Narendra Modi

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“”I do believe, that having Mr. Modi, whatever his merit, as the Prime Minister, will be a disaster for India.

—Manmohan Singh, just before resigning from his post as Prime Minister.[1]

Narendra Modi (1950–) is and the 14^th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Like his American counterpart, he is known for his tactics of utilizing right-wing populism whilst engaging in divisive rhetoric to make the Indian electorate engage in violence.

Modi is the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and in the past worked as a pracharak (preacher) for more than 12 years at its far-right parent organization, known for its courting of far-right authoritarian social cleansers who seek to purge the nation of all undesirable minorities. Known as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the organization advocates Hindutva and was banned on three separate occasions across several points in India’s history.^[2]

Personal views[edit]

Modi believes that India is a target of a global conspiracy and all Muslims in the country are part of it. As the then Chief Minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, Modi blamed Islamic terrorists for a train disaster that killed 59 people in 2002, setting off a series of riots that killed over 1,000 people — most of them Muslims.

Bigotry[edit]

Modi is known for indirectly supporting Hindu nationalist groups for attacks against Muslim and Christians.^[4] The RSS, of which he is a member, is a pro-Hindutva organization that is training people, including children, for an upcoming war against Muslims.^[5]

In 2019, Modi stripped the Muslim majority state of Kashmir of its autonomy. He put it under lockdown. This led to a lack of internet access in the state for months and a $2.4 billion loss in the state's economy.^[4]

Babri Masjid and Islamophobic Hindu nationalism[edit]

The BJP party has played a key role advancing Hindutva positions in a major conflict between Hindu and Muslim Indians, the Babri Masjid mosque. The mosque was built by Mir Baqi in the 16th century. Hindu nationalists believe that this mosque was built upon the site of the birthplace of the Hindu deity Lord Ram, and they also believe that Babri Masjid was constructed on the ruins of a Hindu temple that was demolished by Muslim invaders. In 1992, supporters of the BJP and other Hindutva parties tore the mosque down, prompting nation-wide rioting.^[7][8]

During the dispute over Babri Masjid, Ashis Nandy, a prominent Indian intellectual, began a series of interviews with R.S.S. members. A trained psychologist, he wanted to study the mentality of the rising Hindu nationalists. One of those he met was Narendra Modi, who was then a little-known B.J.P. functionary. Nandy interviewed Modi for several hours, and came away shaken. His subject, Nandy said, exhibited all the traits of an authoritarian personality: puritanical rigidity, a constricted emotional life, fear of his own passions, and an enormous ego that protected a gnawing insecurity. During the interview, Modi elaborated a fantastical theory of how India was the target of a global conspiracy, in which every Muslim in the country was likely complicit.^[9]

As prime minister, Modi has been attempting to remake India into an authoritarian Hindu nationalist state;^[10] the literal reading of the phrase Ram Rajya. Modi and the BJP have used the mosque's destruction, and Modi's reputation as an anti-Muslim strongman, as an infliction point to successfully obtain political capital (however divisive and bloody that capital may be).^[10][11]

In 2019, Modi enacted the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which granted a fast track to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. This was widely seen as an anti-Muslim law that attacked the secularism in India's Constitution; this resulted in widespread protests that were sometimes suppressed by police brutality.^[10][12]

Modi and the BJP party have been credibly accused of stoking Islamaphobic sectarian violence between Hindus and Muslims. Prominent Indian filmmakers have accused the Modi government of weaponizing Bollywood by demanding that they make films per government propaganda spec.^[13][14][15] Not to mention the recent saffron turn Bollywood has taken — from films and shows like Satyamev Jayate (talk show) and Rang De Basanti,^{[note 1]} whose influence on strengthening the moral pluralistic fabric and unusual progressivism for their times has never again been touched, to movies such as The Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story, or Swatantrya Veer Savarkar (film) which were heavily promoted by the BJP and even became the first time any Prime Minister of India had publically promoted or even named a movie. While these modern films enjoyed better acting and camera quality, their factual record was so abyssmally low it was hard even for the right themself to defend them.

Under Modi, Hindu nationalists have also whitewashed school textbooks, particularly warping the history on the Muslim Mughals that ruled India from 1560 to 1720.^[16]

On January 22 2024, Modi inagurated a new temple called Ram Janmabhoomi Mandi built on the ruins of the Babri Masjid mosque, fulfilling a longstanding promise to voters (especially the Hindu nationalists at the heart of the BJP) — and, critically, boosting Modi's electoral prospects.^[17] Critics of Modi's government saw something different: they saw the temple as a huge monument to Hindu supremacy.^[18]

Stance against secularism[edit]

Being unexpectedly accurate, Modi himself boasts about how much further stunted the Overton window has become in his reign. Opposition political parties now no longer criticise the saffronisation of India and instead are forced to comply with majoritarian politics in order to stay relevant.^{[citation needed]}

Modi's main issue with ""secularism"" is that is used by pseudoseculars who garner votes through Muslim appeasement.^{[note 2]}

Anti-intellectualism[edit]

Modi is a promoter of anti-intellectualism. Dissenters are labeled as "urban naxals" and harassed by right-wing workers. Scholars were replaced with pro-Hindutva supporters.^[21]

The government has increased the fees of various universities. This led to protests from the students^[23] and a subsequent attack on them by Hindu militia groups.^[24]

On January 6, 2020, a group of Hinduvta supporters entered Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi with the help of police and attacked students and teachers who protested against the school's fee hike.^[25]

The Madness to the Method[edit]

Just weeks after his appointment as the Prime Minister of India, something similar was done.^[29][30] This system of his still continues to this day.

The Modi Brand[edit]

Perhaps the biggest strength of Narendra Modi as a character comes from his "56-inch chest;"^[32] his expert demagoguery, that forms the reason for his personality cult.

One good observation of Modi's shrewd nomenclature of his policies is how the schemes that are targeted towards the wealthy and the middle class have English names — Digital India, Skill India, Make In India etc. — while the ones that are for the poor have Hindi names — Swach Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Padhao Beti Bachao, Ujjwala Yojna etc.

The good parts of Modi's governance are not original, and the original parts are definitely not good. Most of BJP's seminal campaigns have been merely a spin on UPA's (arguably much more effective) schemes, repackaged with much more euphonious nomenclature.

• Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan to Swach Bharat Abhiyan; despite less outgoes, it enjoyed several hundred crores of tax-payer money to be advertised.^{[citation needed]}

Modi before the 2024 India elections has gone full cult leader by claiming that he does not come from biological origins.

Pearls of wisdom[edit]

Using digital camera and e-mail in the 1980s[edit]

During an interview in 2019, while explaining how he became a "gadget-freak", Modi claimed that he first used digital camera in 1987-88. Modi claimed that he had taken a picture of L.K Advani (Demolition Man) and e-mailed it to Delhi. The next day (according to Modi) it was printed in color on a newspaper and Advani was surprised.^[38]

Millennia ago, genetics research enabled in vitro fertilization[edit]

Hindutva-advocacy often propagates the pseudo-historic belief that many discoveries of modern science are actually not modern at all, and was discovered in Ancient India (by the Hindus, no less).^{[note 3]} This is due to the fact that Hindu Fundamentalists think that human civilization is billions of years old.

In the Indian epic Mahabharata, a character Karna is described as having been born to an unmarried woman. In 2014, while delivering a lecture in front of a group of doctors and other professionals, Modi said that Karna's birth outside his mother's womb is the proof of the existence of genetic science in ancient India:^[39]

“”We all read about Karna in the Mahabharata. If we think a little more, we realize that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb.

—Narendra Modi, BJP politician and the 14th Prime Minister of India[39]

Ancient cosmetic surgery grafted an elephant head onto a human body[edit]

Ganesha is a well-known Hindu deity. His body is that of a human and his head is that of an elephant. In 2014, Modi suggested that this could be possible because an ancient Indian plastic surgeon transplanted elephant's head on the body of a human being.

“”We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time... We worship Lord Ganesha. There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery."

—Narendra Modi, BJP politician and the 14th Prime Minister of India[39]

Advanced knowledge of mathematics[edit]

Malnutrition caused by fashion and dieting, not poverty[edit]

Before Modi was prime minister, he was the chief minister of the Indian state Gujarat, which suffered from high rates of poverty and malnutrition under his reign.

In a 2012 interview with Wall Street Journal, when asked why half of Gujarat’s children under five suffered from stunted growth, Modi replied:^[41]

Manual scavenging a 'spiritual experience'[edit]

In his 2007 book 'Karmayog', Modi defends manual scavenging done by the lower castes and encourages them to continue their work:^[42]

2002 Gujarat riots[edit]

In 2005, the United States revoked the visa of Modi, who at that time was the Chief Minister of Indian state of Gujarat, on the grounds he was complicit in the 2002 riots that killed more than 2,000 people. In fact, he specifically ordered the police not to intervene, thereby allowing mostly Muslims to die in the riots.^[43]

The award-winning movies named Parzania and Firaaq were made about the riots; both were banned in Gujarat.^[44] An Indian independent filmmaker, Rakesh Sharma, also made an award-winning feature-length documentary about the riots, named the Final Solution, with harrowing accounts from both Hindu and Muslim victims. It was banned in India by the censor board for several months^[45] until after a sustained campaign of protests and letters sent to the government directly.^{[citation needed]}

Modi became stunned, speechless, and answerless, and then walked out when drilled with questions by veteran journalist Karan Thapar about his involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Since then, all of his interviews are scripted.

In January 2023, this returned to haunt him when a BBC documentary that focused on these riots, India: The Modi Question came out. The Modi government responded predictably by banning the documentary, ^[46] which only brought greater attention to the documentary and led to Modi critics to seek it out. Oops.^[47] Having learned no lessons from this, in February 2023, Indian authorities raided BBC offices for supposed "tax reasons", continuing a trend of Modi using government agencies to attempt to intimidate critical press.^[48]

Cow vigilantism and lynchings[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on Cow vigilante violence in India.

The 87% of the lynching victims are Muslims and 97% of these lynchings came after Modi came into power.^[49] The category for ‘beef lynchings’ and cow related violence did not even exist before Modi.^[50]

Why the sudden rise? Did cows not exist before Modi came into power? Of course not; the Modi government actively contributed to such violence by passing provocative legislature serving no real purpose other than stirring up the violence required for polarisation.

One of the main campaign points of Modi during his 2014 campaign was more laws against beef and cow slaughter.

Buffaloes, which produce more milk and more valuable, fattier milk than cows, are not protected by the slaughter laws in many states.^[52] India is the largest beef exporter in the world, exporting $4 billion of buffalo meat every year.^[53] There is no relationship between milk production and cow slaughter. The world’s largest producer of cow milk, the US with 97 million tons a year, also slaughters the most cows, over 32 million each year.^[54]

Karnataka under the BJP passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, 2020.^[55] It makes cow slaughter a cognisable offence ie. the police can make an arrest without warrant and can start investigation without permission from the court. The police, or any other ‘competent authority’, can seize “any cattle, premises or materials” purely on suspicion. And worst of all, it grants immunity to vigilante groups as long as they are acting in ‘good faith’.^[56] This is also the case for the cow protection laws in 9 other BJP ruled states.^[57]

In some ways, it can be argued that Karnataka law is better than the cow-protection laws in other states, because it does not list possession or consumption of beef in its list of offences, and the ‘intention to slaughter’ cannot be presumed unless proven otherwise (like in Maharashtra’s case, see below).

Maharashtra under the BJP in 2015 passed a law that criminalised the possession of beef, and sentencing 5 years in jail for doing so. Under section 9B, it states…

This basically reverses the burden of proof. If you are a suspect in a murder case, you are presumed innocent it is the state that has to prove that you committed the murder. But, if you were suspected of possessing beef, you are presumed guilty. This was also the case in Haryana also under the BJP, who passed the same law (Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act, 2015) with the same punishment of 5 years and the same reversal of burden of proof.^[59]

In 2017, BJP’s Gujarat amended the Gujarat Animal Preservation Law and made the punishment for cow slaughter life-imprisonment, and the burden of proof was also reversed.^[60]

The government banned cow-slaughter under the pretence that it would help animal husbandry and the economy, but there is not a single white-collar crime that attracts life-imprisonment in India. The government also claimed that the objective behind the laws is ‘preservation of cattle’ and not oppression of Muslims, and yet, the population of cattle has decreased after the passing of the laws.^[61] Despite large cattle population, India’s share of leather exports is quite low and declining.

In an infamous case from 2017, a group of cow vigilantes lynched a cattle trader named Pehlu Khan who was on his way back after attending a cattle fair, on suspicion of cow smuggling. All of the accused were left free by the court and the dead victim had cases registered against him by the police. Many criminal activities are ignored by the police because of the culprits' affiliation with Hindutva outfits.^[63]

On June 2018, it was reported that three policemen allowed seven cow vigilantes from Bajrang Dal to lynch a cattle trader in Karnataka and then dumped the body on a roadside to cover the murder.^[64]

On July 2018, BJP union minister Jayant Sinha not only met with such groups, he openly garlanded them. 8 men, convicted of murdering a Muslim man by burning him and his vehicle on fire on the suspicion of carrying beef in his truck, were felicitated at an event hosted by BJP.^[65] Felicitated for what achievement? This was better left unsaid; for killing a Muslim.

In January 2021, Karnataka’s animal husbandry minister said that the cases against ‘cow vigilantes’ booked for violence will be withdrawn.^[66]

After the lynching of a Muslim man named Asif Khan in Haryana, a gathering was held in support of his killers. The man who called the meeting said: ‘Muslim brothers? What brothers? These bastards are butchers.’ He was made the BJP’s spokesman for Haryana only a few days later.^[67]

In 2020, more than half the arrests made under the Draconian National Security Act, which allows non-bailable detention without trial, were for cow slaughter cases.^[68] More than 3/4ths of the arrests made under the law by the Uttar Pradesh government under Yogi Adityanath were found to be bad faith^[69]

It is unlikely that cow vigilantism has ended in India; it’s just that it has ceased to be a big issue in the media’s eyes and we have begun to shrug at it. The incidents are demoted to the insides of newspapers and there are no longer any debates on it on TV. This is how such violence was normalised under BJP rule.

Make in India[edit]

An American firm was asked to make the logo, for which it charged more than 110 million rupees.^[70]

Make in India was the name given to an initiative by Modi to:

1. to increase the manufacturing sector's growth rate to 12-14% per annum;
2. to create 100 million additional manufacturing jobs in the economy by 2022;
3. to ensure that the manufacturing sector's contribution to GDP is increased to 25% by 2022

None of these objectives have been completed as of 2022.^[71]

This is only one of Modi's many schemes that when implemented achieved nothing other than serving as effective propaganda, but it serves as a perfect case study of many other Modi schemes that followed the same pattern. A catchy name, an eye-catching logo, but no strategy or substance.

Very soon after its announcement, Made in India stickers were found on almost every product being sold on India,

Even after 8 years of the initiative, Modi managed to to reduce manufacturing’s share in the GDP by 2.5 per cent over what it had been under the previous government (from 15 to 13)^[72] and keep it there making it a record two decade low and making India the country with one of the smallest industrial sectors in Asia.^[73]

Even agriculture, a sector which is highly inefficient due to lack of modern tools, had a higher share in the GDP than the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing employment in 2021 was less than half of what it was 5 years ago,^[74] with more and more people shifting back to low productivity sectors like agriculture.^{[note 4]}

In the same time, Bangladesh's share of manufacturing rose by 2%^[76] from 16 to 18% and Vietnam's increased by 3.5%^[77] from 13 to 16%.

A NITI Aayog document titled "Strategy for New India" noted one of its objectives for the Indian industry was to double the growth rate of manufacturing sector by 2022.^[78] The strategy guide notes how 50% of the manufacturing industry is part of the automobile sector, and in order to improve the growth rate, this would be a special focus.

However, what was said, was never done. The domestic sales of passenger automobiles in India fell from 30 lakh units in 2016–17 to 27 lakh units in 2019–20.^[79] This shows that sales were declining even before the pandemic. Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Finance Minister under Modi, said that this wasn't a symptom of the usual incompetence of the Modi government, but rather because of the "millennial mindset" who don't want to commit to buying automobiles anymore and the rise of ridesharing services such as Uber and Ola.^[80] This argument fails because the sales of commercial vehicles also fell from 8 lakh units to 7 lakh in 2017 and 2019.^[79]

Another grand promise from Modi's NITI Aayog was the doubling of exports. This also failed.^{[citation needed]}

Demonetisation[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation.

Perhaps one of the most batshit insane aspects of Modi's governance was when he literally banned 86% of India's currency, despite being warned about its effects by the Reserve Bank of India, leading to massive unemployment, a national recession, significant decrease in GDP, and deaths, in order to fight against terrorism and corruption.

The ₹400 crore in counterfeit currency^[81] was insignificant (only 0.028%) compared to the total cash in circulation, which was ₹18 lakh crore.^[82] 99% of the demonetised notes were returned.^[83]

Even despite this, Modi was still reelected with a huge majority because of his propaganda.

CAA-NRC bills[edit]

Detention camps[edit]

Modi government has been building detention camps to put people who have failed their citizenship test, most of whom are Muslims. He has introduced a new law that allows people of other religions, except for Islam, to get Indian citizenship, even if they fail to show documents of their citizenship. This effectively strips the citizenship of Muslims who are poor and not able to acquire documents to show their citizenship.^[84]

His new genocide attempt has led to various protests across the country and attacks on universities by the police and Hindu extremist groups. So far, 36 people have have died as a result of police brutality.^[24][26]

Abrogation of Article 370: Stripping Kashmir of autonomy[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on Article 370 of the Constitution of India.

The Modi government gave many reasons for the repeal of Article 370, which gave the region of Jammu and Kashmir special status, such as wanting to bring proper democracy back in Kashmir, and complaining that the law stopped development of the region.

The main reason given for the repeal of article 370 was that it wanted "1 nation, 1 constitution".^[85] However, many other states are given special status under Article 371, section A to J, each giving special reservations and restricting the jurisdiction of the central parliament for numerous specific regions.

The government also passed and retained other special laws specific to Kashmir only when it was beneficial to the further harassment of Kashmiris, such as the Public Safety Act, which allowed detention without trial or charge for upto 2 years.^{[note 5]}

The government also passed the New Media Policy, 2020,^[86] which was also entirely unique and specific to Kashmir. It gave the government unchecked powers to determine what is 'fake', 'unethical', or 'anti-national' news, entirely at their discretion.

While the repeal of the article was celebrated in the mainstream media as a triumph of democracy, the harrowing details of the Draconian oppression leading right after were omitted.

No other state has had to deal with pellet guns, a 'non-lethal' weapon that has killed and blinded many.^[87] Tear gas and live fire with rubber-coated steel bullets were also used by the army to ward off protestors.^[88] The army was given absolute impunity by the Modi government to kill, rape, torture and kidnap anyone; none of the chargesheets filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police against the armed forces involving the crimes named above had a trial in a civil court been approved.^[89] Section 7 of the The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 (J&K AFSPA) states:

Under section 4, this act also allows any officer of the armed forces of the Union to arrest any person for upto two years and conduct a search and seize operation without warrant on mere suspicion.

Over four thousand people were jailed. This included at least 70 political leaders, such as Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah. It also included members from BJP's opposition parties, such as the Indian National Congress and several local Kashmir parties.^[91] Many detainees were sent out of Kashmir more than 700km to other prisons in India.^[92] Many political leaders were put into detention, and those jailed had to sign a bond that they would not make any comments on the recent events in the state of Kashmir for one year in order to be freed.^[93]

Jammu Kashmir under Modi has had the most number and longest internet shutdowns.^[94] The number of internet shutdowns imposed in India after BJP is the highest in the entire world.^[95] Internet shutdowns are economic self-harm; they negatively impact India’s reputation as a business destination.

The peak of violence in Kashmir with over 4,000 killed was in 2001,^[96] when there wasn’t any internet or even any mobile data in Kashmir.^[97] Internet shutdowns have had no effect on the terrorism in Kashmir.^[98]

Internet shutdowns meant that during times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Kashmiris could not get verifiable information. Hospitals and doctors had no access to internet to do proper research in a time when information was constantly changing.^[99] Schooling came to an absolute standstill and online educational content was impossible. This not only impacted the literacy and education of the people of Kashmir, it has also disadvantaged them for years from competitive examinations. Kashmir also has no economy, because turns out, companies need internet to set up their operations. The Kashmir economy suffered a loss of Rs 17,878 cr in only 4 months after abrogation of Article 370.^[100]

Access to justice, which had also been shifted online after the lockdown, was also made impossible for Kashmiris. Coupled with pandemic-related travel restrictions, those who were unlawfully held in detention without charge had no way to prove themselves and get out.

BJP has turned the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits into a free whataboutism card when the Islamophobia of the current government is called into question. But Modi himself has done nothing to help the pandits.^[101] The pandits are an urban/middle-class community; why would they go back to an undeveloped region with no/barely any internet and less economic prosperity and opportunities?

This makes it apparent as to Modi's true intentions; it was never about making the whole nation one again, or helping bring development to remote areas, or helping Kashmiri pandits. Kashmir is a Muslim majority state, and this was just another exercise of how far Modi can go harassing Muslims without pushback using all his means of propaganda.

(Mis)handling the COVID-19 pandemic[edit]

❧

“

Don’t worry, be happy, in one voice speak the corpses O King, in your Ram-Rajya, we see bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, the woods are ashes, No spots remain at crematoria, O King, there are no carers, Nor any pall-bearers, No mourners left And we are bereft With our wordless dirges of dysphoria

Libitina enters every home where she dances and then prances, O King, in your Ram-Rajya, our bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, the melting chimney quivers, the virus has us shaken O King, our bangles shatter, our heaving chest lies broken

The city burns as he fiddles, Billa-Ranga thrust their lances, O King, in your Ram-Rajya, I see bodies flow in the Ganges

O King, your attire sparkles as you shine and glow and blaze O King, this entire city has at last seen your real face

Show your guts, no ifs and buts, Come out and shout and say it loud, “The naked King is lame and weak” Show me you are no longer meek, Flames rise high and reach the sky, the furious city rages;

O King, in your Ram-Rajya, do you see bodies flow in the Ganges?

❧

As COVID-19 ravaged across the nation, leaving thousands dying without oxygen or treatment; the government focused on how to boost their perception, calling 300 government officials to "create a positive image of the government."^[103] When India's grisly images of mass cremations, and floating dead bodies in the Ganga were exposed, the Modi government again thought the problem laid in public perception, blaming media of creating a "one-sided" narrative to slander India's image.^[104]

The Modi government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic was the paragon of the government's slow, yet uninformedly decisive action.

The lockdown[edit]

On 24th March, 2020, Narendra Modi imposed one of the harshest and strictest lockdowns anywhere in the globe,^[105] not giving even a weeks notice before enacting the lockdown.^[106] The opposition, any state ministers and governments or even the government departments (health, finance, disaster management) were not even consulted before announcing the lockdown.^[107]

At least 989 people died, not from the virus, but from other factors just one month after the lockdown.^[108] Compare this to the response given by another South Asian country, Sri Lanka, who stopped construction activity to allow migrant workers to go back home and also ensured essential supplies.^[109]

The plight of migrant workers[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on Indian migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Modi's carelessness left more than 40 million migrant workers unable to safely travel back to homes and drove them to the streets with few resources.^[111] 90% of the workers lost their only source of income.^[112][113] Public transport was also banned.

Many of them starved to death on their way.^[114][112] Others were harassed and beaten by the police for walking on the highways.^[115] They started walking on the railway tracks to avoid this and were run over despite train services also being much restricted after the lockdown.^[116] Others died of many other causes,^[117] not including deaths from the virus itself.

Modi showed not even the slightest sympathy or accountability for these deaths. He lied to the Supreme Court about there being no migrant workers on roads^[118] despite numerous news sources and images depicting otherwise.^[111]

Public gatherings[edit]

BJP members did huge rallies despite COVID.^[119]

Tablighi Jamaat[edit]

Tablighi Jamaat incident was used to spread islamophobia^[120] and blame Muslims for the virus using false statistics.^[121]

Kumbh Mela[edit]

Despite COVID, the government sponsored and allowed the Kumbh Mela festival. 99% of Kumbh returnees tested positive for COVID-19,^[122] making it a super-spreader event. The government also tried to hide this data and fudge the numbers.^[123] They gave the task to do 1 lakh fake tests^[124] to a private firm with BJP ties.^[125]

The reaction to this from the media was completely opposite to the reaction to Tablighi Jamaat.^{[126][citation needed]} Proving that the BJP hates the Muslims more than it cares about Hindus dying. Now Hindus sach me khatre me hain!

PM Cares fund[edit]

The details of this fund were not revealed to the public, because it was kept outside the RTI law. This makes it impossible to know if the money given to the government to combat the virus was used for that purpose. Less than 1/3rd of the fund was actually used in the pandemic,^{[citation needed]} implying otherwise.

Incompetency[edit]

In November 2020, months before the second wave, the Standing Committee on Health in the Rajya Sabha (India's upper house of parliament) produced a report warning the government that an incoming oxygen shortage was looming^[128]. Unfortunately for the 31 MPs on the panel, the government had enough of a majority in parliament to ignore it.^[129]

And that's exactly what it did.

Not surprisingly, what happened next was the needless death of hundreds, if not thousands of people^[130], all because Modi had planned for 150 oxygen plants, but only set up 33.^[131] The vicious bottleneck caused the states to fight amongst themselves while the federal government sat back and generally dithered about as the government lost what little semblance of control it had. Not surprisingly, states were left to fend for themselves, and started stealing oxygen from each other^[132] as the entire situation went to shit.^{[citation NOT needed]}

Blame game[edit]

The centre blamed the state governments to avoid accountability.

India has 28 states and 2 UTs with elected assemblies. BJP is in power in 18 of these (directly or in coalition), yet the PM was "pressured" by states for his earlier policy of decentralisation of vaccine procurement.

States, even Arvind Kejriwal, never said they wanted decentralized procurement. The ask for decentralization was for the rules of vaccination within the state. Which age groups, which categories, pace of vaccination, number of vaccination centres, etc. The messaging that states wanted to control vaccination, and therefore they were asked to procure are just convenient lies.^[133] Modi only gave power to states when he couldn’t handle the situation.

The centre also claimed that states were intentionally destroying vaccines given by centre to blame them for not providing it. This is also false. The union health ministry claims to have provided nearly 24.65 crore vaccine doses to states as of June 8, of which 23.48 crore doses have been administered. This means that more than 95% of vaccines were delivered instead of wasted.

COVID-related propaganda[edit]

States ruled by the BJP went slow on vaccinations in the run-up to Monday to make the (fake)^{[citation needed]} record for most vaccinations.^[134] This shows that BJP is more interested in its public image than keeping people alive.^[135]

Undercounting of cases[edit]

See the Wikipedia article on Statistics of the COVID-19 pandemic in India § Undercounting.

India undercounted its COVID deaths^[136] to such an extent that the pandemic death toll was found out to be ten times higher than the official count.^[137]

Propaganda[edit]

Godi Media[edit]

Indian media routinely exaggerates the BJP government's achievements and brushes aside its failures or found ways to blame them on Modi's discontents: the opposition, activists, Muslims, liberals, protesters, Left-wing politics, non-governmental organisations, and other assorted "anti-nationals".

In 2021, Reporters Without Borders named Modi among 37 other government heads in their Press freedom predator report.^[138][139]

At schools[edit]

In 2019, after removing the special status of the Muslim majority state of Kashmir, children aged 11-12 from a school in the state of Haryana were tasked with writing a letter to Modi, thanking him for the decision.^[140]

In 2020, as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act protests in India, Prime Minister's Office ordered schools to force the students to write a letter to Modi, supporting his new law that grants Indian citizenship to people based on their religion.^[141]

BJP IT Cell/WhatsApp University[edit]

BJP IT Cell is a group of paid workers who spam the internet with Pro Modi propaganda and hijack online polls.^[142]

It is jokingly called WhatsApp University due to their extensive use of the messaging app WhatsApp to spread propaganda.^[143]

Revisionism[edit]

History books in schools have been tweaked to give importance to right-wing ideologies, Hindu rulers are glorified and there is no mention of RSS's hand in Gandhi's assassination. There is no mention of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (who belonged to BJP's rival party Indian National Congress). Instead, the life of Nazi admirer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is written in detail.^[144]

His government has been renaming ancient cities from names given by Islamic rulers to new "Hindu" names.^[145]

There are attempts to remove references to Islamic rulers from history textbooks at schools.^[146]

Good things[edit]

Modi has helped India in a few ways. Among them are providing toilets for households that lack sanitation, providing gas and water connections for many Indian citizens, creating more houses for the homeless, and increasing welfare for the average Indian.^[147] However, it is worth noting that Modi inherited most of the economic growth that he later secured under his regime.^[148]

See also[edit]

• NarendraModiFacts.com
• DeshKosh.org

Further reading[edit]

• Aakar, Patel (2021). Price of the Modi Years. Westland. ISBN 9391234224. 

External links[edit]

• Official website

Notes[edit]

References[edit]