Keep Questioning Whenever Needed

People rejected the earlier government in 2014 only on the hope of having a government with a difference. That is what was assured by Modi while seeking a mandate. But under Modi's government India has transformed into a different country compared to what it was in 2014 when he first became prime minister of India. The key question is how far has it moved from cherished constitutional values and principles. During the Modi government so far India transformed socially into an illiberal majoritarian and an intolerant country. Politically it has become authoritarian wherein Modi has almost been deified. Institutions are weakening, vigilantism is growing and the media is either suppressed or sycophantic. This is not the manufactured view designed to denigrate the PM, the government and even the country. The fact is India has become more communal and authoritarian. Nobody can contest such a description about India now and we need not get into what Modi's intentions are. We just have to look at the behavioral attributes of institutions. When the Supreme Court refuses to take cases of habeas corpus seriously; when most of the television media ceases to play the role of the fourth estate; when entire liturgy is structured around radical hinduism to project Modi as the combination of Shivaji and Adi Shankaracharya in Kashi Vishwanath, not for recasting indian democracy but recasting of religion and religious form i.e hinduism in a radical way. 

There is a popular root that has enhanced Modi's stature.There is a genuine democratic energy to this authoritarianism exercised by Modi and it is quite disquieting that Modi is a popular figure who managed to transform India's institutional landscape by winning elections. Communalism and authoritarianism have democratic roots as against constitutional one, which suggest that the people of India are supportive of the majoritarian nature of the ruling government and it's policies and also Modi's authoritarian way to rule. The sorry state is that people are complacent and so is the government. Those who question are few. It is good that still there are some who have the courage to ask uncomfortable questions and insist on constitutional veracity of the government's arbitrary decisions or on her silence on issues impinge upon civil rights. So we must speak, question and ask any government in office, not the opposition, so as not to make the government sit complacent.