Swamy wants to send Raghuram Rajan to Chicago. Why not Pakistan?
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has done it again. Subramanian Swamy has reportedly stated that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan should be sent packing to Chicago.
The reason is simple: the newly-nominated Rajya Sabha MP does not consider Rajan suitable for the job. That certainly isn’t enough of a reason for such a radical suggestion.
 |
| Subramanian Swamy said that Raghuram Rajan should be sent packing to Chicago. |
In fact BJP leaders seem to be perennially obsessed with the idea of deporting individuals who do not share their views. The run up to the 2014 general elections saw Giriraj Singh asking people opposed to Narendra Modi to move to Pakistan.
"Those opposing Narendra Modi are looking at Pakistan and such people have a place in Pakistan and not in India," said Singh at a public meeting in Bihar.
Instead of being reprimanded and blacklisted, Giriraj Singh was handsomely rewarded by Modi sarkar. In November 2014, he assumed office as the minister of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Almost one year after Giriraj Singh’s controversial remarks, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too joined the bandwagon. "Those who are dying to eat beef can go to Pakistan or Arab countries or any other part of the world where it is available" said Naqvi at an event organised by the India Today Group.
Much like Singh, Naqvi didn’t face the music either. In fact he continues till date as the minister of state for parliamentary affairs. During the JNU row, Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the university prompted BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia to suggest that he be sent to Pakistan.
"What Rahul Gandhi has done is anti-national. The country does not need such leaders. He should be sent to Pakistan," said Kalia. Time and again, the central leadership of the BJP has exhibited rare tolerance towards such intolerant remarks.
 |
| In the past, Giriraj Singh has asked those opposing Narendra Modi to move to Pakistan. |
It goes to suggest that there is broad acceptability for such views within the BJP. The leaders of the saffron outfit don’t lose their jobs for uttering such nonsensical remarks but continue as if nothing happened. If one happens to be fortunate enough like Giriraj Singh, he/she may even get promoted.
The very leaders who are hell-bent on deporting others are actually undeserving of a place either in Parliament or government. Let us take the case of Subramanian Swamy who recently took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP. While taking oath, Swamy pledged allegiance to the Indian Constitution, which effectively meant upholding the country’s multi-cultural, pluralistic secular democracy.
But Swamy’s previously stated public positions suggest the opposite. He is an opponent of secular democracy and has scant respect for the ideals laid down in the Constitution. "Declare India a Hindu rashtra in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus. Rename India as Hindustan as a nation of Hindus and those whose ancestors were Hindus," wrote Swamy in DNA newspaper (July 2011).
The controversial article titled "How to wipe out Islamic terror" led to the booting out of Swamy from Harvard University. A person like Swamy who wasn’t even allowed to continue teaching at Harvard University because of his extremist views has been nominated to the upper house of Indian Parliament.
This government certainly has no shame. They are breeding and providing foul-mouthed leaders with a free hand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about "sabka saath, sabka vikaas (Together with all, development for all)" but backs individuals with a proven sectarian mindset.
Otherwise why would his party bring Swamy to the Rajya Sabha who had earlier made known his dream of seeing a Hindu party come to power on the basis of Hindu votes? In the DNA article, Swamy had stated that "even if half the Hindu voters are persuaded to collectively vote as Hindus and for a party sincerely committed to a Hindu agenda, then we can forge an instrument for change."
That very much sets the record straight. If Narendra Modi truly believed that secularism means "India first" and "Constitution is our holy book" then Subramanian Swamy wouldn’t have been a member of the Rajya Sabha.
When Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti made the infamous Ramzaade remark by stating that "you must decide whether you want a government of those born of Ram or of those born illegitimately", Modi should have sacked her from the position of minister of state for food processing industries.
Instead he defended her in Lok Sabha by evoking her "social background" and saying that "she is from a village" and "she has apologised" for what she had said.
Hindutva is being mainstreamed. The ruling party approves of Hindutva extremism. Those who spew venom are garlanded. Remember the felicitation of Muzaffarnagar riot accused MLAs Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana prior to Modi’s Agra rally in 2013?
That was only a trailer. Now that the BJP has completed two years in power, worse things are definitely in store.
Officially, Hindutva hate mongers would never have their way as India would never become a Hindu rashtra. But unofficially, this is indeed a reign of Hindutvawaadis who are experimenting new ways in which they could inject communal poison in the national polity.
Love jihad and ghar wapsi are their prized possessions. But their current favourite weapon is deportation. No matter what you do or who you are, you can always expect some right-wing nuisance to advise you to leave the country. Raghuram Rajan just joined the list.