RAMBO
NAMO has done it again, and succeeded in grabbing the headlines. At a rally at
Ferguson College, Pune, on 14th July, he accused the Congress of
hiding behind a burqa. I have no problem with Narendra Modi attacking the
Congress party, its policies or performance. However, he stoops too low to
attack persons. His latest diatribe is to call arthashastri (economist)
Manmohan an anarthashastri (meaningless person).
Why
is “nationalist” Namo using a partisan metaphor like burqa? Is he not degrading
both women and Muslims? Ironically, the podium from which this invective was
hurled had the name of Ramzani Sound! The message should not be lost on us;
that we are a composite culture with a high degree of inter-dependence between
religious communities.
So
why is nationalist Namo using such obnoxious and insensitive idiom? Is he a
rampaging bull in a china shop? Or is he a shrewd and calculating person, who
knows that the media is desperate for sound bites, and therefore obliges them
with colourful metaphor? Having won several elections, and having a suave
managerial style, is he also unfolding a media strategy, based on sound
managerial technique, sociological and psychological analysis? Has Modi’s
tongue gone out of control, or is it all under the control of his spin-doctors?
Let
us analyse another recent Namo utterance. Referring to the Gujarat riots of
2002, where over 1000 Muslims were butchered, he used the analogy of a person
sitting in the back seat when a puppy gets crushed under its wheels. There was
a hue and cry in the political establishment, so Namo had to retract by saying
that in India we worshipped all forms of life. Actually this was the second
time that Namo put his foot in his mouth, after his Rambo “evacuation” of 15,000
Gujaratis from flood ravaged Uttarakhand.
Some
of Namo’s diehard yuppie fans may have liked his puppy analogy. I found it an
expression of his utter ruthlessness, of a dictator’s boot stomping on the
voiceless. Namo claimed to be in the backseat, and therefore blissfully unaware
of what the driver was doing upfront. This is the first deception. Namo is a
hands-on type, who leads from the front. He is positioning himself as a
decisive leader, as against an indecisive and moribund UPA leadership. Would such
a leader have been on the backseat during the 2002 pogrom? The answer lies in
the question itself. If Namo was the driver then he is guilty of culpable
homicide. His analogy of Muslims as puppies again reveals the utter scorn and
disdain with which he looks down upon the “other”.
Another
occasion when Namo showed how dispensable others are in his dispensation is
after two of his colleagues Bajrangi and Maya Kodnani were sentenced to life
imprisonment for their role in the 2002 pogrom. Namo was quick to distance
himself from his erstwhile confidantes, going to the extent of demanding the
death penalty for them. This is nothing but cold-blooded ruthlessness, his
willingness to make a sacrificial lamb of his own people, so that he comes
through unscathed.
The
international best seller “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell has impressed
me. It is a book that many marketing gurus would swear by – the factors that
tip the scales of an ordinary product or idea, and convert it into a runaway
success. Marketing and advertising agencies analyse human behaviour, people’s
aspirations or frustrations, and capitalize on them. They then correctly
position themselves as the answer to the situation or solution to the problem.
An ad driven media is only too willing to oblige the marketing gurus.
Interestingly,
this best seller begins with the example of the Hush Puppies, “the classic
American brush suede shoes with the lightweight crepe sole”. This product was
floundering until the manufacturers stumbled upon the fact that it was most
popular among “the clubs and bars of downtown Manhattan”. The company then
reinvented its campaign to cater to this downtown segment of society. From
sales of 30,000 a year they jumped to 4,30,000 pairs in 1995, and further
quadrupled the next year. This was because the company had its pulse on the
people, and was able to capitalize on the aspirations of the marginalized, by
changing its marketing approach.
It
is reported that Namo has an excellent team of marketing, media and management
professionals. I am sure that they are aware of success stories like that of
the Hush Puppies; which is why they were quick to underplay Namo’s rare slip up
about the Crushed Puppy. But in true Rambo style, over ambitious Namo may leave
some of his tech-savvy team gasping as he rushes ahead in his desperate attempt
to become the Prime Minister of India.
Whether
or not the Congress led UPA is able to scramble together a majority in the next
Lok Sabha elections is not of much consequence. The real fear is of a puppy
crusher going from CM to PM. We can no longer talk of this in hushed tones.
Namo is sure to tip the scales. In which direction, remains to be seen.
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