Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi is the (significantly more successful) Donald Trump of India, a wingnut and the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. He is known for his courting of far-right authoritarian social cleansers who seek to purge the nation of all undesirables, much like his American counterpart.

Modi in RSS's Nazi inspired uniform.[1]
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Modi is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent organization the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), far-right-wing organization advocating Hindutva, which was banned on three separate occasions.[2] In 2005, United States revoked the visa of Modi, who at that time was the Chief Minister of Indian state of GujaratFile:Wikipedia's W.svg where he was accused of not preventing the riots that killed more than 1,000 people.[3]

Bigotry

Modi's bigotry is so evident, even NY Times wrote an article about it.[4]

Modi is known for indirectly supporting Hindu nationalist groups for attacks against Muslim and Christians. RSS, which he is a member of is a pro Hindutva organization that is training people including children for the upcoming war against Muslims.[5]

“”From the visuals on TV, those setting the fire can be identified by their clothes.
— Modi, about Muslims [6]

In 2019, stripped the autonomy of the Muslim majority state of Kashmir and put in under lockdown, which lead to lack of internet access for months and a loss of $2.4 billion loss in the state's economy.[4]

Rewriting History

History books in schools have been tweaked to give importance to right-wing ideologies, Hindu rulers are glorified and there is no mention of RSS's hand in Gandhi's assassination. There is no mention of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal NehruFile:Wikipedia's W.svg(Who belonged to BJP's rival party Indian National Congress) in textbooks, instead, the life of Nazi admirer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is written in detail.[7]

His government has been renaming ancient cities from names given by Islamic rulers to new "Hindu" names.[8]

There are attempts to remove references to Islamic rulers from History textbooks at Schools.[9]

Anti Intellectualism
“”Hard work is more powerful than Harvard
—Narendra Modi[10]

Modi government is a promoter of Anti-intellectualism, dissenters are labeled 'Urban Naxals' and harassed by the right-wing workers. Scholars were forced to step down and pro-Hindutva supporters took their place.[11]

“”Intellectuals live in this country and use all facilities for which we pay tax. Then they raise slogans against our Army. India faces grave danger from them. If I was Home Minister, I would have issued orders to shoot them.
—Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, BJP Lawmaker and Modi's minion[12]

The government has increased fees of various Universities which had lead to protests from the students[13] and the subsequent attack on them by Hindu Militia groups.[14]

On January 6, 2020, a group of Hinduvta supporters entered Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi with the help of police and attacked Students and Teachers who protested against fee Hike.[15]

“”JNU is a hub of communists and we won’t tolerate such hubs. They abuse our religion and our country. Their attitude towards our religion is anti-national. In future, too, we will take the same action in other universities if someone tries to indulge in anti-national activities
—Hindu Raksha Dal claiming responsibility of the attacks.[16]

Cow Vigilantism and Mob Lynching

More than 44 people have died from mob lynching by cow vigilantes since Modi came to power. Most of the mob lynching incidences happened as a result of false accusations. The majority of the lynching victims are Muslims.[17]

In an infamous case from 2017, a group of cow vigilantes lynched a cattle trader who was on his way back after attending a cattle fair, on suspicion of cow smuggling. All the accusers were left free by the court and the dead victim had cases registered against him by the police. Many criminal activities are ignored by the police because of the culprit's affiliation to various Hindutva outfits.[18]

Personal Views

Modi believes that India is a target of a global conspiracy and all Muslims in the country are part of it. Modi is responsible for the 2002 Hindu-Muslim riot which lead to more than 1,000 deaths by intentionally keeping the police from controlling the violence.

During the dispute over Babri Masjid, Ashis Nandy, a prominent Indian intellectual, began a series of interviews with R.S.S. members. A trained psychologist, he wanted to study the mentality of the rising Hindu nationalists. One of those he met was Narendra Modi, who was then a little-known B.J.P. functionary. Nandy interviewed Modi for several hours, and came away shaken. His subject, Nandy said, exhibited all the traits of an authoritarian personality: puritanical rigidity, a constricted emotional life, fear of his own passions, and an enormous ego that protected a gnawing insecurity. During the interview, Modi elaborated a fantastical theory of how India was the target of a global conspiracy, in which every Muslim in the country was likely complicit.[19]

“”Modi elaborated a fantastical theory of how India was the target of a global conspiracy, in which every Muslim in the country was likely complicit. Modi was a fascist in every sense, I don’t mean this as a term of abuse. It’s a diagnostic category.[19]
—Ahsis Nandy, A political psychologist who interviewed Modi in 1996

BJP IT Cell a.k.a WhatsApp University

BJP IT Cell is a group of paid workers who spam the internet with Pro Modi propaganda and hijack online polls.[20]

It is jokingly called WhatsApp University due to their extensive use of the messaging app WhatsApp to spread propaganda.[21]

IT cell is known for generating twitter trends about boycotting famous people who criticize the government.[22]

Detention Camps

Modi government has been building Detention Camps to put people(Mostly Muslims) who have failed their citizenship test. He has introduced a new law that allows people of other religions except for Islam, to get Indian citizenship even if they fail to show documents of their citizenship.This effectively strips the citizenship of Muslims who are poor and not able to acquire documents to show their citizenship.[23]

His new genocide attempt has led to various protests across the country and the subsequent attack on Universities by the police and Hindu extremist groups as revenge. So far 36 people have have died as a result of police brutality.[14][16]

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Propaganda at Schools

In 2019, after removing the special status of the Muslim majority state of Kashmir, children aged 11-12 from a school in the state of HaryanaFile:Wikipedia's W.svg were tasked with writing a letter to Modi, thanking him for the decision.[24]

In 2020, as a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act protestsFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in India, Prime Minister's Office ordered schools to force the students to write a letter to Modi, supporting his new law that grants Indian citizenship to people based on their religion.[25]

What he says

Millennia ago, genetics research enabled in vitro fertilization

Hindutva-advocacy often propagates the pseudo-historic belief that many discoveries of modern science are actually not modern at all, and was discovered in Ancient India (by the Hindus, no less).[note 1]

In the Indian epic Mahabharata,File:Wikipedia's W.svg a character KarnaFile:Wikipedia's W.svg is described as having born to an unmarried woman. In 2014, while delivering a lecture in front of a group of doctors and other professionals, Modi said that Karna's birth outside his mother's womb is the proof of the existence of genetic science in ancient India:[26]

“”We all read about KarnaFile:Wikipedia's W.svg in the MahabharataFile:Wikipedia's W.svg. If we think a little more, we realize that the Mahabharata says Karna was not born from his mother’s womb. This means that genetic science was present at that time. That is why Karna could be born outside his mother’s womb.
—Narendra Modi, BJP politician and the 14th Prime Minister of India[26]

Ancient cosmetic surgery successfully grafted an elephant head onto a human body

GaneshaFile:Wikipedia's W.svg is a well-known Hindu deity. His body is that of a human and his head is that of an elephant. In 2014, Modi suggested that this could be possible because an ancient Indian plastic surgeon transplanted elephant's head on the body of a human being.

“” We can feel proud of what our country achieved in medical science at one point of time... We worship Lord Ganesha.File:Wikipedia's W.svg There must have been some plastic surgeon at that time who got an elephant’s head on the body of a human being and began the practice of plastic surgery."
—Narendra Modi, BJP politician and the 14th Prime Minister of India [26]

He further went on...

“” If we talk about space science, our ancestors had, at some point, displayed great strengths in space science.

Using digital camera and e-mail in the 80s

During an interview, while explaining how he became a "gadget-freak", Modi claimed that he first used digital camera in 1987-88. Modi claimed that he had taken a picture of L.K Advani (Demolition Man) and e-mailed it to Delhi. The next day (according to Modi) it was printed in color on a newspaper and Advani was surprised.[27]

On climate change

Modi's climate change downplaying was made clear during a nationwide propaganda exercise where his speech on teacher's day was broadcasted live during school hours, made compulsory to watch for all students, and schools were required to arrange TVs for live transmission. In response to a student's question concerning climate change during the QA session, he replied:[28]

“”Often during winters, you'll notice that they [old people] say it's colder this year than ever before. Don't they say such things? Actually it's not any colder. Their capacity to tolerate cold has reduced due to aging. In the same manner, the climate hasn't changed, we have changed... our tolerance and habits have changed. Our habits have got spoiled. Due to that, we have destroyed our entire environment... If we change then God has built the system in such a way that it can balance on its own.

He then goes on for the next 5 minutes enunciating about Hindu culture, Shastras, invoking Hindu scriptures, telling how Chaand (Moon) is Mamu (Uncle) for all children in India and then he ended with a suggestion that everyone should practice inserting a thread into a needle in the moonlight. He... does get carried away with bringing in inconsequential tangents to get away from answering questions, even when it isn't a debate or an interview.

PM Modi had also decided to skip the UN Climate Change Summit on September 23rd 2014 along with Chinese Premier. They together represent the largest polluting countries on the planet.

He also expressed similar views at the Sacred Hearts University in Japan in 2014.[29]

“”Is it climate change or habit change? Our habits have changed and we are fighting the nature. We should rather have communication with nature.

For some context about the climate in India, here are some statistics:

  • In the Modi regime, India’s Environmental Performance Index Rank slipped from 155 to 177, becoming the fourth worst performing country in the world.
  • 8 of the most polluted 12 cities are in India.
  • There are an estimated 1.24 million deaths from air pollution in India annually.
  • Modi has dismantled a number of environmental protections, clearing the way for new coal mines and other industrial projects.[30] He also blocked funds to Greenpeace[31][32] and other environmental groups[33] and is known to be vehemently anti-NGOs.
  • Projections from the Energy Information Administration show China’s emissions could start levelling off in 2030. India’s? They are due to rise by 60% between 2020 and 2040.[34]

Modi when asked about 2002 Gujarat riots

Modi stunned, speechless, answerless and walks out when drilled with questions by journalist Karan ThaparFile:Wikipedia's W.svg about his involvement in 2002 Gujarat riotsFile:Wikipedia's W.svg that killed 1,000–2,000+ people, mostly Muslims.[35] And since then, all of his interviews are scripted.

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gollark: The issue is that you don't have skyfield or whatever installed. Try "pip install --user skyfield", although you might need to use a different package manager.
gollark: Just save as a plain text file. Somehow.
gollark: You're running the rtf.
gollark: Weird how?

Notes
  1. See Hindutva#Revisionism_of_science_and_technology

References
  1. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/eye-on-rss/dress-how-you-want-to-be-addressed-rss-and-fascism
  2. I. K. Shukla (2003). Hindutva: An Autopsy of Fascism as a Theoterrorist Cult and Other Essays. Media House. pp.105. ISBN 978-81-7495-143-4. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  3. U.S. Denies Visa to Indian Hindu Nationalist Washington Post
  4. Modi Makes His Bigotry Even Clearer The New York Times
  5. New recruits to Hindu cause hear anti-Muslim message Reuters
  6. Modi Plays Communal Card on CAA, Targets Muslim Protestors The Wire
  7. Rewriting history: Akbar lost to Maharana Pratap; Mahatma, Nehru missing from texts Hindustan Times
  8. BJP Government Gave Nod To Renaming 25 Places In India In A Year Huffington Post
  9. Tipu Sultan to be removed from history textbooks? Education minister seeks report India Today
  10. Hard work is more powerful than Harvard : Modi The Hindu
  11. The Curious Case of Anti-Intellectualism in MODIfied India—Ananyo ChakrabortyLokayata
  12. Would Have Got Intellectuals Shot If I Were Home Minister: BJP Lawmaker NDTV
  13. After hostel fee hike, JNU will become India’s most expensive central universityThe Print
  14. Masked goons strike terror in JNU, none arrestedThe Hindu
  15. New Delhi: Students, teachers attacked inside JNU campus Al Jazeera
  16. Hindu Raksha Dal Takes Onus for JNU Attack, Warns Other Varsities on ‘Anti-National' Activities News 18
  17. The violent rise of India’s cow vigilantes Vox
  18. Pehlu Khan lynching: All 6 accused walk free India Today
  19. Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India The New Yorker
  20. Fake news buster embarrasses BJP IT cell with 'edited' tweetsThe Week
  21. 'Have You Just Joined WhatsApp University': Twitter Roasts Kiran Bedi For 'Sun Chants Om' Post News Nation
  22. Deepika Padukone shows up at JNU protest, sparks Twitter calls for boycott of ‘Chhapaak’The Print
  23. India’s massive, scary new detention camps, explained Vox
  24. 'This is propaganda': Indian school makes children write letter thanking Modi for stripping Kashmir's autonomy Independent
  25. Imagine the PMO bullying school children to write letters of support on CAA! National Herald
  26. Indian prime minister claims genetic science existed in ancient times The Guardian
  27. Critics slam Modi's claims of using 'digital camera, email in 1980s' The Week
  28. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2014/09/08/the-miseducation-of-narendra-modi-on-climate-change/
  29. https://www.rediff.com/news/report/pm-modi-enchants-university-students-in-tokyo/20140902.htm
  30. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/may/27/why-india-is-captured-by-carbon
  31. Talukdar, R. 2018. Sparking a debate on coal: Case study on the Indian Government’s crackdown on Greenpeace. Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: an Interdisciplinary Journal, 10:1, 46-60. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v10i1.5602
  32. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/11/indias-war-on-greenpeace
  33. https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/foreign-funding-of-4-ngos-who-opposed-coal-projects-blocked/31417/
  34. https://qz.com/215793/everyone-is-cutting-their-carbon-emissions-except-india/M
  35. https://thewire.in/books/narendra-modi-karan-thapar-interview
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