After the Delhi massacre accusing fingers were raised towards Amit Shah, Modi did not take any action He even ignored the demand for his resignation. Modi must realise that his blind trust and reposing faith in Shah will ruin the country. Already a huge section of BJP leaders are angry with him and Shah.

Shah has also taken the slogan ‘Goli maaro saalo ko’ to Calcutta. On March 1 the saffron activists marched the streets of Calcutta shouting the slogan “goli maaro saalo ko”. The occasion was felicitation of Amit Shah at Shahid Minar for his achievements. Raising of this slogan while Delhi is yet to recover from the grief of Mayhem, simply reinforced the belief that mercenaries are dictating the human lives.

This also reflects that the BJP people do not understand the Bengali culture and they have severe cultural disconnect with Bengal. It is really sad that the Bengalis who comprehend this attack on their culture and its ethos continue to support the nefarious action of these people. By supporting this political behaviour of BJP has simply been committing hara-kiri and ruining the future of their gen-next. It is strange that the Bengalis have forgotten vandalisation of the bust of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar during the Lok Sabha polls. At that time too Shah and his cohorts were responsible for unleashing the vandalism.

BJP has made it a point to play the “goli maaro” slogan targeting anti-CAA protesters at every rally. Though Mamata Banerjee is said to have castigated BJP; “they should remember that it is not Delhi. It is Bengal and no one trying to provoke people would be spared…. This is not a slogan, this is provocation,” the academic, intellectuals and scholars must hit the street and condemn this nasty act of the BJP. If they refuse to react they will be pushing Bengal in the swamp. The state cannot be handed over on a platter to some vested interest to ruin it.

The three persons those who have been arrested are from UP and other states. For them Calcutta is not more than a pasture. It cannot be expected of them that they would respect the culture and social norms of Bengal. They are the best elements for Amit Shah to stoke hatred and violence in Bengal.

Modi is least bothered of the bad name India has earned across the globe for the Delhi mayhem. World watched with utter disbelieve that the prime minister who is perceived as the strongest leader miserably failed to check communal clashes in which nearly 49 persons were killed. His failure at some stage sent the message that he allowed the Hindu mercenaries to unleash a pogrom.

He nurses the opinion that going on back foot or restraining the hate mongers would jeopardise the mission of the RSS. Basically this has been the reason he did not ask his lieutenant Amit Shah to maintain restraint though he has earned massive bad name and is held in the peoples’ perception as the leader of mercenaries.

One question that arises; from where the saffron brigade got the morale booster to continue with its tirade and indulge in hate mongering even after being pulled up by the Delhi HC and Supreme Court. The manner in which the BJP goons roamed around makes it explicit that they enjoyed the support of Modi. If at all Modi has been displeased with Amit Shah or did not endorse his style of stoking hatred, probably the goons might not have mustered courage to resort to this nature of sloganeering.

In Kolkata, Amit Shah once again reiterated his oft repeated threat, come what may the government will not retreat on CAA and NRC. Obviously this implied that the people may continue to hold numerous Shaheen Baghs but he will not relent.

It would be naïve to believe that whatever Shah says does not have the tacit support and approval of Modi. His racist and fascist style has the sanction of Modi. Many argue that Modi was the best man to lead India in the 21st century. But this is again the misnomer. He utterly lacks the basic ingredient of a good visionary leader. He simply exploited the peoples’ frustration towards Congress and mainly against the Nehru family.

Little doubt that L K Advani fathered the hate campaign in India. In a systematic manner maligning campaign was launched against Sonia Gandhi or Dr Manmohan Singh by the BJP patriarch L K Advani. Recall after losing the prime minister election battle in 2009 to Dr Manmohan Singh he had turned extremely bitter towards Dr Singh. He used to describe him as “mauni baba” and “a person under the anchal of Sonia Gandhi”. He tried to present telecom scam as the biggest scam that has ever taken in India. Modi picked up and harped on these issues. The urban middle class which was feeling frustrated shifted his allegiance and rallied behind Modi. BJP caught the imagination of the common people.

The urban middle youths were also lured by his promise of creating jobs and money. Modi and his BJP think tank used “perception” and “progressiveness” to bolster his image. He and his think tank have been assiduously projecting a progressive image so that he can outwit other leaders. He has been using this as an asset. It is this which helps create his image of being the best man to lead India in the 21st century. Through this progressiveness he has built his own image different to others.

This image has been primarily the reason for people even believing his lies as gospel truth. It is a known factor that he speaks lies left and right, but the people never disbelieve what he says. The people believe that he has raised India’s stature in the eyes of the world while the fact is completely different. Modi knows this and likes to flaunt his friendships with world leaders while the fact is no leader has ever come forward to help India. Whether it is China or USA, none has helped India.

A democratic and caring government would have reached out to the people and engaged them in discussions. Nothing of that kind happened during the last two months in the wake of launching of the Shaheen Bagh. The worse was witnessed during the riots. Amit Shah was in Delhi but he did not visit the riot affected ares and meet the people. There is no denying that he abdicated his moral responsibility. In this backdrop it is worth mentioning one incident that took place in 1964. Calcutta was hit by riot in that year. The home minister was Gulzari Lal Nanda. He moved around the riot hit areas. His alacrity did magic and riot stopped the same day.

Instead of assuaging the feeling of the affected people and trying their wrong notion, if they at all nurse any, Modi and Shah derided their protest at Shaheen Bagh and presented it as a Muslim organised protest. India can behave like an undeclared theocracy. Or it can behave like a secular democracy. Whichever course it takes, there will be far-reaching and enormous consequences for the Indian people and especially the Indian economy. (IPA Service)