Oh God! Save us from the morale breakers!!

NewsBharati    17-Apr-2020 16:44:31 PM
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 -Virag Pachpore  
 
 
The positive response it evoked from the BJP, its allies and millions of Indians, the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Tuesday, April 14 faced sharp negative reactions from the opposition parties, mainly from the Congress leaders. Their co-passengers in the left-liberal bandwagon were also at the forefront in mocking at the suggestions and tough measures announced by the Prime Minister.
 
Prime Minister Modi, besides announcing major decisions, extended the COVID-19 lockdown till May 3, 2020, in order to break the chain of the virus. He assured that the restrictions would be released after a review on April 20 in a phased manner. He also tried to raise the morale of the people by citing examples of positivity for he knew that the country with high morale and determination can surely win this war against the coronavirus.
 
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But this morale breaking brigade, unable to fathom the depth of the popular support the PM enjoyed, lost no time in denouncing his address as a ‘failed rhetoric’. On earlier occasions also they tried to ridicule the Prime Minister when he appealed to the people to clap for those serving the people risking their own lives and to lit lamps for nine minutes on April 9. The Prime Minister failed to address the most vital issue of economic slowdown and pains of the millions of stranded migrant workers, they said.
 
The Congress led this morale breaking brigade in the attack against the Prime Minister. Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Sanghvi invoked a Shakespearean reference to describe the Prime Minister’s address as “like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark” as it did not address the specific problem of the difficulties of the poor or slowdown of the economy.
 
He was also joined by P Chidambaram, senior Congress leader, former Home and Finance Minister, who had spent some time in the jail on charges of corruption. He tweeted to say that the PM did not give anything to the poor. “Cry, My Beloved Country, Cry”, he said referring to a 1948 novel titled “Cry, The Beloved Country’ written by Alan Paton, a South African writer.
 
Rahul Gandhi soon jumped into the fray and addressed a ‘managed’ and ‘arranged’ press conference Thursday on Zoom saying that extending lockdown was no answer to overcome coronavirus pandemic. “We need strategic testing, dynamic testing and strategy to fight the virus threat”, he said repeatedly strategically shelving the questions on how a particular community was responsible for spreading this infection. When he said lockdown was not the key to fight the coronavirus threat, he skillfully avoided queries on how the Congress-ruled states extended the same even before the Prime Minister announced its extension on April 14.
 
The CPM, NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK, BSP, SP and a host of left-liberal writers, scholars, economists and journalists and the self-proclaimed social media experts all in unison cried from their rooftops how Modi’s address lacked substance and ignored the poor, labors and farmers and other marginalized sections of the society. They deliberately forgot the Rs. 1.7 lakh crore package announced by the government only last month to providing relief to those hit hard by the lockdown and also as insurance cover for healthcare persons handling the virus infected patients at the risk of their life.
 
The arguments put forth by this morale breaking brigade leaders extensively quoting from literary sources which only a microscopic minority of Indians are acquainted with, were completely in contrast to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal based on the traditional life values, ideals, and ethos cherished by the majority Indians. The Prime Minister invoking ‘tyag’ (renunciation), and ‘tapasya’ (penance) certainly has more appeal for the people than those Shakespearean or South African literary references.
 
Narendra Mod has changed the language of political discourse in this country in the last six years. His forceful rise on the Indian political horizon has caused a great churning of the Indian as well as global politics. He successfully created, nursed and nurtured his pan-Indian constituency that still holds dear to its heart the age-old principles and ethos of Indian culture. For some scholars this may be the ‘vernacular’ constituency of the Prime Minister, but it is the “real India” and Modi has identified himself with the ‘True Bharat”.
 
The Prime Minister has successfully touched the chord of the society that he doe not need a mask total to them. Look at his ‘Man ki Baat’ program. How people get glued to their radio, television sets to listen to him and how he inspired them to interact with him on various issues of national importance! This ease with which he is handling the situation has generated a strong faith in the people about him. So, when he invoked a Vedic Hymn during his Tuesday speech “वयं राष्ट्रे जागृयामः पुरोहितः” (We are the people determined to awaken this nation) the majority understood what he wanted to convey but for those members of the ‘morale breaking brigade’. When he talks to people in terms of ‘अनुशासन, त्याग, तपस्या, परिवार, and appeals them to follow the directions, the masses understand because they are familiar with these terms than the foreign jargons used by his adversaries.
 
It is here that Modi has scored over his opponents in last six years. He has acquired an ‘All India’ stature of a leader on the basis of his emotional appeal and connect with the people by invoking the cultural values and ethos. The most English knowing leaders of the Congress and other left-liberal groups could not dent into his popularity among the Indian masses.
 
However, one should not assess them just on the basis of this. They have many more weapons in their arsenal and the latest chaos at Bandra in Mumbai hours after Modi’s speech is a clear indication of the extend to which they can sabotage these efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in upholding and boosting the morale of the people in this fight against the coronavirus. So, beware of these ‘Morale breaking Brigade’ lest they plunge the country into chaos.