SILENCE BROKEN – PM @NarendraModi has spoken and now he must allow himself to be questioned.

SILENCE BROKEN –

Some time back one of the prime channels in English sought to debate Prime Minister Modi’s silence . The man who logged thousands of miles and spoke at length on all issues including the most explosive ones as Prime Minister aspirant maintains silence as Prime Minister of India on almost all issues that are in the public eye. One participant, a senior journalist , went as far as to say that the silence of Prime Minister Modi on issues disturbing the country was morally wrong. Since she was categorized as a neutral observer her views carried weight. The others on the channel were politicians representing different political parties . Some defended his silence , others were critical. His predecessor Man Mohan Singh also kept silent on almost all issues. He also received flak but later the critical references were subdued. He was a Prime Minister who was not the leader of his party. Thus he could not speak in that capacity. As Prime Minister, that 90% of his work was remote controlled was universally accepted. He could not speak freely either as leader of the Party or as Prime Minister of the country .But Prime Minister Modi has no such handicap. He is both leader of the Party and leader of the Government. He is much like Indias first Prime Minister . Panditji spoke all the time. Foreign, National , Domestic issues , all interested him and he had an opinion on them. Indira Gandhi was no different. Even Morarji Desai expressed his views unreservedly. Even the short tenure Primie Ministers had an opinion on issues that they thought matter.

Why is it necessary for the Prime Minister Modi to speak? The usual answer is so that people know his mind. But our Prime Minister’s mind is known . His election speeches , his tweets are legion and they express his mind. Why must he speak on Pune techie’s horrifying and meaningless murder?. Why must he speak on Shiv Sena M. Ps tantrums in Maharastra Sadan over food and their criminal offenses thereafter? Why must he speak on incidents of rape in various parts of the country? These are condemnable actions. In our stable country where the rule of law prevails the law should take its course. There are tiers of authority under the Prime Minister of India who have a duty cast on them to uphold the law. There are also enough avenues open to make these authorities do their duty. With all these resources is their any need to have a pronouncement from the Prime Minister on issues that , one has to admit are serious enough to impact the stability of the country? The authorities must do their duty as the law and country expects them to do or pay a price for not doing the same. They should ordinarily need no public direction, advice guidance from their Prime Minister separately and publicly.

Prime Minister Modi wants to be known by his actions and by the results his efforts bring forth. For instance he has mandated that Sujatha Singh our Foreign Secretary will travel to Pakistan for Foreign Secretary level talks. If he had made a pronouncement on his this action there are elements that will quote chapter and verse from his speeches , his bytes, his twitter account to point out how this decision goes against the very grain of their policies while he was in the opposition. He may well do many things that he has spoken against in his previous avatars, the spokesperson of the BJP, Chief Minister and Prime Minister aspirant . The prism then was different and he cannot possibly walk that talk . I

Prime Minister Modi speeches throughout his election campaign have repeated the mantra of ” Minimum Government and Maximum Governance”. He also said ” I have no work because my work is delegated”. A reasonable hypothesis of what he has said is that minimum Government is that the Government that does little by way of talking and does more by way of action. It is the result of action that is Governance. Also as he has no work to do himself since he delegates work he has no direct responsibility . He cannot speak masterfully on matters that he has delegated.

Debate by the Channel on Prime Minister’s Modi’s silence was not necessary and premature. Prime Minister’s silence is the silence of a strong man, pregnant with possibilities.
On Independence Day , 15th August 2014 he finally, has spoken. He mentioned punctuality, infanticide of the girl child, disciplining the male teenager as one controls the girl in teens as means to eliminate crimes against women, importance of woman’s power, the farmer’s importance to India, the concept of service in public servants, public private partnership and pushed for skilled development. He pushed for thrusts , repeated and varied towards manufacturing by all Nationals and Foreigners on Indian soil. His profound conviction that a digital India is within sight and he reached out to the younger generation to achieve its fruits. His repeated emphasis on toilets for all , a revolutionary demand from the podium of Red Fort , touched the core of sanitary needs of every family in Jhuggi Jhopri clusters of the city and in every village of India. Insurance for the poor was another novel idea as was Bank accounts for all. Call to end cauldrons of all kinds was made. Model Villages in every MP ‘s constituency through the their funds was an appeal . The Planning Commission remodeled was an announcement. Our spiritual leader’s, our patriots, were recalled. Aurobindo Vivekananda Jai Prakash Narayan and their soaring visions were enshrined from this podium. On our 67th Independence Day he did not forget to mention our neighbours and state that our destinies are permanently linked. He described himself as the chief servant of the people . He ended his relatively , brief oration with Bharat Mata, Jai Hind and Vande Mataram reverberating from ground to the skies for miles.

. Prime Minister Modi has spoken and now he must allow himself to be questioned.