Yellow journalism has been busy targeting Narendra Modi with as much venom as a deadly Russell’s Viper. While the antidote for a Russell’s Viper would need some more venom, the antidote of yellow journalism is plain ol’ truth. And that is what I intend to do with the present article with the necessary disclaimers in place: that I have no political affiliations and no political aspirations.
Image source : Twitter
I am a common man (or woman), who feels anguished…every time we unearth a new scam…every time we play the religion card to fool the people…every time a woman suffers the consequences for her gender…and every time we play with a life…whether it is a a soldier who lays down his life on the border or even when we fatally hurt the once-mighty police horse, Shaktimaan.
I know some of you will derogatorily label me a ‘Bhakt’ – a sycophant who has pledged blind acquiescence to the Prime Minister. Well, call me whatever you want…for I have never cared much for the names society calls me…Besides, truth has always been a valid defence to defamation!
Let me first go back in time, when the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray, who was speaking at an India Today conclave in Mumbai, took a potshot at Narendra Modi for his frequent foreign tours and said, “I just heard that Salman Khan is now making Bajrangi Bhaijaan 2. In the sequel, he will be seen bringing back Modi to India from a foreign country.” [Although it was clearly a dig at Narendra Modi’s frequent flying, I for one – for the first time – found Raj Thackeray to be hilarious, which let’s be honest…he rarely is!]
Of course, as time often tells…Modi was actually a man on a mission. His international diplomacy, and the success it has brought us on an international level, needs to be applauded not ridiculed. In fact, this is what India Today had to say…about the man…the maverick: ‘If diplomacy was a chess game, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would invariably choose to play white. In the [time]…he has been at the helm, he has evolved a unique, energetic, attacking and proactive brand of diplomacy that is part visionary, part politician, part salesman and part theatre but always captivating. In doing so, Modi has transformed the international narrative about India from one of a flailing power to that of a resurgent global force.’
What India Today eloquently elucidated in its September 2015 article was…the wondrous diplomatic acumen displayed by our Prime Minister, who not only managed to alter the contour of international diplomacy but managed to do it with an enviable elan. And in case you still don’t believe me about Modi’s sojourns abroad yielding results…well the proof is in the pudding (or rather the pudding that is being flung in Pakistan’s face).
Well, let’s take a quick rundown of certain international events, which interestingly have happened just in this last fortnight:
- March 31, 2016 – An angry Iran slams the Pak media for its ‘undignified rumours’ on the alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
- April 03, 2016 – Modi is conferred Saudi Arabia’s highest civilian honour – the King Abdulaziz Sash – by King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
- April 29, 2016 – Putin declines Pakistan’s invitation to visit Pakistan, bursting the bubble for Pakistan who hoped to make Russia a principal ally.
- May 03, 2016 – US confirms it will not subsidise the proposed F-16 sale to Pakistan, effectively telling the Pakistan to “Fund it Themselves”.
Do you what these events of the last couple of weeks have managed to prove…beyond a reasonable doubt? That the man…the maverick…and the modish Modi was successful in doing what had not been done in a long time. We managed to beat Pakistan (and beat them good)…but this time, we did it without a single drop of blood.
If being a ‘Bhakt’ means being a winner…may we all become Bhakts!!!
