Vadodara based activists Trupti Shah and Rohit Prajapati’s poem If we are to believe Mr. Modi questions the controversial Hindu right wing leader and prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s ‘development’ model in Gujarat
By Rohit Prajapati and Trupti Shah
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much so that it would do if Gujarat’s development goes dieting for months together.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that Gujaratis can do without Food Security Act.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that Gujaratis can do without government hospital, medicines and doctors.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that Gujaratis don’t mind closure of government schools and colleges.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that Gujaratis don’t mind exorbitant fees of private schools and colleges.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that it is ok if only tuition classes teach instead schools and colleges.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that it is ok to appoint only ‘sahayak’ (assistant) on all key government permanent posts.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, in Gujarat it is ok for industries to go for wage cuts as wages in state are very high.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, wages are so high that it does not matter if inflation does not decrease.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, employment rate is so high in Gujarat, it is ok to have VRS i.e. compulsory retire those in mid forties.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that Gujarati girls prefer dieting to eating nutritiously.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, women in Gujarat are so secure that it is ok not to worry about skewed sex ratio.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, tribals have “developed” so much that is it ok not to implement Forest Rights Act, 2006.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much that it is ok not to talk about law and order, justice or 2002 carnage.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok not to have an ombudsman (Lokayukta) in the state.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, that it is ok for Dalits to give up their rights.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, there are so many shopping malls now in Gujarat, that is ok to finish-to do away with the street vendors, pushcarts and handcarts.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, there are so many houses in Gujarat, that it is ok if all slums are demolished.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has so smooth roads that it is ok if one goes all boneless.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok to turn rivers into canals.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok to dump poisonous industrial waste in her rivers.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok to have ground water contamination.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok for her fisher people to starve as polluted river and seawaters abound.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok to consider pollution irrelevant for development’s sake.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok to sell off farmland cheaply to the industries.
If we are to believe Mr. Modi, Gujarat has “developed” so much, it is ok not to give any subsidies or welfare schemes to the ordinary people.
16 February 2014 – Translated from Gujarati