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India's "Bachelor Democracy" rediscovers a wife
PERHAPS the most evocative ritual of a traditional Hindu marriage is the “saat phere" (seven rounds), where the bride and groom walk around a fire making seven vows. One of these is a promise to nurture the marital relationship with love and honesty. The "saat phere" underscores the Vedic tenet that marriage is a sacred alliance between a man and a woman for this life as well as all "future lives"..
Recent events in the political life of
Narendra Modi, the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP-led alliance for the 2014 Indian elections, reveal that the marriage vow is not sacrosanct for him despite his ultra-conservative Hindu beliefs. Modi, who is currently the chief minister of the State of Gujarat, never publicly acknowledged his wife until a journalist discovered this mystery woman, Jashodaben. After choosing to leave his marital status as blank on all electoral forms, Modi has finally decided (under intense political pressure) to revise his biography. Recently, he declared his status as "married" at an election registry. This would have been somewhat acceptable had he not actively flaunted his bachelorhood in his campaign by repeatedly claiming: "I have no family ties, I am single. Who will I be corrupt for? "
Narendra Modi continues to claim that he never "lied" about his marriage; he only left the space for marital status blank. Ironically, his recent turnabout is in stark contrast to his lofty claims about reviving the "purist" Hindutva (Hindu-ness) ideology in India. His election rhetoric is replete with the promise of a new Bharat where hard-core Hindu principles will guide the country's policies and family values. It, however, appears that Modi's definition of truth is as malleable as putty. More importantly, it fails to meet the high standards derived from the Mahabharata hero, Yudishthira, who is the symbol of honesty and dharma for all devout Hindus!
Even if we choose to ignore Modi's partial amnesia about his marriage, we cannot excuse his statements about corruption and its causal relationship to the family. It is ridiculous as well as unfair to transfer the blame for one's moral lapses to one's spouse and children. More importantly, political corruption is not only about stealing money from public coffers. It's also about destroying public institutions and subverting justice. And Modi is reportedly culpable of both these offenses. He is the man who is said to have facilitated the Gujarat Massacre in 2002. In these communal riots more than 1,000 innocent people (mostly Muslims) were brutally killed, thousands lost their homes and numerous girls and women were gang raped and then burned to death. Not only did all this happen under Narendra Modi's watch as chief minister, it is alleged that he deliberately prevented authorities from intervening. To date, India's Supreme Court has not issued him a "clean chit" for his role in the massacre - despite all his political clout.
At a personal level, Modi's mendacity runs deeper than a mere contradiction between his declared beliefs and their practice in his life. His refusal to acknowledge his wife of almost 50 years demonstrates an utter lack of respect for women. According to various media reports, Jashodaben lives frugally in a one-bedroomed tenement and has never remarried. It is said that she is reluctant to express her views and opinions freely since the aspiring prime minister's powerful supporters closely scrutinise her. One wonders....How can a man abandon his wife and then subject her to a lifetime of marital bondage without giving her the privileges of a spouse? And, is this someone who can be entrusted with the responsibility of the highest office in any country?
Narendra Modi's polarising politics has already created deep fissures in India's cohesiveness. His Hindutva-espousing followers have been responsible for "vicious attacks on Christians, murdering missionaries and calling for Muslims to choose between Pakistan and the graveyard." Although his Hindu nationalism is seen as a key aspect of his popularity, it's also a sore point for his opponents, who claim that his political beliefs are guided by hard-core religious biases. The prospect of a Modi victory is thus frightening for all minorities and a threat to the secular principles of India's Constitution -something that Indians have always been proud of.
It is quite obvious that Modi's public image has been strategically crafted by his party's spin masters to project the impression of a dedicated "Sevak" committed to reinstating the core principles of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in modern India. But over the last few weeks, with the unexpected appearance of his "long lost" wife, his moral halo seems to have evaporated. He certainly does not come across as a twenty first century Rama who bravely ventured into Lanka to rescue his Sita or even one of the Pandavas who fought valiantly to avenge their wife's honour!
The writer is a renowned Rabindra Sangeet exponent and a former employee of the World Bank. E-mail: shiftingimages@gmail.com