Monday, September 19, 2011

Our intellectual Cossacks!


Non-stop rant against Narendra Modi!

The Left-liberal commentariat has gone to extraordinary length to prove Narendra Modi's three-day fast as part of his 'Sadbhavana Mission' was "meaningless" and "lacked credibility". In a democracy, opinion is free (though facts remain sacred) and we must learn to live with such outpouring of vitriol by those who claim to be 'unbiased' and 'bipartisan' but are exactly what they say they are not.

True, the hate-steeped commentary denouncing Narendra Modi is anything but fair criticism. It is hate speech aimed at vilifying, defaming and maligning a visionary leader who has changed the face of Gujarat and, if given the opportunity, will change the face of India by putting the country on the path of rapid development and equitable growth. But our commentariat thinks crass abuse is criticism. So be it.

Narendra Modi believes in India, he is proud of the nation and enthuses the country's youth. That rankles with the commentariat and activists, and understandably so.

But if Narendra Modi's three-day fast, which ended on Monday evening, was truly "meaningless" and of "no consequence", why did his critics, especially in the 'secular' media, expend so much time and energy in denouncing it? Logically, they should have just ignored the event.

The fact of the matter, as the cliche goes, is that the louder their criticism, the shriller their denunciation, the greater is their alarm and panic. The raucous cacophony of voices we have heard in media these past three days is a measure of the frustration among the self-righteous, sanctimonious critics of Narendra Modi.

Why else would they quote Ramvilas Paswan in their defence?

In my Sunday column, Coffee Break, of January 22, 2011, headlined 'India awaits the NaMo model', I had recalled a Cossack folktale while commenting on Narendra Modi's critics who can see nothing good or right about him:

A young Cossack, who was a gifted horseman, dreamed of owning the best steed in the village where he lived. So he toiled and saved money to buy his dream horse, and eagerly waited for the annual animal fair that was held in a nearby village. At last, the big day came and our young Cossack set off for the fair, dressed in his Sunday best. He inspected all the horses on sale and finally found a stallion with a flowing mane, flaring nostrils, rippling muscles and a glistening white fleece. This was the horse he had dreamt of and toiled for! The owner asked for a huge sum, our young Cossack paid the money without even bothering to haggle over the price. Horse bought, its proud new owner mounted the steed and cantered home. He rode straight to the village square where his fellow Cossacks gathered every Sunday evening for raucous drunken revelry, dismounted and called them over to show off his new horse. A collective gasp was heard as the Cossacks gathered around: None had seen a more handsome stallion than this. One of them patted the horse and praised his strength; another counted his teeth and declared he couldn’t be more than a year old; a third ran his fingers through the mane and sighed. The village elder was so impressed that he declared the stallion the official stud of the village horse collective and ordered a fresh round of vodka for everybody. Then along came the village cynic, who was also the local correspondent of Pravda and the designated Cossack ‘intellectual’. He walked around the horse, went back to where he had been sitting sipping vodka, struck a pose similar to Rodin’s Thinker, got up after a while, walked back to the horse, lifted its tail, sniffed and declared, in a stentorian voice similar to that in which judges give their final verdict, “The horse stinks.”
The non-stop rant in newspapers and on news telly these past three days shows the comparison between the Cossack in the folktale and our intellectual-activist Cossacks was not misplaced.

But as I said, we live in a democracy with plural voices. Freedom of speech is integral to our liberty. And the right of Narendra Modi's critics to make fools of themselves is their inalienable right.

Do let me know what you think.

14 comments:

lata.varma said...

Enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to the battle in 2014. Interesting times ahead...

Anonymous said...

More they rant against Modi more it makes people like Modi.

Anonymous said...

Dada,

Awesome piece..NaMo will be our PM in 2014. Waiting for that day..

Padmini

Ispita Saha said...

A very apt assessment of Modi baiters. Very good analysis.

Medha said...

Excellent post!!
Sir,
The fact that our 'secular' media covered each n every aspect of NaMo's fast,just shows the power and popularity of Modi.
Instead ,Vaghela's fast was a big joke ,which the media itself reported in bits n parts; even they know who really 'sells' and win a trp game ..
Way to go! NaMo for PM

Anonymous said...

HAHA bang on target.the cossack story hope indian pravda r listening

SushJ said...

Fabulous story. BTW? Love the vitriol. If everyone is saying that he's bad Namo must be good.
Have been to Gujarat. It's way ahead of others in the country.

Pratik Mehta said...

How can this type of journalism be stopped? Is there any way out? Watching TV news is getting increasingly irritating with each passing day!

Anonymous said...

Our self righteous, left libtards pseudo sickular ranting media journos have only one point single agenda - Demean Hindutva, promote islamic appeasement, lambast Modi, keep Gujrat riots alive while burying past the Kashmiri pandits killing row, 1984 Sikh row and other riots during its governance..all of these can be handled with the will of Govt..

Gulbaraga was one-day riot,while Kashmir was burning for long and Kashmiri pandits were being murdered systematically in planned manner forcing them to leave..it lasted more than a year long..why Congress government was sleeping over it..why because there is no media supporters for hindu cause..Human rights are only for islams..Lets put an end to this long played divisive politics by congress by pleading full support to NaMo, his Sadbhavana mission and his developement based politics..long live NaMo.

oldindian said...

if you were josuah old testament wd not hv been more than a page r two long. Reminded of Movie Guru - even in use of words u r capitalist! Take a bow sir - Santasingh of twitter

oldindian said...

if you were josuah old testament wd not hv been more than a page r two long. Reminded of Movie Guru - even in use of words u r capitalist! Take a bow sir - Santasingh of twitter

non-carborundum said...

With this cap business now doing the rounds, Modi should wear a muslim cap do a photo-op. It'll throw people off balance.

Venkatesh said...

You think right. The stars are getting in place for a modi coronation!

I dont think the 2g scam exposures, the coming around of the US are random events. I think these are being orchestrated to expose the congress and wipe them out. In my simplistic view, if PC falls and Swamy targets sonia as he has promised to, mid-term elections are on the cards. Modi may ascend the throne before 2014 and hope he does. This country needs a guy like him.

Rahul Devrani said...

Interesting, for story-telling...But I wish the context was that simple as the folklore to which you relate it to...