Modi's I-Day speech reeked of hypocrisy: CPI-M

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech was "remarkable for its disconnect with reality and reeked of hypocrisy in certain matters", the CPI-M has said.

The most hypocritical was Modi's exhortation that the Kashmir problem will not be solved by "gaali" (abuse) and "goli" (bullet) but by embracing Kashmiris, said an editorial in the CPI-M journal People's Democracy.

"The Kashmir Valley has been in turmoil and the use of force is the only distinctive approach of the Centre to deal with the unrest among the people," it said. "There has not been a single initiative by the Modi government to start a political dialogue...

"To enforce an iron hand in practice and to preach brotherhood and love is typical RSS doublespeak," it said.

The editorial challenged the Prime Minister's claims about positivity brought about by demonetisation, saying all the claims he made on August 15 were dubious.

"The fact is that the abrupt withdrawal of 86 per cent of the currency in circulation has had a deleterious effect on the economy. The Economic Survey Volume II released recently provides a discouraging picture of the economy."

The journal said while Modi spoke out against violence in the name of faith, the police and officers in the BJP-ruled states were acting against those who legitimately trade in cattle or sell meat while going out of their way to protect the violent cow vigilantes.

"The slogan of 'ache din' has been jettisoned for a new one keeping an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The promise of a 'New India' by 2022, the 75th anniversary of Independence, is what is being dangled before the people," said the editorial.

"It requires a high degree of false confidence stemming from being out of touch with the realities, to be able to claim that a 'New India' will be in place in five years' time," added the Communist Party of India-Marxist.

The editorial said the country was shocked not only over the deaths of so many children in Gorakhpur but the callousness of the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh.

"Independence Day thus showed the vast gap between what Modi preached from the ramparts of the Red Fort and what is actually been put into practice."

--IANS

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