At the stroke of 12:30 PM on the 5th of May, 2020, history was made in the Heavenly city of Ayodhya. What had taken over 150 years of legal battles had finally paid off! The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, was participating in the “Bhoomi Pujan” of Sri Ram Temple, which was till then housed in a pathetic tent. The Supreme Court of India had, back in 2018, passed the judgment that had led to this event. Of course, one could hear the objections, to the Prime Minister’s participation, from a distance. After all, one would have to be naïve to imagine the opposition parties would succumb to this and give up on their “sickular” agenda. The Prime Minister would not have wanted it any other way! After all, he has fought a lone battle against the multitude of opposition members fighting for the minority vote! What better forum to showcase their supposed loyalty to the Muslim vote bank, especially when the Ram Mandir is being talked about!!
For the first couple of days, it did seem like the objections were coming through loud and clear, with the Indian National Congress (INC) objecting vociferously to anyone that would listen, about how the very fabric of secularism was being threatened by the very thought of the Prime Minister attending the Bhoomi Pujan. How dare he? What does he think of himself? He is NOT entitled to have an opinion in regards to anything to do with Hindus!! Yes, the country has NO problem with the man hosting an Iftar party, if he so wishes, but god forbid he should ever want to do anything with his own religion! The Crown Prince (CP) didn’t think this event warranted any reaction from him; other Hindus within the party, desperate to take the credit away from the ruling party, tried to communicate the fact that the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi should have been credited for this temple groundbreaking to have even happened. Nice try!! However, if that were to be the case, why did it take over 30 years to finally have the ground breaking? Were the wishes of the late PM deliberately disrespected by the INC, or was this just another of the famous eyewashes that the INC is famous for?
The CP’s sister, far more intelligent than the CP, sensed the public reaction. In order to stem the tide caused by the CP’s non-reaction, she sent out tweets praising Lord Rama and his sense of ethics and justice. Again, nice try, since it was her mother who had questioned the very existence of Lord Rama and had, through an affidavit to the Supreme Court, gone so far as to say that Lord Rama was a mythical figure. From there to now have family members praise the Lord was a paradigm shift of gargantuan proportions. The CP realized his folly and, even though a couple of days late, tweeted something about the event.
The country, in it’s 70 years since regaining independence, has never seen a performance-based government till now. Where personalities ruled elections previously, it is now the performance of the government. What is becoming more and more obvious is that with each of the poll promises that are being fulfilled by the ruling party, it looks like another nail is being hammered into the collective coffin of the INC. Starting with the abrogation of articles 370/35a to the CAA, passed with wide debates and protests and now, the Ground Breaking of the Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi. Throw into this, the unexpected Chinese incursion into the Galwan area of Ladakh, People’s expectations, which till 2014 were never fulfilled, seem to now be given top billing! Any wonder India seems to be galvanized, rejuvenated and believing in itself. The CP’s promise to damage the image of the Prime Minister is a conceivable threat that can not be taken lightly. He has shown a tendency to stoop as low as needed in order to achieve his goals. Remember “Chowkidaar Chor Hai” ? While none of his goals have been achieved, thus far, people need to be wary of this person’s nefarious goals and schemes.
At the end of the day, what counts is one’s integrity and, unfortunately for the CP, he lacks this. Education, Intellect and wealth are incidental, in that one can make do even without one or all of them; however, if one lacks integrity, that is the end of the of person’s credibility. India has been led by too many people that have lacked integrity and credibility, evidenced by the various scams that it faced. In the last 6 years, the country has been in a recovery mode and for that, the people have breathed a collective sigh of relief. The people, who have shown incredible patience and resilience, are entitled to this performance-based government. What is disturbing, for the opposition parties, is that there is nothing these parties can show in terms of performance, be it nationally or at the state levels. Those states that are still governed by the other parties, and there’s precious few of them right now, seem to be showing why people should NOT vote for them. Starting from Kerala and the Communist Party’s perceived allegiance to China, to West Bengal where no one’s sure what will transpire any given day, to Rajasthan where the INC seems to be fighting with itself, it is becoming abundantly clear that none of these parties is able to withstand the public scrutiny that today’s media outlets give people.
India is finally realizing the dream of electing a government that will be able to show accountability for each of its ministries. People have now started maturing and that, in itself, is a positive sign. Any wonder, the political survival of the opposition is at stake. Till they understand that the people are no longer gullible to the gimmicks of these parties, this writer recommends buying popcorn, by the ton and enjoy these parties fighting among themselves to show who is the lesser of the bungling parties.
जय श्रीराम। जय सीयाराम। उत्तिष्ठ भारत। जय माँ भारती
God Bless the USA.