On the path of conceited autocrats

Adolf Hitler in his autobiography Mein Kampf, expresses the immense possibilities and power of speech: ‘I know that men are won over less by the written than by the spoken word, that every great movement on this earth owes its growth to orators and not to great writers.’

The autocrats who use speaking skills as a sharp-edged weapon to face the critics and suppress the political opponents, wouldn’t be willing to counter the allegations raised against them or respond to them fairly. Prime Minister NarendraModi has been since the beginning following this path of the conceited dictators.

The allegations that Modi who doesn’t pay heed to criticisms with patience, use his rhetorical skills to demean his political opponents and carry out their character assassinations crossing the limits of decency, couldn’t be ignored. After the demonetisation fiasco on November 8 last year, Modi’s statements aren’t convincible and is in no way related to realities. Refusing to divulge even the facts which the people in a democratic system have the right to know, he maintained a furtive silence. The marathon speeches in LokSabha and RajyaSabha on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, therefore demand close analysis. The note-ban move has landed the people particularly the poor, in a lot of trouble and panic with many senior citizens collapsing while standing in the long queues outside banks and ATMs. That the Prime Minister had also kept his silence during the Parliament’s winter session is not forgotten. He wasn’t prepared to speak out on when and how to overcome the currency crisis that had put crores of people in difficulty.

Modi who fears criticisms and voices of dissent, would get rid of anything that harms his public persona. His sharp remarks demeaning the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is an evidence. Singh had, in the Parliament, criticised the demonetisation move as an ‘organised loot and legalised plunder’, saying that the execution of notes ban which caused a severe cash shortage was a ‘monumental management failure’. Modi had been annoyed at the attention and relevance given by the media to Singh’s words, who is also a respected economist. He took a dig at the former PM saying that ‘there is not a single black mark against him despite all the corruption. Only Doctor Saab knows how to bath with a raincoat in the bathroom’. Despite the many corruption scandals that occurred during the previous Congress-led government, Singh’s image had remained squeaky clean. This might have angered Modi. He didn’t spare Rahul Gandhi as well.

Gandhi had earlier claimed that he has detailed information about ‘personal corruption’ involving the Prime Minister and that there would be a political ‘earthquake’ if he was allowed to speak in the LokSabha. The BJP had then dismissed the allegations as ‘false’ and ‘baseless’. Hours before Modi’s speech, Delhi experienced a mild quake. The Prime Minister then took a dig at Gandhi saying that the tremors were finally felt. Modi wields a bizarre game plan of creating imaginary foes before the people in an attempt to fashion a ‘superman’ who is beyond all censures. Frequently saying that his life was in danger and that he was willing to sacrifice his life for the people is part of this game.In reality, it was evidently the lives of people that were jeopardised after the demonetisation drive.

The crisis remains unsolved even after three months. More allowances have been announced from the 20^th of this month; it might be due to approaching elections in the five states including Uttar Pradesh. Modi had hailed the note-ban move as a right decision for the country at the right time and that economists and universities would in future conduct researches on the move. If the Prime Minister believes that he could, with his power of speech, justify the demonetisation drive, the biggest fiasco in the history of modern India, it’sakin to challenging the common sense of the people.