The Late Comment

This post will be posted almost four hours later than its scheduled time. That must make our readers think, “Oh they’re so irresponsible!” I bet no one would hire us if they thought we never replied in time or wrote anything when they needed us to. So, how do we feel when Narendra Modi reassures us so many days after religious intolerance has been rampant in the country?

The first time I read that the prime minister said that his government would not tolerate religious intolerance and will ensure that everyone has undeniable right to retain or adopt religion of his or her choice, I was relieved. I finally thought that he thought us worthy of knowing that we could feel safe in our own country. But what is note-worthy is the fact that his condemning of violence and respect for every other religion comes only after the decisive defeat he faced in Delhi. Does that mean that we have to keep the honorable Prime Minister on his toes to make him feel that he is answerable to the people of India. People did not bring him to power to work arbitrarily and think that he answers to no one, they voted for good governance and development. We expected the politicians to act better in his reign. Turns out, politicians who make a fool out of themselves and the country in the parliament by disrupting assemblies by throwing tantrums, spraying peppermint spray, tearing papers, shouting, are only reprimanded for their action or suspended, rather than sacked.

Sure, the Prime Minister is actively working towards bringing other countries to invest here, but does that mean that he will turn a blind eye towards everything that is happening in his home country? There was a time when he would actively interact with the people of India, tell them how he planned to bring us a better future, and now there is silence when people ask for reassurance. What are we to make of it? Does it mean that we have, yet again, elected an incompetent government where politicians are present only to hoard money for themselves? Narendra Modi must remember that India is a democratic country, and even though the crowds are swayed only by a couple of words, faith once broken cannot be mended.

canne.subhadra@gmail.com

Canne Subhadra Sharma