PM Modi has done it again! He manages to do things that leave our liberal elites seething in anger, but unable to directly attack his actions. They vent their frustration in many ways. Often, they take it out on him by choosing an entirely different arena.
The choice of Droupadi Murmu, a tribal leader who has grown from the grassroots, has riled them as well. We will see why and how the ecosystem may plan its revenge.
NDTV’s initial coverage of the story is a study in ‘propaganda’. In fact, reading our liberal websites and magazines should be compulsory for anyone interested in researching political propaganda and hatchet jobs disguised as “journalism”. Not able to attack BJP directly, it refers to President Kovind’s choice as “Bihar Governor Ram Nath Kovind, who happened to be a Dalit”. In other words, it wants to mention Bihar Governor and Dalit in the same breath, and does not want to credit BJP with choosing a Dalit! In fact, the person that wrote it or the editor thinks it is so clever, that it is repeated in the headline to give it more punch!
You see, Kovind was Bihar Governor that happened to be Dalit, not a Dalit that happened to be Bihar Governor – a position that Modi gets to fill as well. After all, Bihar Governors have a natural claim to Presidency nominations so his being Dalit was a mere coincidence!
Of course, when you play with words there are many a way to escape. You can talk about “context”, “nuance” etc., and take full benefit of plausible deniability. And of course, abuse the person questioning as a Sanghi, troll or whatever words that comes to their mind.
Let us turn to the question of why elite liberals hate Modi for choosing “outsiders” that don’t belong.
Modi himself was attacked relentlessly by the ecosystem of Stalinists, Beijing’s serfs, Islamists and brown-nosed coolies of corrupt fascist families that control the “liberal” narratives in India. One elite leftist “journalist”, Malini Parthasarathy said she would not want someone that can’t speak English in that position. Obviously, she must have been impressed with Deve Gowda or Charan Singh’s enthralling audience with perfect Queen’s English and wants the standards not to be lowered. Of course, Manmohan saheb can speak any language because saying nothing is the same in Telugu, Swahili, or French.
We often come across assorted low-life critters crawling out of rocks and blackwater tanks of Janpath to abuse Modi in other ways, including his alleged lack of knowledge on western cutlery. The point is always the same – he is not one of ours, he cannot rule. No matter what the majority of Indians that voted to say. Of course, selective, temporary exemptions are granted to rustic leaders from cow belt, who don’t care about English or vinglish, provided table scrap of their loot is also shared “fairly” and doesn’t in any way impede the main loot in Delhi.
The answer to the question of WHY they behave this way is quite simple.
Firstly, these abuses and elitist contempt for merit, far from disqualifying them, act like stamps in the Starbucks cards that you can trade for more coffee. In this case, it is a passport to many juicy gigs, chances to write Op-Eds in western “liberal” rags, global NGO gigs, dollar flow into fundraisers and “investments” from favoured moneybags in your online rag. Membership has its benefits.
Secondly, many of our so-called journalists are dynasts themselves or have benefited from the corrupt, nepotist, cronyism-ridden, mutual back-scratching network of left-liberal elites. Merits or talent had nothing to do with it. It goes without saying that practically all of them are from upper castes as well. So don’t be surprised if they root for an upper-class dynast from a similar background.
Some of them were simply born into the job. Papa and gramps was a journalist, so am I. Many of them are some connected or favoured babu’s daughter, liberal neta’s brother or wife or girlfriend etc. Since they control the ecosystem and the awards that go with it, close ties to powers don’t make them officially biased at all. They are still fearlessly independent and “speak truth to power” depending on who is in the power of course. They will get upset if you question their independence. While anyone that was seen at a bus stop standing next to a BJP leader becomes “Sanghi” for life, these elites are just journalists. They don’t have to explain their conflict of interests or even disclose them. You are a troll if you question.
You may have noticed – they often must quote their drivers or maids when discussing the problems of the subaltern because they themselves have not experienced even one skipped a meal or one job application that was turned down! They romanticise the dynasty era and its shortages and depravity because they were not the ones that stood in mile-long ration shop queues or suffered day-long power cuts if there was electricity at all. As someone sarcastically put it, you waited five years for the phone and fifteen minutes for a dial tone. You can’ go to a shop and buy an HMT watch or a Bajaj scooter. You need to wait or have connections. Like their annadatas, they too studied overseas or in good schools and colleges and came back to lecture us on the “idea of India”.
Meritocracy is alien to them and must oppose it tooth and nail as it endangers not just them but the entire ecosystem. It is like an alien species of weed or predator imported and starts wreaking havoc as the native ones are not adapted to them. It sends a bad signal to Dalits and tribals that they should demand real powerful jobs not just the posts like floor leader of House etc that the Prince Regent thinks he is too good for.
Let us now turn to ‘HOW’ – after all, some things are not easy to oppose or take on directly. Other ways must be found. Attacking BJP for choosing a Dalit affects their carefully constructed façade of sympathy for the subaltern. As we mentioned, most are upper-caste elites and therefore depend on their political loyalties and obedience to the “cause” to wipe clean their own privileged lives and fast-track careers and thus attack others for being anti-Dalit.
So, the choice of Kovind for the highest job was “dealt with” in a variety of ways – not talking about it, blacking it out, attributing other reasons, cynicism etc. But such was the anger that unless I am mistaken, Madame never visited him once for courtesy, except to present memos and demands. Her coolies in the media have never said anything good about that man, who too rose to the highest office from a humble background. Contrast that with comparing Kanhaiya to Mahatma Gandhi and Rahul to the Mahatma for his “splendid speech”! It is not as if these boot lickers were short of words.
The choice of Murmu presents the same problem. And it will be dealt with in the exact same way. Propaganda, snide remarks, tangential attacks, outright lies and half-truths. And of course, selective blackouts.
So don’t be surprised if attacks are launched on Modi and BJP from totally unexpected flanks. Some of these tried and tested weapons are still potent. All it takes is to get someone to throw a stone at some place of worship to start a global cycle of outrage that goes all the way to Biden or UNSC. Having tasted victory through street power, burning trains, violence and anarchy, that is yet another open route.
You can even expect tribals to be incited through well trained leftist liberal networks to nullify this choice.
The ecosystem is scared. They will lash out. It is best if both the government and the people are prepared.
