So, I was invited to the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) conference to be held on March 23rd.
Unfortunately I had to turn down the invite due to an important development in progress at Games2win (hopefully I will announce the same by the end of March).
I wished I could have gone!
While I thank Wharton for considering me, these are my views on their decision to ‘disinvite’ Modi.
While we all know of the ‘legal’ verdicts on Modi and what he is guilty about (being passive) and not guilty about (direct involvement) in the Gujarat Riots, the point remains that he is ‘tainted’.
A tainted person is always controversial. From the report that seems to be the most detailed about this incident, it’s clear that after his invitation was extended, a section of the Wharton faculty objected to this and precipitated a signature campaign that succeeded in getting Modi disinvited.
If you read the interview, the objections cited (for the objections) are interesting:
– Being a keynote speaker meant that Modi was being honored as ‘Chief Guest’. That meant that it was tantamount to an endorsement of what Modi stands for – by the UPenn community! (which, of course, was not acceptable to the faculty members that initiated the campaign).
– I was invited as a digital entrepreneur from India. My work rhymed with the theme of ‘Development of India’ which is the theme of the Conference.
In the interview cited above, Wharton’s faculty member Toorjo Ghose says of Modi’s developmental work, “There are serious holes in his development story, with only favorable figures being brandished. There are huge cases of systematic underdevelopment in so many areas in Gujarat. Our studies have shown that too. Consider the state’s record with the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. Its record of conviction is 25 per cent on his watch, the lowest for any state. And that’s because there are elaborate and systematic ways of undermining investigations to get this low rate. Look at the hunger and health indices, especially among SCs/STs. Gujarat is one of the worst. Malnutrition rates of Muslim children are unbelievable. Many of these are worse than many Third World countries. There’s so much smoke and mirrors with Modi.”
– The ‘objections’ were not just from students and faculty. The ‘anti-Modi’ campaign was leveraged on social media and quickly avalanched to a global support group that said “No”. This was the world agreeing with the view that Modi was not needed at Wharton as a Chief Guest.
So, what can we learn from this?
THESE ARE MY STRONG, PERSONAL VIEWS. Please note that I am not associated with any political party. Nor do I have any connections with the Wharton School.
1. You can forgive, but you can’t forget.
No one will or should ever forget what happened in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat. No one will ever forget Hitler and what happened to the Jews. No one will ever forget what Assad is doing to the citizens of Syria.
Anyone who makes humans suffer or does nothing to stop their suffering will be punished eventually. First by the law, then by history, and permanently by the law of Karma.
2. If you have failed, work really hard to make up.
This is not the first time we are reading about the fact that socio–economic progress in Gujarat is suspect. I have seen many interviews of social workers who have brought up the same issues that Professor Toorjo Ghose has mentioned.
What does this mean? How can so many people be wrong? If Modi does project himself to be a reformist and a revolutionary, why doesn’t his work reflect that?
3. Factories and Roads are not enough.
I laugh at my ‘Pro-Modi’ friends who talk about the ‘spectacular’ progress made in Gujarat.
Yeah, sure!
I simply remind them of that fact that the Nazis contributed significantly to Science and Technology – but does that even justify their existence??
What Modi needs to demonstrate STRONGLY is that he cares about people and the citizens of his state; specifically the ones that came in harm’s way during his governance.
Modi needs to repair hearts and souls beyond building roads and rails.
4. Humility
I sometimes catch Narendra Modi on television. A few months ago, I watched him ‘symbolically’ saying ‘sorry’ (he never specified why he said sorry). There was so much arrogance and vanity in his ‘sorry’ that he looked like a bad actor flunking a screen test!
Personally, I don’t spot even an atom of humility in Modi. He is all about himself, his work and his grandeur.
Well, the world doesn’t care and quickly sniffs out such people!
You have to be humble to move people which starts by acknowledging mistakes and then by working towards repairing them.
It is bad manners on Wharton to have invited Modi and then to have canceled the same; but then Modi is used to being bad mannered right?
*****