Narendra Modi – I have spent 5 hours this morning in understanding Mr. Modi.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: Please read the note at the bottom
Good governance by Narendra Modi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK9vMM9bHWE
This is one of the best speeches on good governance and a developmental economic model. Some may say that someone else may have written it, that is fine, but he has owned it by delivering it so eloquently and I hope he means every word of it.
He says, “Good governance starts from good intention, and it survives on lasting institution and reaches across national boundaries and even beyond. Quality of life, business environment and economic growth depend on effective governance”… and the humorous part, “lack of good governance is like diabetes….”
I am looking to write about participative democracy and representative democracy, and he has addressed that well. We have a problem with number of contestants from a constituency and the representations – though Modi has a landslide victory, he has only 31% of the popular vote.
One of my write ups articulates his other interview with NDTV at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/indias-modi-on-his-best-behavior-can-we-trust-him_b_5280892.html#es_share_ended
Zee Media’s exclusive – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQP5qbnnsS8&t=23m29s
Modi has responded well, but has dodged many questions, and the interviewers did not press him either.
REGRETS
I have seen interviews by Karan Thapar, NY Times reporter and the Zee TV – all of them asked the same question – in fact they made it easy for him. “Do you regret what happened in 2002?” or, “Do you at least feel, you could have prevented it”… That is the most difficult part for any human to understand, why Mr. Modi is not facing it? Why does he run away from it? He has the guts, but that guts should make him humble not arrogant. It is the same question I have for George Bush – does he regret murdering nearly a million people with his deliberate decision? How do they live with that is beyond me, all I can see is they do not have guts to face it.
The Trusteeship he talks about around the 7th minute, referencing Gandhi is also the Islamic concept of governance – but how many Muslim majority governments are following it? And again there is a good talk at the 32nd minute – about one’s intention – that sounds word for word from a Friday Muslim sermon. There is a gap between the talk and act that needs to be bridged. I hope Modi means what he says and pray for his success, if he succeeds India succeeds.
Summary of my write ups in 2014 at:
http://mikeghouse.net/Articles/Narendra-Modi-India.asp
CAVEAT EMPTOR: I have been critical of Mr. Modi ever since Gujarat Massacre took place in 2002, and have been an activist and written extensively about the policies to govern. I have consistently sought justice for the victims of Gujarat and restoration of their livelihood and recommended on building desegregated societies for the ultimate good of India, but rarely have I sought the pound of flesh. In the last two weeks, however, I have written optimistic notes about Mr. Modi, based on his interviews and his speeches. In the coming 100 days, IF I see his actions match his good words, and he does some praischit as a part of the raj dharma, I will admire that human quality in him, and would believe that he has the potential to be become one of the visionaries of India like Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru who was instrumental in building a stable democracy, that his daughter could not undo. Because of my write ups, I continue to lose a few my friends and that is ok, I don’t need friends like that. We have to learn to live with our differences, and my commitment remains building cohesive pluralistic societies and I like the new found inclusive language of Modi.
Mike Ghouse,
Center for Pluralism
www.Foundationforpluralism.com
www.MikeGhouse.net
Respecting the otherness of others.
Studies in Social, religious, cultural and political pluralism