The External Affairs Ministry responsible for conducting itself in India’s foreign relations, off late seems to be caught up with strife in its internal matters causing dismay amongst its staunch supporters. The hurried transfer of a passport official Mr.Vikas Mishra based on unsubstantiated allegations and the evident bending over the back political accommodation surpassing lawful obligations, the subsequent denial feigning ignorance of the whole matter and then evading enquiring asks by generalizing genuine and dissenting voices as trolls has certainly not gone well with supporters of the ruling BJP. While abusive criticism can never be normalized, it is certainly not a new phenomenon in social media especially if one is in the public space holding public offices but what is intriguing in this whole episode is how the leftist MSM has diabolically hijacked the issue and smiling hysterically beneath the shoulders of secularism where two birds are hit with one stone. They have succeeded in antagonizing the leader and the support base simultaneously by siding and sooth saying on one hand while poking and pitching aginst the other and holding up a non-issue at the peak of minds and debates while the real issue of constitutional equality or the pros and cons of the new Passport Seva app was completely given a clean miss.
Much like the perception based Reuters Rape Survey, the right leaning twiteratti at large is being labelled as trolls by the media today, this is not a new phenomenon but the catch this time is that a veteran leader of the BJP with or without her knowledge is aiding a conducive environment for the MSM in the routine ritual of vilification of Modi’s India. Not surprisingly many of these channels are sustaining this issue and mongering a national debate on controlling free speech on social media and converging at a much anticipated theory that Modi follows these troll accounts and that Modi’s followers are trolling EAM.
Heads I win, Tails you lose! You call out inefficiencies _ you are a troll, you support your leader _ you are a Bhakt and if you dared to articulate and come up with data and facts then you are from the BJP IT cell! It is another thing that we are encapsulated and forcibly fed with largely Congress’ and leftist ideological cells all along in the form of newspapers, news reports, debates, magazines, movies and much more in the last 70 years and any thinking and enquiring from the common man is threatening free speech! Because, remember, the BJP came to power only because of a massive social media outreach by many sane, dedicated voices and this time around the left combined with Congress has caught up to stride pacingly and leaving no stone unturned not in countering the narrative but in ascertaining all platforms for curtailing, dividing, masquerading and negating on those very same platforms with a vicious aggression unseen before, fully living up to the time tested strategy of ruling from within the opposition.
While it is but natural to be offended when subject to vile relegations at the hands of all and sundry on social media especially for a serving minister, what needs reflection is that it is for the same reason (that she is the face of EAM) that people are following her handle, and in this course of engagement there is bound to be adverse inquiries and enquiries that may put to test adopted ideological lines, experience or even personal integrity for that matter but when the likes of Swara Bhaskar, Burkha Dutt and their coterie are extending their unwanted voices for Sushma’s cause, it is really time for the honorable minister to wake up from the liberal acknowledgement slumber and grip her ideological conscience for which she fought all her life. As regards the vile epithets, such unheard handles can be blocked without much ado about nothing and focus on more objective solutions to the erroneous problem at hand by shoving politics of egotism aside. And if she still thinks that the liberal media is really by her side this News18 report that goes on to digress and deviate Governor Swaraj’s support to his lady as a patriarchal consolation, must perhaps shake her up to reassert that party and not personality is her priority.
With regards to those folks getting bitty bitter about visas to Pakistanis, it is important to understand that the external affairs ministry represents India across countries and whether or not one likes it, it is bound to comply with certain international bodies like the UN because India is still not America to throw its weight around. To comply with UN norms the EAM is also required to make every effort to have engaging relationships with its neighbors to keep at bay any likely or unlikely tensions, whether these efforts are bearing results is another subject but this practice of engaging with an unruly Pakistan has been an ongoing procedure from previous terms, of course the number of visas vary with the goodwill intent and prevailing geo-political situations, it is just that the BJP under Modi has leveraged digital platforms for engagement like never before and has actively encouraged its departments and ministries to engage on social media platforms vehemently. The course correction in the curtness of our dealings with Pakistan is a matter that requires a longer reign and elaborate geo-political considerations because empires are not built in 5 years and it takes time to bring about administrative adherence, political and social assimilation, territorial unity and social solidarity all of which has been messed up previously and needs aggressive clean up from the roots of even the most right leaning person and this precisely is the challenge which cannot be countered with mere ramblings of NOTA nor by abusive criticism of the NOTA mongers but with greater meaningful engagements devoid of electioneering and enabling greater participation of informed citizens who cannot be lured with mere subsidies and waivers.
It is also important to note that these open governmental communications and correspondence that were non-existent previously, have raised the bars of easy accessibility of even the top most authority today and in the zeal of this invigorating environment of transparency one should not lose objectivity nor succumb to the polity of ego.
History tells us that revenge, ambition, jealousy, infightings, disaffections among people, defections and the trivial selfish intrigues of the royal nobles had brought down the Delhi Sultanate. Five hundred years ago the congregation of the Deccan Sultans had brought down the Vijayanagar Empire by exploiting susceptible pawns with praise, price and perverse polity with unconditional unity and support for the common cause of power and loot. Five hundred years later, when we have gotten an indigenous leader after almost 800 years of foreign rule, amidst trivialities we seem to be staring at similar scenarios of undoing all that we strived for with our own hands.