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International columnist, political analyst and senior journalist Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui’s articles are published across Asia, Africa and Europe. He writes for The Moroccan Times, The Tunis Times, India Tomorrow, Kohram News, The Etemaad Urdu Daily and for news papers published from Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. You can follow him on Twitter at: @journopolana[/symple_box]
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman—The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi humiliated his counterpart and host Sheikh Hasina on his recent trip to Bangladesh. Modi forgot that he was speaking to Dhaka University students. He did not hesitate to make a derogatory and sexist comment against the host Prime Minister Hasina who broke protocol to receive him personally at the airport.
During the aforementioned meeting, he said ,‘‘we know solution for everything, but not terrorism. I am happy that Bangladesh Prime Minister, despite being a woman, has declared zero tolerance for terrorism.’’ This statement from Modi undermines the abilities of a woman. It reflects the misogynistic thinking of Modi, who continue to harbor negative feelings about women. Modi apparently considers women to be inferior to men. Modi detractors and women hauled him over the coals for his sexist remark. The social media trolled Modi like never before.
Modi became the chief minister and later the prime minister by inciting violence and hatred against Muslims and presiding over a genocide when he was the chief minister of his state Gujarat in 2002. Muslim women were raped on the roads, burnt to death after inserting rods and slashing their genitals with swords by mobs led by his close associates and party members, former minister for women, Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi. Maya was convicted to 28 years in jail but she is out on bail! Thanks to whose largesse? Everybody knows. Bajrangi who boasted on tape about his role in the genocide and how Modi protected him was also convicted by the court.
It is not the first time Modi has put foot in his mouth. He has been abusing women particularly his political opponents, whom he considers as his personal enemies. During the Legislative Assembly elections in Gujarat in December 2012, Narendra Modi attacked personally, the president of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi. Treating her as an enemy and not a political opponent, Narendra Modi declared that Sonia Gandhi ‘lost her mental balance.’ Sonia Gandhi is the same person who had refused the prime ministership of India after Modi’s party the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had raked up her Italian origin issue.
Sonia sacrificed the supreme post in the country. But Modi, the unqualified psychiatrist diagnosed Sonia as losing her mental balance. Such unparliamentary language to attack a respectable lady was used for the first time in India. An agitated Congress party complained to the Election Commission but nothing came out of it.
Narendra Modi had called at an election rally, the late Sunanda Pushkar, a ‘Rs 50 crore girl friend’. Sunanda was the friend and later wife of former under secretary general of the United Nations turned Indian minister Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor retorted that Sunanda was priceless. This reflects the level of animosity Modi has against women.
Narendra Modi’s personal life is in shambles. Modi had reportedly run away from his bride Jasoda Ben without consummating his marriage. Just before the parliamentary polls in May 2014, he acknowleged in his electoral form that he has a wife and mentioned her for the first time! The great Election Commission did not dare to disqualify Modi from contesting the polls for concealing vital spousal information in the earlier elections. Any other candidate would have been sent to jail! After Modi became prime minister his wife has demanded openly that she be treated as the first lady by virtue of being the prime minister’s wife. She continues to languish in her village because Modi has refused to take her back.
Finally, sample this ‘love’ of Modi for the Bangladeshis. In April 2014, at an election rally at Serampore in the north- eastern state of West Bengal with more than 25 per cent Muslim population, Modi said the following about Bangladeshis to garner Hindu votes:
‘You can write it down. After May 16, these Bangladeshis better be prepared with their bags packed.’ West Bengal shares a porous border with Bangladesh. Modi also discriminates on grounds of religion. He said only the Muslims will be sent back to Bangladesh but not the Hindu Bangladeshis.
Within a year, Narendra Modi found Bangladesh as a ‘friend.’ Surely, Hasina needs a friend like Modi to keep hopes of returning to power in the next elections. It may be recalled that Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan till 1971 and it was called East Pakistan. Bangladesh became independent after a bloody war with Pakistan.
