Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts

Sunday, January 11, 2026

Dreams Shattered

After discharge from the Army in February 1988, I had requested a transfer to Srinagar to settle my family. I had thought I could spend five to six years there without any interruption. During this period, my children would complete their school education and, possibly thereafter, go to professional colleges outside the state. Getting admission for them in the Burn Hall School, the number one school of the valley, was a boon, which was not beyond my imagination.

I had purchased a piece of land at Bagh-e-Mehtab in Chadora district on the outskirts of Srinagar. I entrusted the job of walling the land to one of my friends, who, however, did not take proper care to check that the cementing of the wall was properly done, and water was sufficiently sprinkled on the wall from time to time for a few days. This was not done.

We had a neighbour, A R Mir, an Accounts Officer in the State Finance Department, who lived nearby across the main road. He suggested building a house and told me that he had a very sincere mason known to him who could be entrusted with the job. I made the outline drawing of the house myself, but as a precaution, I showed it to the departmental architect who had fortunately come to Srinagar. He approved the drawing but suggested a change in bathroom design, which was incorporated. The mason was entrusted with the job while the carpenter was available next door. The mason was a master of many related jobs, and he, along with his team, did the work very well. Materials like stones, sand and cement were arranged. A part of the front wall was built with chiselled green stones costing Rs 100/- per stone. This proved quite expensive, but there was no way to escape subsequently. The work went on till the winter fall when it was stopped at the slab level of the first storey. During the winter, we performed the house entry puja and gave a feast to many relatives who were invited. The next job of covering the first storey with a roof of CGI sheets and making some additional rooms underneath the said roof was postponed to next spring.

In the ensuing winter itself, an uprising in Kashmir prevented any further additions or alterations to the house. In fact, I was targeted by the militants because I was an Officer in the Postal department, and therefore, I could not go and see the half-constructed house. The whole work was stalled for several years.

The house remained unprotected and unguarded for almost a decade since I was posted far away from Srinagar. Meanwhile, I had made enquiries through my departmental officials to find a buyer for the same. The militants had forbidden any Muslim to purchase the houses of Kashmiri Pandits. This plunged the prices of Kashmiri Pandit property. However, the locals found methods to purchase such property on a power of attorney. I got the first quote of two lakhs rupees which gradually increased to four lakhs. During my next tenure as PMG, I entered into a deal with a buyer introduced to me by my close friend for six lakh rupees in 1998, though I had spent the same amount on the construction of the house about ten years back. It was a distress sale. Nevertheless, I thought it better to go in for a stop-loss sale rather than wait indefinitely. I had also inherited an ancestral house, which I handed over to my youngest sister, who preferred to stay put in Srinagar permanently.

The other area where destiny played its part was the education of the children. Schools and colleges remained closed, and it was dangerous to send children to school. The Hindu staff of the school and the Hindu children too migrated out of the valley. I also asked my wife to go to Shimla, but she returned. By the time a branch of Burn Hall was opened as St Peter's Higher Secondary School, Jammu and my children joined the same and later shifted to Kendriya Vidyalaya. This arrangement did not last too long as I was deputed to join a year-long in-service course in the National Defence College, New Delhi. My family joined me as soon as I got government accommodation in Kaka Nagar, Delhi.

Though my tenure in J&K came to an end with the start of 1992, even after that, I was posted twice to the circle, firstly, as PMG, and lastly, as CPMG. (to be continued)

Wednesday, January 7, 2026

Paralysis of Administration in the Valley

With the increase in the intensity of militancy in the valley since January 1990, things got out of control for the State Administration. Postal Services and Banks were closed, there was no attendance in Central and State Government Offices, public transport was disrupted, and food supplies were received from outside the state by the local food and supplies department, control of which had been seized by the extremist elements who distributed it further as per their will. Some meetings were called for, but with no result. In one of the meetings at the beginning of the extremism, I remember that I accompanied the then PMG, Ved Kumar, who was a short, puny gentleman. While he was dressed in a formal suit, I, a six-footer, had put on a beige coloured safari suit. The guard at the entrance stopped me, saying, “Security men are not allowed into the hall.” Ved Kumar looked back and told them, “Bhai, he is our Director.” And that is how I got in with a wry smile on my face.

It was unfortunate that many Officers were killed during the period, prominent among them were Musheer-ul-Haq, an Islamic Scholar and VC of Kashmir University, H L Khera, General Manager of HMT, Lassa Kaul, Director of Doordarshan and other Officers from the State Government. I recollect that only about a month earlier, Lassa Kaul, who was then Director, Radio Kashmir, a Director from the Staff Selection Commission and I had conducted an interview in the AIR, Kashmir premises. During the interview, a bomb was hurled at the gate of the AIR. I suspect the killing of Lassa Koul must have been an insider's job who must have informed the militants about his movements. He was a thorough gentleman, handsome and soft-spoken. With a military background, I anticipated the moves of the enemy, and therefore, restricted my movements, and as described earlier, shifted my entire office to the GPO complex.

One by one, the post offices were targeted by the terrorists, either burnt or looted or threatened. Most of them were closed, though some of them were shifted to secure Head Offices. I approached the IG police, a Muslim gentleman, who, while discussing, objected to my saying Anantnag and said that it is Islamabad. Besides, he told me that the Department of Posts will have to bear the cost of the security personnel provided. He asked me to write down my requirements so that he could order the recruitment of further policemen and get them trained before posting them as per my requirements. I could gauge his attitude and slowly eased myself out, never to show him my face again.

Surprisingly, a lady officer, Indu Gupta, was posted as Director, Vigilance in Srinagar. It simply showed the apathy of the Directorate towards the conditions prevailing in Kashmir. I had been holding the charge of both Director (HQ) and Director Vigilance jointly till she reported. Now I had to look after her also. She did not know the environment, and in my absence, she rushed to Sathu, Barbarshah S O, which was ransacked by the militants. As I came to know about this on my arrival in the office, I immediately sent a vehicle and called her back. I explained to her the situation and advised her not to venture out of her office in any case. Slowly, she got scared seeing the situation for herself. She was living alone in the IQ, and one evening she had nothing to eat as markets were closed and she had not stored anything. So she came to our quarter, talked to my wife, who assured her not to worry till we are here. She had her dinner with us. They became good friends thereafter. Over a period of time, she managed her transfer out of the Circle.

I also received an order to attend a training course in IIPA, New Delhi during the said period, which further showed that the Directorate did not know about the ground reality in the Circle. There was no PMG, and I was alone at that time. I could have eased myself after handing over charge locally to some senior officer, but I preferred not to. On the contrary, I wrote to the DDG concerned, firstly, to cancel my orders, and secondly, not to send any Officer or staff member for training till the situation improves.

However, I did feel concerned about my family and the education of my children. A few times, the processions returning from the UN Office stopped at Sheri Kashmir Park in front of GPO, and started throwing stones at the building inside the park. They ransacked it as well. It was a crowd of roughly a lakh of people. I thought to myself that if this crowd attacks the GPO, what will a small group of CRPF men do? How many rounds of fire can they fire to control the mob? The very thought sent shivers down my spine. I instantly resolved to send my family out of the valley. I told my wife to go to Shimla and try to get admission for the children in some reputed school there, and if possible, also seek employment there as a teacher. She showed reluctance by saying, “How can I leave you alone. I had to explain to her that this step was taken at least to save the lives of the children and not to hamper their education. She agreed and went to Shimla, but returned to Jammu, saying that only one school agreed but offered me a job as a warden, which I refused. Fortunately, by then, Burn Hall School, Srinagar, had opened a branch in Jammu titled St Peter’s Higher Secondary School and all children from the erstwhile Burn Hall School were admitted there. My wife also got a job there.

The situation under Governor Jagmohan changed gradually. Things were slowly brought to near-normal, though the migration of Kashmiri Pandits could not be reversed. They are still languishing in Jammu and other places in the country, hoping that a day will come when they will be back in their homeland. One good thing that happened was that the Governor posted a Relief Commissioner, who distributed relief to the migrant Kashmiri Pandits who were not employed. In addition, tents, blankets and warm clothing were also distributed initially, and food items and milk were supplied thereafter. This was a great step for the rehabilitation of the migrants who were either accommodated in vacant schools and other office buildings or in camps at specified places in Jammu, Nagrota and Udhampur. In fact, the Kashmiri Pandits regard Jagmohan as a messiah for the work he did for their resettlement outside the Kashmir valley. (to be continued)

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 - A Post Mortem

Lok Sabha Elections 2024-A Post mortem

The results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, are out and have surprised many of us. The BJP party which has been ruling for the last ten years with a comfortable majority of its own was facing this election with an inherent anti-incumbency factor. However, the party put up a brave face and announced a target of 370 seats to be achieved this time (400+ for the NDA) out of 543 which was far above its achievement in the 2019 elections. Not only the party but the country was surprised at this tall order. Looking back at what its charismatic leader, Narendra Modi, had been able to achieve in the past, everyone believed that it may be a possibility. As the slogan goes, 'Modi hai to mumkin hai'. But the results proved the BJP brass wrong as they not only missed the target of 370 but also missed the majority on their own i.e. 272.

Simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls, the elections to Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa assemblies were also held. BJP has won a majority in Arunachal and Orissa on its own while in Andhra, its NDA partner TDP has registered a comfortable win. Sikkim was wrested by the local Sikkim Krantikari Morcha. The forming of the BJP government in two of the above states and the NDA government in another state more than compensate for the losses in parliamentary elections.

An analysis of the gains and losses has been attempted hereunder to understand what went wrong with the strategy of the NDA this time, particularly the BJP. Out of 543 seats, NDA has been able to garner 291 (BJP:240, TDP:16, SS:7, JDU:12 & LJP:5), INDI Alliance bagged 234 seats (Cong:99, SP:37, TMC:29, DMK:22 & SS(UBT):9 while Others have got 18 seats (YSRC:4 & SAD:1 etc). NDA has a clear majority and can form government but no individual party has crossed the majority mark on its own.

1) Total Dependence on Modi's Charisma: The BJP has been totally dependent on the charisma of Modi and most of the MPs have contributed practically nothing to popularise the schemes of the government and establish a rapport with the people in their constituency. My personal experience is that the MP ( Even the MLA) of our area was not seen even once visiting our colony. On the other hand, Modi has himself shown exemplary energy and dedication to his work and his campaigning in the election was to be seen to be believed. This time he was even interviewed by many journalists. His continuous talking to the people in 'Man Ki Baat' on AIR has been one of his great strengths where people send him their questions and he tries to answer them.

2) Selection of Candidates: It is noticed that the selection of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls was done by the High Command centrally ignoring the ground realities and the feedback from the State CMs. Before elections, many a CM were changed fearing incumbency factor and their non-performance but some of them recorded victory on the hustings subsequently. Shivraj Singh Chouhan has won the Lok Sabha election with a record margin of over 8 lakhs. Firstly, while choosing the CMs initially proper caste, integrity and popularity factors must be taken into account so that they do not have to be replaced midway. They should be given a free hand to manage their states without rushing to the Centre for guidance.

3) The Unresolved Farmer's Agitation: The farmer's agitation kept engaging the Central Government for more than a year and even thereafter their demands were not properly addressed. It is emphasised that farmers form a large block of voters who can make or break the governments. The fact remains that the present government passed bills in parliament without consulting them which ignited the fire and consequently the government had to withdraw the bills. However, the incident allowed the farmers in north India to press for MSP and other demands to which the government did not agree. Everybody has seen what followed besides the insult to the National flag on the Red Fort. Disagreement on the issue has been simmering in the minds of farmers in Punjab and Haryana where BJP has recorded dismal performance. The farmers of UP led by Rakesh Tikait, though comparatively less pugnacious, have shown their resentment at the Lok Sabha polls. To make things worse the present government has developed an image to be pro-capitalists rather than pro-farmers. The narrative strengthened when the opposition called Modi a friend and benefactor of Adani and Ambani.

4) Justice Delayed: Several cases happened during the last five years where justice was not done promptly. The reason was that some kith and kin of BJP leaders were involved. Nabbing of culprits should have been done immediately on the occurrence of the incident and action taken not only to file FIRs against the accused but also to ensure the cases were taken to their logical end. The delayed action and that too under pressure from the public or social platforms has made people believe that influential people can get scot-free even if they commit heinous crimes. A fine example of such a case was the complaint of the female athletes who alleged that they were abused by their coach. This case was initially shelved and ultimately had to be followed up and is presently in the concerned court.

5) Uttar Pradesh Dilemma: The biggest surprise was thrown by the results of UP. The matter needs to be investigated properly as to what were the factors for such a dismal performance. I have already pointed out two factors; one, disagreement between Yogi Adityanath and the Centre in the choice of candidates, and the second, the after-effects of farmer's agitation. Probably the style of functioning of Yogi Adityanath may not have gone down well with the common public as it may have installed a sense of fear in their hearts though his actions are lauded by the intellectual and honest citizens. The marginalisation of Mayawati too has played a significant role in the outcome of polls. She totally withdrew from the election scene and did not actively participate as in the past and consequently, her vote bank got transferred to the SP-Congress combine.

6) Nonachievement of Primary Goals: It goes without doubt that the Modi government has failed to achieve some major goals like the implementation of UCC in the country. It wasted its time in sidelining the objective by passing legislation on CAA, NRC and Triple Talaq. It was possible that the government would have faced a lot of opposition on this account but it would have given confidence to the majority of Indians that the government means business rather than appeasement. Now with present dispensation, the UCC will have to go into the cold storage.

7) The Activities of ED/CBI: It is said that one should not only be honest but he should be seen to be honest. The present government has as per them allowed these agencies to be independent which has resulted in the unearthing of so much hoarded cash and so many corruption cases. But frankly speaking what happened to the people who left the country like Mallya, Modi, Choksi etc? We hear about them from election to election and now it is ages since they have absconded. Besides, how many cases of corruption and nepotism have been registered by these institutions during the last ten years and how many people out of them have been convicted? Does the National Herald case take so much time? What happened to the cases of the Saradha Chit fund? So many politicians are behind bars without chargesheets having been finalised. Imagine when the FIRs will be filed and when the courts will decide. Why hasn't legislation been passed to dedicate some courts to such cases only and get the cases investigated and decided promptly? No, the government does not want that but uses such cases only for adverse publicity of the opposition leaders. The present government is a firm believer in attrition and not punishment. In case the institutions are overburdened, they should only pick up cases which may have the lowest mortality rate and can be finalised soon. Unless the government shows its intent to really take to task the corrupt and dishonest, its clean image will gradually get eroded notwithstanding its claims to transparency and good governance.

Worse still is that the BJP has been crying all the time about many politicians involved in scams. The same politicians have been subsequently inducted into the party and offered lucrative posts. As a result, it is hard to believe that the government is sincere about cleaning the administrative set-up of corrupt people. The argument of the government spokesmen that the cases have not been withdrawn against such people and the law will take its own course is hard to digest by the common people. After so many years the biggest symbol of corruption, The Adarsh Building, still stands tall in Mumbai and no action has been taken against the culprits.

8) Breaking up Opposition Parties: Of late the BJP was possessed by an evil spirit which led it to bring down opposition governments in states. In some cases, they were successful and replaced them with a better and efficient government but in most cases, such acts only brought a bad name to the party especially where the alternative government indulged in corruption and nepotism. The BJP central command could not replace their own government for fear of revolt by the CM concerned who held influence among the major castes in the state. Naturally therefore a bad precedence was created. The best example is Karnataka, the only state in the South where BJP had been ruling for a long time. In respect of Maharashtra splitting of both Shiv Sena and NCP was yet another mistake committed by the high command of BJP. Split, of course, happened but at what cost? In the recent elections, the BJP could not register as many wins as it had done in 2019. This is beside what will be in store for forthcoming assembly elections. A similar attempt was made in HP which, however, failed.

9) Price rise and Unemployment: There is no doubt that the present government has had to face severe times. Conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine have been there for more than a year. The coronavirus pandemic created havoc all across the world and affected the economies. India has been able to survive all these and maintain its growth. But people do not go by the reasons they only accept what they perceive. On the other hand, the government has emphasised avoiding overburdening of exchequer through unproductive employment and laid stress on skill development and self-employment besides expanding private employment opportunities. The people in India under the influence of socialist regimes in the past have got used to believing that employment means only regular government employment with pensionary benefits as in the olden days. Accordingly, the Opposition parties exploited the situation and created a false narrative that there is rampant unemployment and price rise in India. They even went hammer and tongs against the Indian Army Agniveer Scheme since it is a short-term engagement only. So despite the creation of private-sector employment, the people were made to believe that the government was not interested in these areas to help the poor.

On the other hand, there is, however, a positive side of the coin too which is discussed in brief as follows:

1) Expansion of Network: The present government has not focussed on the vote-catching areas only but expanded the reach of the party to every nook and corner of the country. The party was born after the emergency, though it already had a base in the form of erstwhile Jana Sangh which had amalgamated with other parties to form the Janta Party. In the first attempt, it got only 2 seats in the Lok Sabha. The concerted efforts made initially by L K Advani and Vajpayee, the Rath Yatra and the Ram Temple episode helped it not only revive its image as a Hindutava Party but also gain an immense voter base so much so that the party was able to form a government under the able leadership of Vajpayee. Later the ten-year interregnum of Manmohan Singh as Congress PM allowed it to introspect and it bounced back under the unmatched leadership of Narendra Modi in 2014. He has been very industrious and focused on ensuring that the BJP flag is hoisted in all the states in the country. He concentrated his efforts on developing infrastructure in hitherto neglected areas of the Northeast, which yielded good results. Today the party not only rules in Assam but Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh as well. It has also made deep inroads in West Bengal and replaced CPI(M) and Congress as the main opposition party in the state. In the elections recently held for Odisha assembly the party is likely to form its own government for the first time. Gujarat, UP, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Himachal, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Goa and Maharashtra have also welcomed the growth of BJP at the grassroots level. The resistance is seen in J&K and Punjab besides the southern states like AP, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. Some hiccups have of late been experienced in Maharashtra. However, it is a matter of immense joy for the party to have made inroads in Andhra, Telangana and Kerala in the recently concluded elections.

2) Integration of the Country: While efforts have been made to settle differences with extremist groups in the Northeast and many of these have already joined the mainstream, even the Naxals have been either exterminated or reined in and many of them have surrendered to the army. Peace has prevailed in the region except in Manipur which saw a rise in ethnic clashes recently abetted by internal and external forces. The greatest achievement in this regard has been a reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir State into two Union territories i.e. UT of J&K and UT of Ladakh. Article 370 of the Constitution which granted special status to the State has been removed once and for all.

3) Infrastructural and Industrial Development: There is no doubt about the rapid strides taken by the country in infrastructural development and industrial growth. Today India has attained fifth position in the developed countries in the world. Road networks, Airports, and Railways have shown a marked improvement. Many AIIMS, hospitals and medical colleges have been added to the existing ones. During the Covid epidemic, the country made its own vaccination and even supplied it to needy countries rather than depending on Western MNCs. Besides the government provided houses, toilets and gas connections to millions in the vast country.

4) Harnessing of Terror activities: The present government was able to curb the terror activities within the country besides stopping the neighbouring countries from encroaching on our lands or helping the terror outfits. Incidents of terror since 2014 have been minimal as compared to previous periods.

5) International Relations: Ever since the present government has come into existence relations with foreign countries barring a few inimical neighbouring countries have improved a lot. The world listens to India now. Even during the Ukraine and Palestinian conflicts, the country has stood its ground and not come under the influence of either the USA or Russia. Many international meets were organised in the country during the period.

The present government has done tremendous work in many areas, but I need more time to dwell upon them. Suffice it to say that now that Narendra Modi is going to be the PM of India for the third time but with a slender majority that too depending upon the NDA partners, rapid and risky steps may not be taken this time and he will have to move with caution and care. I wish him the best in his future endeavours.

*****

Saturday, May 11, 2024

THE CHARISMA OF MODI - Deepak Budki, IPoS (R)

The Charisma of Modi

Narendra Modi carries a halo around him. His achievements need to be evaluated against the background of India's progress during the seven decades before he acceded to power at the centre as Prime Minister of India. Earlier, it was the Indian National Congress (Congress) which ruled at the centre most of the time except for brief interregnums of coalition governments. Unfortunately, he carried with him the stigma of communal propensity during his reign as Chief Minister of Gujarat which had been thrust on him and publicized widely not only by the Congress Party but also by other parties banking on the Muslim vote bank.

At the outset, I would like to throw light on the developments of the Bhartiya Janta Party before Modi took over its command. The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) was born after the constituents of the Janta Government fell apart like a house of cards with the return of Indira Gandhi who had earlier lost power due to the imposition of Emergency. Its precursor, the Jana Sangh was an avowed Hindu party which since its inception stood for the rights of Hindus as opposed to other parties which stood for non-Hindu religions or pseudo-secularism. Since all the big leaders of opposition parties had been jailed during the emergency they decided to put up a common front against the Congress once the emergency was lifted. It must be noted that while all parties joined the Janta Party including the only Hindu party i.e. Jana Sangh, none of the Muslim parties joined the bandwagon and did not amalgamate with the Janta Party, thus keeping their identity intact. Consequently, the amalgamation of Jana Sangh was a betrayal of Hindus who had pinned all their hopes on it since its inception, especially in the background of what happened during partition and how the party along with RSS had helped them for resettlement and resurgence. It was obvious that right and left-wing parties could never pull together as their objectives were diametrically opposite. So, the Janata experiment failed and all parties reverted to their original names and banners. Jana Sangh, instead rechristened itself as Bhartiya Janta Party.

In the first election, the BJP fought on its own, it could only win two Lok Sabha seats in the entire country. Nevertheless, Vajpayee and Advani made special efforts to go back to the original agenda based on Hindutava and popularise their goals among old followers. Advani, in particular, took a rath-yatra across the length and breadth of the country and made Ram Mandir a pivotal issue. Then came the Babri Masjid demolition and a long legal battle for the Ram Mandir reconstruction at Lord Rama's birthplace. BJP slowly gained ground and was able to outwit other parties like Congress, Communists and the regional parties but had to seek support from some other like-minded parties. In this coalition politics, they had to experience some jolts during the rule of Vajpayee, a soft and accommodating Prime Minister. He could not, however, continue for long and was replaced by the Man Mohan Singh government for ten long years. Possibly the leaders of the BJP had lost steam and could not convince the public that theirs was a better alternative. Here the RSS and BJP consciously took a turn and changed the leadership. They handed over the reins of leadership to Narendra Damodardas Modi who had already proven his capabilities as a tough, unyielding and non-compromising leader during his tenure as CM of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014.

Upon taking charge as PM of India, Modi undertook a reorganisation of the party and infused new blood in the organisation while saying adieu to the old. Some were offered respectable posts while others insisted on remaining active in politics but got eliminated with time. Since 2014 Narendra Modi assisted by his man-friday Amit Shah has worked day and night to establish BJP as a national party. Modi achieved many goals though some important ones could not be achieved because the time for implementing them was not ripe and he feared backlash from a section of the people besides international reaction. The achievements of Narendra Modi are summed up hereunder:

Leadership Qualities: Narendra Modi is charismatic and has adopted leading by example as his style of leadership. He continuously talks to the people through Man Ki Baat every Sunday on Akashvani besides talking to students before the examination season starts. He is seen everywhere encouraging soldiers, sportsmen, aerospace scientists, innovative entrepreneurs and hard-toiling farmers. During the recent coronavirus epidemic, he was personally able to monitor and control it in record time with minimum damages in the shape of loss of life. He would continuously cheer the poor public so that they would not feel helpless and forlorn. He mobilised support from the public during the period by regularly communicating with them and asking them to adhere to the required conduct individually and in public. It is well known that he is an enthusiast of Yoga which has now been accepted the world over and the 'Yoga Day' is now celebrated all over the world every year. Consequently, his own health is fit and he works 18 hours a day. He has shown immense energy in campaigning during elections besides successfully organising global events in India.
Hindu Awakening and Unity: The BJP prides itself on being a party which looks after the interests of the majority community i.e Hindus though it has a strong belief in Secularism which has been part and parcel of Indian ethos. Before partition, the Colonialists have been engaged in emphasising that Hindus are a socially stratified community and the upper castes have been exploiting the lower castes. This canard was not only exploited to rule the country by divide-and-rule policy but also to effect mass conversions of Hindus to their faith. After the partition, the Congress continued with the policy and kept drawing wedges between different castes. Reservations for lower classes, though a progressive step to mitigate the problems of the lower castes, have over the years become a hurdle in integrating the Hindus and making them forget about the caste differences. RSS and BJP took it upon themselves to ensure that the Hindu fabric does not get further disintegrated and the widening of the gap between castes is stopped henceforth. Their efforts have given them opportunities to establish themselves as self-respecting Hindus with a proper identity. On the contrary, the vested interests are all the time busy questioning the concept of Hindu, or Sanatan to be exact, and claiming that this is not acceptable. Yet BJP aided by RSS is all the time busy making known the concept of Sanatan Dharma to the Hindus in India and thwarting the efforts of dissenters abetted by other religious forces. Those who question the existence of the BJP as a Hindu party are however not able to explain why there exist parties representing other religions exclusively and how Congress has been taking support of a Muslim Party in Kerala that was responsible for the partition of the country and still carries the religious propaganda against Hindus. The BjP government understands that India is the only Hindu country in the world and therefore, must save Hindus all over the world if they are persecuted in any other country. In this connection, CAA and NRC were enacted and relief was given to the Hindus and Sikhs who had taken refuge in the country. This was a major step towards rescuing the Hindus of the world as they had no other country to look out for help.
Reconstruction of Ram Mandir: The greatest achievement of the Modi government is the reconstruction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya Dham and the holding of the Pran Pratishta ceremony on 22 January 2024. This is one of the promises fulfilled at last by the BJP Government after having faced a lot of opposition from Opposition parties and after fighting many legal battles, besides the successful culmination of 500 years of struggle of the Hindu community to reclaim the birthplace of Shree Ram. It has also erased the feeling of betrayal nursed by Hindus earlier due to the amalgamation of Jana Sangh into the Janta Party losing its own identity. BJP has reiterated its commitment to rediscover the greatness of ancient Hindu civilization and culture. The wrongs done by the invaders have been corrected. It has also paved the way for the reclaiming of other sites which originally belonged to Hindus and were razed to the ground by the iconoclast invaders. Suffice it to say that thousands of temples were destroyed by the invaders in the name of iconoclasm which included the birthplaces of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna. A concerted effort is being made to rewrite the history of India which was distorted by left-leaning historians and the colonialists.
Expansion of Party: The first and foremost goal of BJP was to establish itself as the largest party in India spread from North to South and East to West. Earlier it was confined to the Hindi belt mostly among upper castes and urban centres. In his first and second tenures, Modi concentrated on northern states where BJP was not popular. His focus was also on northeastern states which remained neglected by previous governments. In the north-east, there were no roads, no air connectivity, no infrastructure and no industries worth the name. The rapid strides in these states not only made the public responsive to the BJP but also halted the ongoing proselytising efforts of missionaries. All the seven sisters as also Sikkim were brought into the national fold. These developments influenced the neighbouring eastern states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa where BJP has been making appreciable inroads. Only WB has been resisting because the state was under the rule of Congress, Communists and Trinamool Congress all of whom banked on militant attitude, vote bank politics and appeasement and had indoctrinated the public since independence which had forced Rajiv Gandhi to call Kolkatta a "Dead City". Down south BJP has been able to only penetrate Karnataka where, however, due to internal bickerings within the party and caste politics, the opposition has bounced back. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra and Telangana are still out of bounds for the party though of late it is making all-out efforts to make inroads in these states with the personal efforts of Modi. Today the Party has the highest number of members across the country viz. 20 crores.
Economic Development: The Narendra Modi Government has concentrated on the economic development of the country and has attained fifth place in the world's best economies. Known for its right-wing approach it has abstained from appeasement politics and so-called socialist sloganeering. The focus has been on increasing supply against existing and future demand and consequently alleviating poverty through rapid industrialisation, infrastructural development and making India self-reliant or Atmnirbhar. Emphasis is laid on skill development so that self-employment is generated and white-collar unemployment is reduced to the minimum. Industrial production has increased by leaps and bounds and the entire country has embraced digitalisation and is attracting foreign investments. Even defence production has increased beyond imagination as much as the country that used to import defence equipment and armaments is now exporting it. Missiles have recently been exported and a defence equipment deal has been done with Russia worth $4 billion. The network of roads, metro railways and airports has increased multifold. The number of IITs, hospitals, medical, engineering and other professional colleges have also increased. The Congress had built one AIIMS during their six decades of rule while 4 more were constructed during Vajpayee's time. The number has now increased to 26. The goal of the present government is set to be one medical college per district.
Scientific Development: With the resurgence of ancient culture and religious thought the country has not abandoned scientific thinking and development. Our progress has been substantial in the field of different scientific fields and the country has supplied scientific and technological manpower to developed countries. In the area of space exploration, we have recently been successful in landing on the Moon by Chandrayan. Further exploration of other planets and the Sun is on the anvil.
Welfare Schemes: Irrespective of caste creed or region, Modi has announced several welfare schemes for the uplift of the downtrodden especially peasants, women and tribals. To ensure that the money reaches the beneficiary, the transfer of money is done through banks only and middlemen have been eliminated. More than 50 crore Indians have opened bank accounts under Jan Dhan Yojna 2014. Schemes like Swachh Bharat, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Kissan Samman Yojana, Ujala Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana, Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Vishwa Karma Yojana for artisans and craftsmen and Ujwala Plan are just a few schemes mentioned. Besides these Skill India Mission, Make in India, Smart City and Start Up India yojanas have worked wonders. In addition, Jan Arogya Yojana, Health and Wellness Centres, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure aim at better health of Indians across the country. A special mention needs to be made here that the present government came to the rescue of the poor persecuted Muslim women who were treated badly after marriages. The Muslim Women(Protection of Rights on Marriage)Act 2019 known as the Triple Talaq Act in common parlance has been enacted in the country to ensure that nobody resorts to such practices and in case of divorce takes proper permission from the court and abides by its directions regarding maintenance and alimony.
Integration of the Country: Since independence, we have witnessed the growth of disintegrating forces in several parts of the country, some of them agitating peacefully while most of them taking up arms against the State. Their designs were further facilitated by the Central and State governments lacking willpower or unable to control them due to coalition politics. Such forces raised their ugly heads in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North Eastern States, Punjab and Kashmir. Terrorism in these states has caused much damage to the country. In Punjab and later Kashmir, Pakistan got directly involved in abetting terrorism and infiltrating trained terrorists and arms and ammunition. While the Khalistan movement died after Operation Blue Star, many vested interests including a few anarchist political parties have been trying to revive it. Canada in particular has become a hotbed of Khalistani activity but the Indian government has given the Government of Canada a rebuff on this account. As regards Jammu and Kashmir State, the Modi Government took a drastic step to marginalise the extremists and their political well-wishers by bifurcating the State into two Union Territories i.e J&K and Ladakh besides abrogating Article 370. Abrogation of Article 370 was on the agenda of Jana Sangh and later BJP since independence as they never accepted the concept of One Nation, Two Constitutions and Flags. Thus it has become a great step towards integration of the country.
Internation Relations: The Modi government, while following the national policy of maintaining good relations with all the countries in the world has deviated in approach by not being a passive member of the United Nations. India now calls a spade a spade and does not come under pressure from any country howsoever mighty it might be. We have very good relations with US and European countries besides Russia and Iran. India imported oil from Russia recently despite sanctions by the USA. Our relations with the Middle Eastern countries have reached a zenith so much so that a Hindu temple was allowed to be constructed in Abu Dhabi recently. However, friendly ties with Pakistan and China could not be established despite efforts by Narendra Modi initially. Pakistani Governments continued to support Terrorism against India while China made efforts to occupy our land in Leh and Arunachal which was thwarted by our brave soldiers. The establishment of good relations with other countries has not only helped in boosting trade with such countries but also favourable balance of trade with them. Our foreign exchange reserves have increased multifold and Rupee has been introduced for bilateral trade with many countries.

To sum it up, the last ten years of the Modi Government have been a watershed in the political history of India which has stressed on development of India sans appeasement. Achievements are there for everyone to see but you cannot help if anybody wants to put on the blinkers and see it with a jaundiced eye.

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