How Modi's silence has Hindu fanatics and liberals fuming

Enough has been said and debated about the Dadri incident, but unfortunately, justice for the victim's family remains elusive.

As is usual after any such incident, political blame games and muck-throwing haven't ceased to stop.

Leaving aside the media hype and political mudslinging, it is not difficult to gather that the BJP has dragged itself unnecessarily into the matter.

Over the past few days, I had spent a lot of time on Twitter and read tweets by people with all kinds of political allegiances and it led me to the conclusion that the Dadri incident has hurt the BJP badly.

And it is clear that in the past year, the BJP has disappointed both liberal as well as radical Hindus. 

Also read: Would it hurt Mr Modi to say a few words on Dadri 'beef' lynching?

Liberal Hindus voted against decades of misrule by the Congress and supported the BJP for its development and good governance agenda as outlined by Narendra Modi. Modi's ambitious development agenda, the promise of acche din for the common man and the pledge to transform India into a superpower struck a chord with the average liberal Hindu voter. Spectres of a Ram Mandir being constructed at Ayodhya, India being turned into a Hindu Rashtra and all Muslims being driven out or converted to Hinduism didn't matter to them.

On the other hand, radical Hindus voted in favour of a staunch Hindu nationalist government, which, in their view, would show Muslims their place, protect all Hindus and build the Ram Mandir. While they too were influenced by Modi's development promises, it is clear that they neither had an idea nor an understanding of these issues, but just nodded in support.

Today, BJP finds itself in a tough position.

Also read: Dadri 'beef' lynching: Modi's silence is disturbing

When news about the Dadri lynching broke out, there was widespread outrage. But despicable statements made by BJP leaders ensured that the party was dragged into the controversy. Furthermore, silence by the BJP and no condemnation on their part added fuel to the fire.

"This (incident) should be considered as an accident without giving any communal colour to it."

"Why responsibility to keep peace and maintain calm is always put on the Hindus alone? Be a victim and maintain silence in face of assaults."

"The police have arrested innocent people. We also demand legal action against those people who are engaged in cow slaughter as it is hurting Hindu sentiments."

These were some of the unnecessary and outrageous statements which enraged many, including staunch pro-BJP supporters and fans.

"Bhak Sala", an ardent pro-Modi Facebook page with around half a million followers, wrote "Dadri incidence & subsequent silence, stupidity and hatred on it have hurt me as an ardent BJP supporter. I don't think it was something I stood for".

Bhak Sala's founder Rahul Raj even went on to write a post: "The Dadri death has killed a bit of hope in our minds too", in Op-India, another right-wing pro-Modi platform, where he detailed his reasoning. The last paragraph was something that really stood out: "I believed in a party which could act, instead of sending some baboons who blabber rhetorics and question others. I believed in a cause which promised a new India, a new outlook towards life. After seeing inappropriate actions in some places and inaction in others, my faith is slowly receding in what I once believed".

Tavleen Singh, another pro-Modi columnist, wrote a piece in the Indian Express, in which she said: "The vote was for change and development and not Hindutva. Anyone who tells him (Modi) otherwise is lying. And yet he has done nothing to stop the theft of his mandate by people who would not have been ministers or members of Parliament if his slogan of 'parivartan' and 'vikas' had not found such resonance." Many other liberal, pro-BJP supporters tweeted their displeasure over the BJP's reaction.

But the radical Hindus who can easily be spotted on Twitter through their inflammatory tweets used the incident as an occasion to press for their so-called Hindutva demands.

"Those who eat beef should be killed", "make Muslims so afraid of Hindus that they pee on seeing a Hindu" and "kill all families who eat beef", were some of them, with hundreds of people retweeting them.

Most of them are ardent fans of Dr Subramanian Swamy, who has constantly criticised the government for their inaction on his radical ideas. I even came across a YouTube video of a conference discussing them.

Dr Swamy's page, run by an organisation called ShankhNaad, shared a post on Facebook on how the media is communalising the incident and it was just a theft case. At the end of the post, it said: "By the way, don't expect any help from our government. They clearly seem incapable of it."

Dr Swamy has even threatened to move court in 2016 if the government doesn't start building the Ram Mandir soon and has found immense support on Twitter for his Hindutva agenda..

This clearly implies that radical Hindus aren't happy with the BJP as it has not pushed for extreme Hindutva which they would have ideally liked the party to.

Modi's recent visit to the US was quite promising, but it needs to translate into action as well. The BJP's cabinet comprises of able and efficient ministers such as Manohar Parrikar, Arun Jaitley, Nirmala Sitharaman and Sushma Swaraj amongst others who have been doing their job quite well.

But if Modi wants to make India a 21st century superpower and reach his dream of a $20-trillion economy, he must contain bigoted ministers and fringe elements in his party as well as affiliated organisations.

The headline of Tavleen Singh's article, which read: "Dadri's dire warning: If Modi fails to give India change, it's because of enemies within his house", cannot be truer given the current situation.

The onus is completely now upon Modi. Only time will tell how he chooses to respond.