Tariq Al-Maeena Mike Ghouse, President of the Foundation for Pluralism in Dallas, Texas, an organization whose mission is ‘to encourage individuals to develop an open mind and an open heart toward their follow beings' and who is an accomplished speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism and politics, among other honors, has recently suggested that in the upcoming Indian general elections, one of the candidates should save himself and withdraw because his stars are not aligned properly. Narendra Modi, representing the BJP party and running for Prime Minister of India had gained notoriety for his alleged role in the 2002 communal riots and the subsequent violence in the state of Gujarat while he was chief minister, and which eventually left between 1,000-2,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. Today, he is trying to bury those events with a slick PR machine in an effort to remove the stench off his ministerial robes. Mike Ghouse believes that Modi should perhaps skip the elections this time around. He writes, “Narendra Modi's Nakshatras (stars) are not in his favor, and the Grahan (eclipse) is hovering over him like a dark shadow casting its Rahu Kala (inauspicious times). His run for the Prime Ministership is ashubh (unlucky) for the 2014 elections. We recommend him to withdraw from the race, finish the current term as the Chief Minister of the state and lay a solid foundation for the next run. “If he has ambitions to become the Prime Minister of India, then he and his supporters need to go back to the drawing board and begin planning for the next election cycle. “Even though huge crowds are showing up at his rallies for his oratorical skills, it will not likely to translate into votes. Modi represents a small percentage of Indians who have everything to gain from the business deals including the short-sighted industrialists, but ultimately all the gains will be lost if the cohesive structure of the society remains busted. “What good is the prosperity when fellow Gujaratis live in apprehension and fear of the other? What good was the prosperity of Germany when everything collapsed anyway? Like Modi; they focused on growth rather than the social structure. Mike laments that “a handful of Hindus may rejoice killing Muslims, and similarly a few Muslims may cherish killing Hindus, shame on them. Unchecked, these act will do more harm to the fabric of society in the long haul than the economy. Do Indians have to live in fear of the other; is that the India we want? There is a dire need for truth and reconciliation in India. Modi has not done what it takes for the head of a state to do; to give hope and a sense of justice to the people of Gujarat. “Modi's followers in the US have poured in millions of dollars to buy favors from the men and women on Capitol Hill and the Senate – it's all down the drain now. Being ethical is critical to these representatives and the influential Republicans like Pete Sessions, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and others have quickly distanced themselves from the Indians who abused their name and their seal. They gave a false impression that the Republican conference was a sponsor of the event where Modi was going to speak via Satellite. It is wrong to believe that they can fool these representatives; instead, they will make a fool out of these Indians and collect all the needed funds for their campaign, but will not fall into the trap of questionable ethics, and that is what keeps American going. “If these guys spend money on building a better India than tearing it up, they will do some good. What does “building a better India” mean? It's building a cohesive India, where no Indian has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. The great idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum has been torn into pieces by the BJP to treat Non-Hindu Indians as lesser Indians than themselves, this not only goes against the constitution but the very essence of Hinduism that they purportedly claim to represent exclusively. Swami Vivekananda appreciated the idea of equality taught in Islam, and I wish he had propagated the wisdom of Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum; i.e., that the whole humanity is one family and therefore all must be treated equally with dignity. Mike says, that “Modi's speeches have become a fodder for the nightly comedy shows. He has made gross mistakes on Indian history, geography and even got mixed up about the key personalities of his own party. Modi banned a movie called Fanaa from being shown in his state because the Bollywood actor had disagreed with him on a political issue. How safe would freedom be under his governance? “The BJP on the other hand needs to honor the freedom of every Indian, the freedom to drink, eat, wear and believe whatever one wants to believe. Whether you are a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain or Buddhist, you should have the right to eat beef, goat, camel, lamb, fish or vegetables, and that should be entirely your choice and not government's imposition. Mike concludes with a few proposals for Modi. “Restore the lives of refugees uprooted in the riots…and build de-segregated societies for the good of all; Inclusive governance, to include Muslims on the internal advisory of the Chief Minister to make security decisions on a voluntary basis with nothing to gain.” He also calls for “the truth about burning of 59 passengers in the train in the most transparent way — to bring closure to doubts on both sides or acknowledge the findings and live with it” as well as “justice to the families of the ones who have lost their lives, both Hindu and Muslim without discrimination.” Mike concludes by suggesting that the chief minister “meet with local Muslim, Dalit, Sikh, and Christian leadership on a regular basis, not to appease them, but to hear them out and prevent injustice to them” and implement “punishment for anti-Muslim and anti-Christian attitudes in the state machinery.” Only then can India claim the mantle of a secular democracy under his leadership. – The author can be reached at [email protected] and follow on Twitter.com/@talmaeena
