Dear Times of India,
I was appalled by the cartoon in today’s newspaper. I have long held this paper in high esteem, and somehow it hurts to see such a distasteful statement.
I know it is fashionable to declare one’s secular credentials. I know that people have coined a term pseudo secularism for this behavior, but still.
Narendra Modi has served three terms as Gujarat chief minister. He has been lauded for the development in the state under his government. He was most recently chosen as The Asian Winner of the FDi Personality of the Year for 2009 by fDi Magazine. He is a well respected figure in his state, and outside.
In a country where the current Prime Minister didn’t even bother to stand for election, and where most other states aren’t doing half as well as Gujarat, why should the man responsible for so much progress be subjected to such ridiculous humor?
This, when your newspaper had no qualms about printing full page advertisements just yesterday remembering the only Indian Prime Minister to ever invoke emergency on the country following an election defeat, and in the wake of whose death thousands of innocent people were slit or burnt alive by her followers?
Related posts:
Swine flu has finally hits the swine. It’s a pity nobody sees the funny side of life.
Like or Dislike:
0 
2
Manmohan Singh didnt stand for election? that cant happen…A PM has to be a member of LS and for that he has to win election! As far as I know he stood from some constituency in Assam. But yes even though I dont share Modi’s views, the cartoon is appalling.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
@Reema – Shocking as it is, MMS didn’t stand for the recent Lok Sabha elections. He is an MP but as a member of the Rajya Sabha, which is a completely different thing.
He is in fact the only Indian PM yet who isn’t a Lok Sabha member. In 1999 he lost the Lok Sabha election from South Delhi. His Wikipedia page is quite informative.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
Modi = Godhra. Enough said.
P.S. Why do you like TOI so much?
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
There is a fine line between fun and ‘funny’ ! Which is now becoming blurred. Forget Modi, this kind of behaviour is omnipresent with all forms of media. The blog world included !
And this is just not right !
Like or Dislike:
1 
1
@Muchado (#1) @Puneet (#4)
Nehru & namesake Gandhis =
1947 partition riots,
Bhagalpur Riots,
1984 vengeful pogrom of Sikhs (http://www.dailypioneer.com/212610/A-big-tree-fell-Sikhs-died.html),
Countless riots in Kashi,
Over 52 terror attacks in 67 cities in just past 6 years (http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2008/07/chronology-of-major-terrorist-attacks.html),
Pension for terrorists (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK6xwFRQ7BQ),
Nehru’s blunder list (http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2008/08/jawahar-lal-nehru-blunder-of-century.html),
Indira’s Emergency & constitution f**k ups (http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2009/06/indira-gandhi-bitch-nixon-kissinger.html),
Antonia Maino’s Office of Profit & unconstitutional despotic superpowers (http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2008/08/bharatiya-hindu-americans-vs-antonia.html),
Allegedly college dropout Raul Vinci, the heir, prefers to party till 5 AM on unfortunate night of 26/11 when world was glued to TV watching terrorist attack live on TV (courtesy Burkha Dutt…pun intended) http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2008/12/precarious-response-mumbai-attack.html
etc etc
and still all of them including their pet canines are termed Youth Icons with over 450 places/institutions connivingly named after them.
Modi = 1 condemnable riot (in which as per “Secular” Congress 700 “Muslim” citizens & 300 “Hindu” citizens died) after Godhra train terrorist attack in which 62 innocent citizens including 22 children & 15 women were burnt alive with 180 liters of Petrol and there is not even a single FIR naming Modi as accused or conspirator in riots but still he is defamed as swine by sellout media et al (http://satyabhashnam.blogspot.com/2009/08/gujarat-riot-prakash-jaiswal-evidence.html)
You are right, enough said.
@Reema
As per Indian constitution you need to be either member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. And MMS has been taking back door entry through Rajya Sabha from Assam for past 15 years. Ironically there have been more terrorist attacks in his constituency than any other in state.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Reema: It is not necessary to be member of LS because in India, sadly, our democracy is to make a party win. Majority party decides leaders including PM. The only criteria is to be a RS member.
@AD: The content of that cartoon is the exact thing that came to my mind when I read about Modi’s flu.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
i almost wrote a blog post “the swine catches the flu” and then stopped thinking its hitting below the belt.
Was sure that some paper would come out with it. Its funny. I dont think much needs to be read into it. Our papers have come out with far worse cartoons.
Not that iam discounting this cartoon. Its bang on the target though. All his development does not cover his primary role in the Gujarat riots.
We cant have a situation where “sau choohe khaa ke billi haj ko gayi” and neither can anyone justify it saying that the other has done worse. That is never an excuse to kill innocents. Modi has blood of innocents on his hand.
MMS not winning an LS election is no justification of Modi’s hand in the Gujarat carnage.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@ Satyabhashnam
That list doesn’t exculpate Modi, does it? Others may also have blood on their hands, but that doesn’t make Modi look any better. It just makes them all look worse.
Thanks for sharing
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
First, I admire your honesty and courage to speak out against the ‘trend’. Trend of hitting against Modi and BJP. While there is very little difference between BJP and COngress. Congress is pseudo-secular. I hate the fact how they have made a mockery by putting people who have no say aka ‘puppets’ on two top jobs of India, namely PM and President. I think I have spoken abt it on twitter somewhere.
So I can easily say that most people I know won’t write this post. This is as they say is ‘awesomeness’ (a word I don’t normally use) to me.
And yet I agree with Liju, this is a man who was responsible for riots. I agree with every single bit you say about development. But the carnage can not be condoned due to development by him. That carnage was sort of thing that causes vicious backlashes, more harm to life. Not acceptable.
P.S: It is surprising to note how simpler details like MMS has not been an election escapes so many of educated people. All they say is what a decent man. I say give me an decent leader any day.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Truth is I dont know which media to believe. With every scandal that uncovers and every breaking news my trust on media’s authenticity is further broken. So now I discount or give benefit of doubt to everyone and also give no one complete faith.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
TOI !!! Once a good national newspaper is just a gossip paper now.
Agree with Liju and Poonam’s comments.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
@Puneet – Why? Is he the only politician in India accused of wrong doing? At least his state has seen progress under him. Besides, if the people of Gujarat keep voting for him he must be doing something right?
@Kavi – Agree. I think the word is ‘hypocrisy’!
@Satyabhashnam – Thanks for the links. Yes it all seems too ironic. Why is only one politician being made to pay for his ‘alleged’ misdeeds in a sea of corruption and self guided pursuit of money/power?
@Philip – Glad to see that you too think that this was below the belt. That was precisely my point.
@Poonam – Thanks for showing me that some sense still prevails. Your comment really made my day.
I agree that killing of innocents is a grievous crime that cannot be condoned, but all i want is that everybody should be treated with the same yardstick, not just Narendra Modi.
@amlistening – I know that feeling. I too take everything that is reported with a pinch of salt. There are too many biases and vested interests for us to expect impartial reporting of news.
@Xylene – Yes, i guess TOI has become just a tabloid these days. Thanks for agreeing with Poonam and thinking that i am awesome
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I am fine with cartoons that hit below the belt, but wish people had the courage to hit everyone below the belt. I think the cartoonist and the TOI were well within their rights to print this cartoon. I just wish the media took on more sacred cows and did not confine their attention to trendy targets! For example, would all the defenders of free speech – and I count myself among them – as vigorously defend a certain other cartoonist, and a certain Dutch paper, when they exercised their right to freedom of speech? I doubt it.
More power to humour. We need it to make our lives more tolerable!
Cheers,
Quirky Indian
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
AD: I think it just boils down to what you feel more strongly about. No amount of development and progress can justify mass murder in my eyes. I feel very strongly about divisive politics and communal tension. And if you orchestrate bloody genocide and then build 10 flyovers in the name of progress, I’m sorry, but that doesn’t impress me at all.
Why do the people of Gujarat keep electing him? I don’t know, but here’s my theory. Indians are so sick of their politicians and their hollow promises, that the one person who sort of delivers on them, wins again. And of course, we all forget terror approximately 56 hours after an attack.
And no one is pointing fingers only at him. Not at all. It’s just that the cartoon and your post are about him alone, hence the discussion built up around him. There are many others in our system who are equally guilty.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Not being an Indian by birth, I am finding it difficult to express my comment here. I did googled about Narendra Modi. I can agree with Poonam’s comments as far as my knowledge goes in this matter.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The main problem with much of the media in India today is that they are one-sided, depending on whose side they are on. Media should be objective, if it is worth its salt. Where Times of India is concerned, it has little credibility in the eyes of the public. Many view it as a tabloid.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
AD,
Modi might have helped Gujrat develop a lot but he did take a communal path to popularize himself and that in a country like ours is a not the way to rise to the top.
Its akin to Hitler actually whose reign did wonders for Germany scientifically and infrastructure wise but genocide has masked all that he ever did.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I agree with Quirky Indian and Nita that the media should take on everyone..not just one target who happens to be the trend! That’s what the media should be there for…unbiased, objective, hard-hitting journalism. However, though I am all for free speech, I don’t find it funny to mock some one who has a potentially life-threatening disease…that is cheap!
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Oh yes, the ‘Modi has done development’ argument, lets see now,
Proportion of underweight children under 5 (%) Andhra : 32.7, Gujarat : 44.7
India state hunger index (Higher is worse) Andhra : 19.54, Gujarat : 24.69
Source: http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/cp/ishi08.pdf
I am no fan of the Congress or the ex-Andhra CM, but werent you going off on YSR Reddy recently ?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
QI – Precisely my point. Be fair to everybody. Not just pick some people and keep braying about them. People seem to have forgotten the actual definition of secularism in their zeal.
@Puneet – I hear you, and feel the same way about divisive politics. What irks me is that everybody does it, but some people are targeted more than the others, which seems to reflect some sort of mental bias in our media.
@Nita – Yes. Media is responsible for news reporting, not opinion dissemination, which is what they seem to be doing. And they seem to have very strong biases.
@Saachi – Sure. I am not even trying to vindicate Modi of all that he has been accused of, but just wondering why it is so fair to compare him to pigs while there are so many pigs in this country. He isnt the cleanest politician, but he is everybody’s favorite target. Why? Because he comes from a Hindu ideology? Because he represents the BJP and not everybody’s favorite Congress?
@Roshni – You summed up nicely!
@Vikram – No. I was not going off on YSR recently. I was going off on his supporters hyping up his death for whatever reasons. I was going off on their citing people ending their lives in grief. Turned out that a few days later there were indeed reports that i was correct, and it was just a publicity gimmick.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The trouble is , TOI has a large circulation base and is read by many more people as against the readership your weblog may enjoy. Sometimes reading articles like yours,i feel these are like ” NAKKAR KHANE ME TOOTI KI AWAZ”.
Anyways keep up the good work
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I think this cartoon is more a reflection on the Indian sense of “humor”(or the lack of it) rather than on politics. You only have to watch the crap that passes of as “humor” in Indian movies & TV serials.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Congress has been destablizing BJP regimes through ‘strategic riots’ for over a decade to consolidate their muslim votebank. They recently tried the same in Yeddy’s hometown in Karnataka. The Godhra mob was led by a Muslim Kangress comptroller. Do these guys expect garlands when burning a train full of Hindu women and children pilgrims. Media as usual started its ‘Hindu activists’ apologetics and sought to demonize CM Modi who called in paramilitary forces in record time despite Operation Parakram against Pakistan being held at the border (due to the attack on the Indian Parliament).
Abrahamics have been relentlessly trying to eliminate ‘shirk’ or nonbelief in the “ONE TRUE GOD” in heathen India for the past few centuries. They destroyed every temple in N India pursuing this hairbrained goal, not to mention the ancient cultures of native americas, persia, Afghanistan, punjab, Sindh, Central Asia, Boxer China, Korea, Phillipines, Indonesia, Malaysia, bengal, Kerala, Pacific islands, indigenous Australia, as well as greece and europe.
Imperialist Monotheism is the problem, not the reaction of natives.
Like or Dislike:
0 
1
Slobodan died in a prison cell. Saddam was hanged. Modi gets of with a mean cartoon and the mini fascists are crying about it. Amusing.
Like or Dislike:
1 
0