For some months now, there has been an ugly tradition created by trolls: whenever PM Modi goes somewhere south, especially Tamil Nadu, the social media trend “GoBackModi” takes off. This coincides with a day of crazy, pointless rage at the Prime Minister.
The BJP has never been in power in Tamil Nadu. You could say the BJP has never even been in opposition in Tamil Nadu. In fact, BJP does not have a single MP nor a single MLA from Tamil Nadu. One can rest assured that whatever problem happens in the state, the BJP surely could not have caused it. No rational person could believe otherwise.
Obviously then, the aim of this #GoBackModi “protest” is not to express dissent, but to sow division between the people of Tamil Nadu (and Kerala) and the rest of the country. Once upon a time, this trick was tried on all Southern states. Similar things were tried by the extreme left in the North East and in West Bengal, the objective is to play up every possible fissure in Indian society. Bharat ke tukde, remember?
But then, BJP became the single largest party representing Southern states in the Lok Sabha. The party also became the sole voice of the North East and caught the fancy of everyone in Bengal.
Of course, one should never imply that one has to be with the BJP to be seen as a true nationalist. But the political pitch of the left was so formatted, with BJP accused of being a “North Indian” party of “upper” castes, that the left-wing narrative fell off the rails when BJP started winning elections all across India.
And now this left-wing narrative is constrained to just two states: Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
And as the left-wing narrative has lost its geographical reach, it has become only more shrill, more ugly and more disgraceful.
A line was definitely crossed today. Insulting India’s Prime Minister when he is visiting for a summit with the Chinese President. This should have been a day for Indians to present themselves as united and speaking in one voice. But alas.
The separatist undertones of this “protest” are quite obvious and so is the fact that it is underwritten by the “soul harvesters.” You know them, the ones who are most concerned about the environment. So concerned that they welcomed a Rs 20,000 crore loss to the Indian economy.
A Rs 20,000 crore loss to the economy along with a loss of thousands of jobs. Now, who gains if an industrialized state like Tamil Nadu is forced into poverty? Who is waiting in the wings to put the newly poor on a drip of “aid” from overseas donors? Easy to answer.
One more thing should be pointed out: at the moment, the Congress Party, which has no future stakes in India, maybe happy to go with anyone who is against BJP. But it must be remembered that the vested interests who are arrayed against PM Modi today were just as hateful towards the Congress when they used to run the country. Remember how these same vested interests fought against a nuclear plant of national significance at Koodankulam? In so far as these vested interests are concerned, it is India which is on target, not necessarily BJP or Congress.
So it’s not about dissent at all. It is about making India look bad. The whole of India and every Indian: from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Right now, the poisoned rhetoric being pumped into Tamil Nadu by enemies of India ranges from the ugly to the outright absurd. Have you heard of “Lemuria”? There are enemies of India telling Tamils that they began as a distinct race from a lost continent called Lemuria! Of course, plate tectonics and modern earth science have shown no evidence that any such thing ever existed, but it doesn’t matter. In any case, when you are telling Tamil Nadu that BJP is responsible for any problems in the state, why would you care about science? You have chosen to be willfully irrational anyway.
As with delaying the Koodankulam project, closing down Sterlite Copper or embarrassing us in front of the Chinese President, this propaganda has been doing immense short term damage to India. Of course, in the long term, this propaganda and its patrons have no future. And they probably know it too. This photo should be seen by everyone who wants to create a divide between North and South in India.
That’s Mr P T Venkatraman and his wife Sujatha who have travelled to Pakistan occupied Kashmir to offer puja at Sharada Peeth. They are the first Hindus in 72 years to do so. Take that.
