Narendra
Modi’s marriage has always been a hotly debated issue. And Narendra Modi has
always maintained a stoic silence about it.
And he
is expected to continue with his silence even after admitting on oath that
Jashodaben, the 62 year old retired school teacher is indeed his wife.
And his
acceptance owes more to the compulsion of fulfilling a technical requirement
while submitting his poll affidavit for the Lok Sabhal polls 2014 than to some
inner enlightenment or to some other factor.
Though
separated amicably, as in Jashodaben’s words, the marriage was never formally
annulled, and so could have legal repercussions for Narendra Modi’s
candidature.
Also,
as reported, it is not a controversial nuptial arrangement that is in Modi’s
past. It represents more of typical, circumstantial, social agreements in
Indian families where disagreements still don’t have chances in many cases,
especially in rural areas and in orthodox families. And Modi’s case dates back
to late 60s when marriages were strictly family elders’ affairs, decided and
affixed by them. According to the reports, both were underage when got
married.
And who
cares about women in this country, especially politicians (and the men in
them). Don’t we know how they have sabotaged the passage of the women’s
reservation bill so far?
Yes, but
it compels us to think what makes Jashodaben still add Narendra Modi to her
name? But, then, don’t we know the secondary status of women in the patriarchal
society? Remarriage, in case the husband walks out, is still an uphill task in
our fractured society.
The
issue of the season is whether the issue has any potential to harm Narendra
Modi’s electoral prospects. Can it derail his rise to the prime ministerial
office of the country as being projected in every pre-poll survey?
The
issue may have no vitality except for rating-points mileage for the media
houses after a threshold limit. And on affecting the electoral prospects, it is
not expected to dent Narendra Modi’s chances even a bit. Yes, but to satisfy
and meet the speechmaking efforts of many politician, it is a high calorie
fodder.
But
should that be socially acceptable? Wouldn’t it be humiliating a soul even
more?
In
electoral season, when ‘no decorum and decency’ becomes the norm of the
political communication, who is going to think of this fine print of the issue?
Yes, the issue is going to stay in public discourse, until the last phase
constituencies have voted, fueled by political commentaries and their media
interpretations.
That is
all about the colour of communication driven democratic process in a country
that still has to travel miles to learn what a democracy intends to do with its
citizens and its systems.
And
that is the irony of the democratic march in India
Most of
us are not aware of what went in their personal lives after they separated
after three years of wedlock (with total three months of stay together, as said
by Jashodaben in an Indian Express interview) but, certainly, we should not
make it a matter of public debate.
The
lady who still adds Narenrda Modi to her name has lived the issue gracefully as
the Indian Express interview tells us: (On asking how she felt on Modi not
acknowledging her as wife) - ‘I don’t feel bad, because I know that
he is doing so due to destiny and bad times. In such situations he has to say
such things and also has to lie. I don’t see my situation as being bad because
I feel, in a way, my luck has improved too.’
Her
privacy should be preserved. Narendra Modi was always not this powerful. Even
then if she decided to maintain her silence, we should try to know about that
phase of silence first, if we have to validate our curiosity about her now. That
we cannot do. We cannot and should not speculate and comment on how she would
have felt after reading about Modi’s admission about her because we never
bothered about her silence (and possibly her pain) when Narendra Modi was a
non-entity or a beginner in the political big league.
And it
should also be about Modi’s privacy and possibly his pain, if indeed the
marriage was forced on him when he had already made up his mind to leave his
home and abandon his family ties.
Yes, it
is basically about our fractured Indian society.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
