Lalit Modi may be innocent, and so could the women leaders of BJP

I don’t know how I should begin! It is because I cannot take a particular stand. If I defend BJP, it would be interpreted as me offending Congress, or AAP, or SP, or CPM, for instance. Therefore, I have decided to talk about what is happening in our country, being in the witness consciousness.

In the circus of the political world, what I sadly see is pelting stones. This act of throwing stones at others has been a common phenomenon, over the years. Of late, Lalit Modi, not in any political outfit though, is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons; somebody who is charismatic, who could bring people from across the world together, who was instrumental in changing the shape of cricket in India, who could make all the cricketers of the world play as a team to give the sport its due respect. He is in trouble, and so is the UK it seems, to have given him refuge! Let us not forget that it was the UK who gave refuge to poets and artists when their lives were at stake, Britain was the place where Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital. Britain, despite its fearsome history, has also tried to accommodate people who have opposite points of view; I beg your pardon, but I don’t see why Britain wouldn’t support Lalit Modi with his travel documents to help him prove his point. Have you forgotten all the good things he did? The man is in deep trouble now facing allegations which could be polarized! Won’t we give him a chance to prove his innocence? I know comparing Lalit Modi with writers and artists could be viewed as far-fetched by many, by even some of my writer-friends, but as an amateur writer myself, I am fully conscious of the comparison, and I salute Britain once again for giving refuge to this unlucky fugitive, who is yet to be proven guilty.

I am sad to see how the women leaders of the BJP had been silenced! Let me start with Pankaja Munde, a lady who lost her father in an accident and tried to rise to the occasion. She had accepted a tender from her father’s friend, a person whom she trusts, respects, and likes! What is the problem here I fail to understand, you have the right to work with a person you trust and like, don’t you? The whole world functions like this. In the corporate world too, clients come to us repetitively because they like to work with us. Would Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesai and Pronoy Roy like to work with each other! Jokes apart, has it been proved that the work was given to the person concerned without a tender?

Vasundhara Raje, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan has openly said he knew Lalit Modi. Is it not true that Lalit Modi’s life is at stake? If Lalit Modi is a fugitive, so is Salman Rushdie, and so was M.F Hussain. If you thought that fugitives are criminals, I would urge you to see the film The Fugitive!

Sushma Swaraj, a true spokesperson of India is now being questioned about trivial things. Our image of politicians is not correct; it needs a change, a shift. If I am a politician, does that mean my family would stop working, even if they are enterprising to have their own way of making it big, or bigger? What is so wrong in trying to get her nephew in a good college in the UK, he is a brilliant student for heaven's sake, what is so wrong my friends if her daughter and her husband are engaged in work, both of them being bright and intelligent in their own fields; how does this lead into corruption and all the charges against such a charismatic leader I fail to understand!

In the same way, if BJP is trying to defend one of their youngest lady members Smriti Irani saying that it could have been a typographical error, what is stopping us from proving that it’s really an error or a fake degree; all we need to do is to go the college, talk to the principal, look at the files. Are you trying to equate Smriti Irani with the person who has records of domestic violence besides the alleged faking degree? He should also be given a fair chance to prove about his degree, but would you like to have a leader whose wife has embarrassing things to say about him? Are you equating Smriti Irani with such a person? Are you really out of your mind!

I admire Manishankar Iyer, Chidambaram, Manmohan Singh in the same way I admire Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi, Budhhadeb Bhattacharya, Mamta Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal. Please understand that these are people who have the ability to do good for our country; a country with countless divides, pressing concerns and limitless possibilities, still unexplored! It is not easy to deal with Indian dynamics! I am surprised to see how juvenile our system has become that it is refusing to let people work! When Congress was in power, BJP and its allies would create issues at the drop of a hat, create ruckus in the Parliament; and now it is the same thing that’s playing its course. When will this stop is the point I am trying to make here! When will all the parties whom we elect from time to time show maturity of working together for a common cause, and give us some relief! If every party wants to do the best thing for our country, why is it not happening I wonder! Well, it is this act of throwing stones that blocks, isn't it?

BJP, upon coming to power, had made women more pronounced and visible. My question to all the Indians is to keep your eyes and ears open, take as much information as is required, and listen to all the women ministers sadly silenced, momentarily I presume, before taking any decision for or against them! I am sure they’ll get over this storm in the cup and give our country the place she deserves! Here's wishing them all the very best!

Lalit Modi! I am with you... if you are proven guilty, you will get your term, no doubt about it, but until the time you are proven guilty, 'climb every mountain and fall every stream' to prove your innocence to come back to India, and in order to do that, you have the right to influence as many people as you want. Like me, there would be many to welcome you back to India! I am a common man and I am with you.

However, as I said earlier, I respect Congress leaders too, I have my highest regard for Anna Hazare and Kiran Bedi. Stepping over the respective party feuds, I had at times imagined my country in witness consciousness; what if our politicians looked beyond their troubled histories, resolved their conflicts, at the micro and macro levels, I had imagined Sonia and Maneka, the two sisters-in-law working together, Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, the three, who had the same misfortune of losing their fathers to resolve their issues and work together, where AAP, Congress, BJP, CPM and Trinamool and all other leaders would work on a common mission, with a common goal; our country, India.