Prime Minister Modi has missed many opportunities to show his goodwill; he is yet to translate his ‘good’ intentions into ‘outcomes.’ The troublemakers from his party have presented him another opportunity to show his mettle and stop them from tearing the society apart. All he has to do is speak up about Jinnah’s picture at Aligarh Muslim University.

Whether it is good, bad or ugly, we have to have to preserve our history as a reference. Every society has portrayed evil and good simultaneously, and religious scriptures are full of such stories. Not a single religion has wiped the wicked men in their narration.

Ravan is a part of our story. Should the man who abducted Ma Sita be removed from Ramayana?

Hitler is one of the evilest men in human history for attempting to annihilate a whole race. How can such a man be a hero to Modi’s organization, the RSS?

Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi, and Godse’s picture adorns the sacred halls of the parliament; does it mean Modi would have approved Godse to kill Gandhi?

No, we cannot change or alter history, it is what it is, and we have to live with it.

The rogues among us, the Indians are continually looking to brew trouble, while the Prime Minister remains silent or tacitly approves the agitation.

Sometimes I wonder, why didn’t we heed Sanjeev Bhatt? When the Gujarat riots broke out, Mr. Bhatt said, Modi chose to remain silent for three days and hinted to his men to go ahead and do all the damage they can until he is forced to stop it.

Do you see a pattern here? When Dalit girls were raped and hung on the tree, Modi did not say a word. When Kalburge, Gauri Lankesh, and others were killed in broad daylight, Modi did not say a word.  When Akhlaq was lynched and murdered, Modi did not say a word. The list is quite long, but the pinnacle of his silence came when the six-year-old Asifa and a four-year-old girl were raped, he did not say a word for two days until the entire nation came together to compel him to speak.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in one of his books Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History clearly explains why raping of Muslim women is justifiable and not to do so when the occasion permits is not virtuous or chivalrous but cowardly. This idea is repulsive to the moderate majority of Hindus, but that is Modi’s indoctrination as a pracharak of the RSS. Is that the reason he chooses to remain silent when rapes tear up the nation?

If Modi were dumb, I would not complain, but he is not.

If Modi were deaf, I would not complain, but he hears everything.

Some of his party members are raising hell over Jinnah’s photo at the Aligarh Muslim University. As head of the most important democracy in the world, his role is to build cohesive societies and not allow destruction and chaos. It will damage India in the long haul.

All Modi has to do is a tweet or hold a press conference immediately after the incident- and say that he will not tolerate anyone messing with law and order, even if it were his ministers. If this man has good intentions, it is time to prove it.  He should try this method at least five times and see how quickly things will stop from spreading.

No Indian should live in fear of the other; it is not good for the county, we should not be spending our time battling out on what you wear, eat, drink or believe. We should be spending time on how to save farmers, create jobs so fellow Indians can have three healthy meals.

India’s prosperity is partially driven by foreign direct investment and trade.  If Modi does not control and puts a stop to harassment, lynching, rapes and chaotic situations, India may face what apartheid South Africa faced once. There is no incentive for the investors to feel safe with their investments in India. Modi’s friends will run away with money; the average Indian will lose.

If Modi does not reign on these, he will sink India. https://www.theindianpanorama.news/featured/modi-will-sink-india-if-he-does-not-rein-in-the-rapists/

There are many Indians who have left India and gone on to become Citizens of other nations.  Let’s say if America and India are at odds, the American Indians will stand with the US, they have to prove their loyalty to America and will go against India.  Should India strip all the civilian awards given to them because they are with the enemy now? I say no, what was done with good intentions should remain intact.

Jinnah was a part of our independence movement, together, we got the freedom. As Indians, we generally disagree with the partition, and Muslim Indians in particular, feel betrayed. That is a part of our history, and we have to live with it.

As a civilized nation, we cannot remove Jinnah’s picture. Jinnah is part of India’s history and will remain one. Will Modi speak up and put an end to the chaos or does it help him to play dirty and stay silent?

A few good videos:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R-uF_T0sgw&feature=share
2. https://www.facebook.com/NationalMirror1/videos/2009302016002489/

(The author is the president of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day).