By S.M. Anwar Hussain
When the news came that a suicide bomber had blown up a full bus carrying our brave CRPF Jawans and that 42 sons of our motherland had met martyrdom in Pulwama, the whole nation went deep into shock, pain and anguish, except, perhaps, our Prime Minister Modiji. When every Indian soul was expressing its grief, anger, agitation at what had happened, ( some against the perceived enemy Pakistan and some against the failure and lapses on the part of our own security agencies, our Prime Minister was either unaware of the tragedy or he was just demonstrating his forbearance and fortitude, hidden behind his 56” chest. Media reported that Narendra Modi was shooting for a promotional film at the Corbett National Park on February 14, even three hours after the Pulwama terror attack .The Wire claims that PMO is yet to concede its repeated request to release the programs of the Prime Minister on the 14th of February so that the people may know where our Prime Minister was busy on that fateful day and hours.
I hardly watch the idiot/ nonsense box (TV), so in what kind of dramatic postures and gestures he has been appearing these days, I am not aware of , but the date wise pictures of the Prime Minister posted by the daily Telegraph published from Calcutta in its 23rd February edition headline from the day of tragedy, i.e., 14th February till 23rd of this month do not reflect the gestures of a very responsible head of the government. They are a kind of eye opener for every true lover of this country.
In none of the pictures he appears in a mourning mode either by his sense of dressing or facial expression or the body language over all. No wailing, no lamenting, no tears rolling down his colourful cheeks. Instead, he looks ,very mysteriously, pleased , cheerful and in a victorious and smiling mood, as if he is seeing into these sorrowful deaths a chance for his own victory in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. People may interpret this mysterious appearance in different perspectives. Those ultra-nationalistic and patriotic may discover in this smile a glimpse of a huge and complete victory over the neighboring enemy Pakistan. And those who are yet to be fully convinced with the ‘ patriotic credentials of our Prime Minister may read into it a design to turn BJP’s sure and certain defeat into the forthcoming election into a huge electoral victory by rousing nationalistic fervor into masses through its anti-Pakistan rhetoric.
Well the game has started. Very soon we saw processions in different corners of country being organised and people participating in these processions raised anti-Pakistan slogans and demanding a full-fledged revenge against Pakistan. At places, when the processions were passing through Muslim localities, the pitch of the slogan was at its highest decibel levels as if these localities belonged to Pakistan although in every academic institutions Muslim youths were in fore front in expressing their anger and pain at this dastardly attack.
Thanks to the vast majority of our Indian community that this time they, inspite of their deep shock and pain, refused to be swayed away by passion rousing anti-Pakistan rhetoric of Hindutva forces. Electronic media this time failed to create the mass euphoria that it has been tasked and paid for. It appears that people are gradually getting matured and refusing to be taken for granted by BJP and RSS on important national issues.Majority is not ready to be a blind follower of bigotry any more. Many are sensing a political ploy behind the tragedy. Only the Prime Minister knows better.
Congress has been involved in the thick and thin of the governance of this country since independence and it is aware of how our intelligence and security agencies work. Isn’t it time to muster its courage and catch the bull by its horn and bring the truth before the masses without being afraid of being painted as anti-national. Certainly it needs a lot of courage and foresightedness. I hope this time Congress will not repeat the same mistake when one of our bravest and honest police officer Mr Karkare was deliberately and in a very neatly planned way was pushed before the firing line of the terrorist attack in Bombay and when a senior politician and a person of unquestionable nationalistic credentials like A. R. Antulay smell a foul play in the death of Karkare and demanded a judicial inquiry he was snubbed from all sides including his own party colleagues, which later led to his heart collapse.