Why isn’t this fascist killer in jail?
Modi goes after Pakistan, but chooses words carefully - The Times of India
REWARI: If power under Atal Bihari Vajpayee diluted BJP’s agenda, as the party at least temporarily seemed to have shunned the Ram temple movement, the prospect of achieving the same power at the Centre seems to be already acting as a tempering agent for Narendra Modi, the aspirant. Modi’s message to Pakistan on Sunday was still firm but his words were carefully chosen.
At a public rally here, in front of crowds seen only for Haryana satrap Devi Lal, Modi invoked Vajpayee’s Pakistan foreign policy, giving him credit for having made Pakistan-sponsored terrorism an international issue. Describing the crowds in the Congress-ruled state as a “lalkar” or challenge to the ‘Delhi sultanate’, he said India can no longer be governed by vote bank politics and that true secularism can be learnt from the Indian Army.
Modi almost sounded conciliatory as he spoke about Pakistan, saying the two countries, along with Bangladesh, needed to rid South Asia of poverty and illiteracy, a discourse otherwise identified with Pakistani leaders. No doubt he blamed Pakistan for promoting terrorism in India and attacked defence minister A K Antony for his Pakistan army uniform goof up in Parliament but for the crowds subjected to a relentless diatribe against Pakistan by earlier speakers, this was a disappointment. There was no rabble-rousing; not even any talk of “befitting reply”.
“I publicly want to say that if Pakistan can put an end to the policy of promoting terrorism for 10 years, it will see double the economic progress it has seen in the past 60 years,” Modi said.
“Pakistan ke irade theek nahi lagte (Pakistan’s intentions do not seem right even under Nawaz Sharif). Pakistan was created with an anti-India feeling but it can’t survive on that sentiment. You took to killing innocent civilians after you lost in wars,” he said, even as he emphasized that the Indian government had no coherent security policy.
Modi was addressing a rally of retired Army men, his first after his coronation last week as BJP’s PM candidate. The rally was also attended by former Army chief General V K Singh.
Interestingly, Rewari is the heart of the Ahirwal region which is well known as the home of 114 Indian soldiers who died fighting off the Chinese in the Rezang-La battle in 1962. Sundry poets meant to engage the crowds before Modi’s arrival had worked them into a frenzy as they said the new BJP hope would even wrest PoK from Islamabad. Modi, in fact, arrived at the venue with crowds chanting "bharat mata ka sher aaya’’ and to the sound of lions roaring on loudspeakers.
Modi’s endorsement of Vajpayee is significant considering Congress leaders, under attack from the opposition for its Pakistan policy, and independent commentators have hit out at BJP by talking about how the party under Vajpayee legalized Pervez Musharraf despite knowing full well that he was responsible for Kargil.
Clearly overwhelmed by the crowds, who had to be controlled with bursts of lathi-charge, Modi recalled his own childhood fascination with the Army to declare that addressing the rally in Rewari gave him greater satisfaction than being declared BJP’s PM candidate. He spoke about how he could not attend the Sainik School in Jamnagar because of his father’s limited means.
"What we are seeing today is a call for change. Dilli ki sultanat ko aaj yahan se lalkar mili hai,‘’ he said, pointing at the number of people gathered in the rally.
Talking about Army men, Modi took a dig at the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar as he described the statement made by a Bihar minister about people joining the Army to die as "the height of shamelessness’‘. "If you can’t respect them, at least don’t insult them,’’ he said.
The ‘statesman’ Modi also spoke about how proxy war has taken the place of actual wars now and that the UN need not feel proud of the fact that there is no third world war yet. He said even China was looking to divert Brahmaputra waters and grab Arunachal Pradesh and this was possible only because the government in Delhi was weak.
