the villages are not connected with internet. This actually in a country like India is a big big achievement. The infrastructure under Modi has been rapidly developed. He has even approved of projects like SIR and Dholera ( check on youtube) which are mini Hong kong or mini Dubai's. Above all look at his personal profile. He has come from a humble background. His mother lives in a small house not in any villa. Modi may be accused of many things but corruption is not one of them, that should tell something about the man and why many Indians like him. If you are believing Congress will come to power because of some coalition politics, then you are living in a imaginary world. Just take a look at Modi's rallies where a minimum of 100,000 people gather. The anti-incumbency factor is riding high. Rahul Gandhi one time has to cancel his rally because only 100 people were in attendance. BJP may or may not get the magic number 272 required to form a government but they will surely cross 200 which will attract lot of anti congress allies.
We don't like dictators like musharraf nor modi is dictator. so keep your islamic view point to your muslim brothers. modi is coming to end italian mafia party. which you muslim vote bank support.
"...we in Pakistan seem to be inspired by his (Rahul Ghandy's) upbringing and approach,..." It would have been helpful if the author had elaborated on this statement. Among other names, he has been called "a pup" and "Amul baby" in India, both derisively
Riots occur in places where muslims are in high numbers - one reason is possibly a false sense of bravado that comes from being the numerical majority in large pockets (as indicated by the origin of the Muzaffarnagar or Godhra riots), and the second is the possibility that due to their segregated style of living in these pockets, even isolated law and order incidents (a regular argument between groups of people) become colored by religion. Of course, political parties are much more likely to create and nurture a sense of deprivation/ alienation/ victimization among muslims in light of any such incidents, since the muslim vote will be more focused (and high) if there is a fear factor, while there is less consolidation of Hindu votes, which continue to be split along caste lines; maintaining these fault lines naturally allows for another incident in the future, as used to be the case in Gujarat before Modi, when communal riots took place every couple of years - today Gujarat is riot-free for 11 years and running, which is conveniently ignored. As regards Rahul Gandhi, maybe someone in ET could tell us why he is so impressive, instead of focusing on Modi alone - given the wide Indian readership, you should be able to get the message across if there actually is one.
This is far off reading of what is happening in Indian politics. Not sure he is capable of being a editor. People in Pakistan seems to be paranoid of Modi. Too much NDTV WATCHING.
Let India be Modified..but seriously speaking he is not good for pakistan...He will talk about pakistan kashmir..remeber this...so try not to popularize him enough...
The more I read the more intrigued I get. This is slowly turning out to be way better than a high political drama TV serial.............but then its real life.
All Pakistanis dislike Modi......Means we are doing something right.......the writer willingly forgets to mention burning alive of Hindu pilgrims which triggered the riots......
the author thou says that he mingled with Indian people and muslims in just some part of India ... completely forgets the thread what India is woven on ... Remember the maulavi taking ON Musharaf in an interview on TV ????? So don't build castles in the sky ... and dream of India getting disturbed on communal lines ... Its Not Pakistan who stops Ahemedis of even sacrificing there goats to Allah .. as they are considered non muslims ...
Dear Editor, Modi will ultimately be good for India and also Pakistan. Plz don't be afraid of him. Modi means business and he'll do business with Pakistan. A win-win situation for everyone.
Stop preaching to india. We are 100% better than pakistan. If we are not then ask all indian muslims to migrate to pakistan. We don't want them.
Is Modi going to be any different than Congress, when it comes to Pakistan-people think so, but in reality it is not going to be so. Even American defence Secretary Hagel attests to the destabilising methods employed by the current Congress government in our land, which has created such anarchy but the only thing every one talks about, is one single attack in Mumbai 5 years back.
Did you mean to say modification of India, or modification in India ? Title doesn't make sense. Or did you want to pontificate on India and ended up using on by mistake.
Communal politics this time won't sell at the national level. It is usually practiced at the usual hotspots. So the election will be on economy and development, corruption, etc. besides BJP will need coalition allies, they won't join BJP with communal agenda.
What do you think happened last time BJP was in power at the center?
Boss, "India will once again spiral into communal violence " big words .Stop and think once that India is not few cities in Gujrat or in UP or in BIhar. THe vast population and geographical area of India is peaceful and secular covering whomosever ruling it ,be it BJP ,Cong or regional parties. Also minority community is used always to denote Muslims and remember we christians also are a minority and dont fear Modi as we dont think of doing some mischief or supporting US or UK more than India. I suspect Sikhs ,Buddists and others religious communities tooo would be having no fear of Modi too .. Please note that Violence in gujrat made by blood boil when muslims were killed . Also note that when the train carrying sadhus were burnt we felt instant anger thinking these guys have done it again . These guys refer to one community just after 9/11 and that was the general mood in India . Just commenting to educate a mature author whose articles I like.
Nope. No one fears that. No one believes India will lose herself for ever or enter a chaos like Pakistan.
Yeah, and look who is talking!!