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The People Strike Back |
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by Aneeta Chakrabarty |
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He was not a man of wealth. Neither was he a product of IIT or Harvard. He was a common man with common origins. Yet, within a decade he was able to mine the cultural gold of the common people and offer them a lifeline away from the coalition of ruthless looters. The people, in turn did not fail him. They took to him like a duck to the waters. And after a grueling campaign of sheer brilliance, Narendra Modi ascended the historic stage with an overwhelming majority. Amidst wild jubilation accompanied by historic echoes of “Veni, Vidi, Vici”, a stunned world watched as he took his place as Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world.
For decades, India was a two lane highway – one lane for the privileged and the well-connected, and the other for the common man. Slowly, the lane for the common man became smaller and smaller as the looting orgy of the privileged increased in leaps and bounds. Resentment was growing, inflation was marching ahead of the country and jobs disappeared in a swooning economy. The government enmeshed in gridlock was in bed with crony capitalists and the nation stared at a horizon looking forlorn and bleak. When Modiji sounded the bugle call of development, the recession-battered people took the call that pushed the tides of History. They faced a stark choice – either they roll up their sleeves and vote for change or forever limp into the future.
There are many stories to tell here. There is the story of a self-made man and his wrenching odyssey against the largest, longest witch hunt since Independence, which eventually propelled him to History’s stage with the force of a giant. There is the story of a people who have borne the psychological weight of centuries of being told, “You are not good enough.” There is the bleeding story of Kashmir, whose pundits roam the land seeking a home. There is the story of Bangladeshi refugees who squat on India’s land and bat for India’s enemies. There is the story of unsung martyrs, hounded whistle-blowers, courageous officers, investigative journalists, and firebrand patriots who have told the sordid tale of cover-ups and corruption and paid for with their livelihood or their lives.
The biggest story, however, is that in spite of high-sounding bytes, sophisticated talking heads, misleading rhetoric, the people have learned to strike back. In spite of a hostile and elitist media, their epic quest for dignity and justice has resulted in a unified voice that will not be quiet any more. It has brought together a broken country in the nick of time and it will do so again and again. image (c) gettyimages.com |
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23-May-2014 | |||||||||||||||||||
More by : Aneeta Chakrabarty | |||||||||||||||||||
Views: 853 Comments: 6 | |||||||||||||||||||
Comments on this Article
Aneeta Chakrabarty 05/26/2014 23:18 PM
Aneeta Chakrabarty 05/26/2014 18:58 PM
Rian John 05/26/2014 03:09 AM
Aneeta Chakrabarty 05/24/2014 10:35 AM
Jeti 05/24/2014 07:27 AM
PAUL SAYAL 05/23/2014 21:11 PM |
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