Dirt and the donkey..!
Robert Clements
Saturday, September 17, 2011 - As I heard about the fast Narendra Modi is going to undertake after the SC decision not to monitor the cases against him, I realized that Modi is being handled the wrong way.
There is very little chance of uncovering anything about him, because he has shrewdly covered himself well during the riots. Modi’s acquittal reminds me of the story of the shrewd donkey: One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Modi has realized that the stigma of the 2002 riots is like dirt shoveled on him. He has learnt the art of stepping on it shaking it off and taking a step up. Each time he shakes it off, the cry about his becoming a Prime Minister candidate become hoarser, and his face grows larger on our TV sets and also on the front pages of our newspapers. Remember there are millions who endorsed what he did in Gujarat. We need to stop using this method. Modi will step on each case and come out stronger. Instead compare him with others in history who committed genocide, and who, when committing the act, were not faulted by their own people: Hitler was one of them. Show our people pictures of Hitler’s concentration camps. Remind them that if they are not vigilant, the same can happen in India.
A thousand fasts can be undertaken, but a man who is incapable of guarding and protecting the weaker sections of his electorate so that he could stay as Chief Minister has it in him to do the same again, and I shudder to think of what he will do as a Prime Ministerial candidate or as PM..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
There is very little chance of uncovering anything about him, because he has shrewdly covered himself well during the riots. Modi’s acquittal reminds me of the story of the shrewd donkey: One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take another step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!
Modi has realized that the stigma of the 2002 riots is like dirt shoveled on him. He has learnt the art of stepping on it shaking it off and taking a step up. Each time he shakes it off, the cry about his becoming a Prime Minister candidate become hoarser, and his face grows larger on our TV sets and also on the front pages of our newspapers. Remember there are millions who endorsed what he did in Gujarat. We need to stop using this method. Modi will step on each case and come out stronger. Instead compare him with others in history who committed genocide, and who, when committing the act, were not faulted by their own people: Hitler was one of them. Show our people pictures of Hitler’s concentration camps. Remind them that if they are not vigilant, the same can happen in India.
A thousand fasts can be undertaken, but a man who is incapable of guarding and protecting the weaker sections of his electorate so that he could stay as Chief Minister has it in him to do the same again, and I shudder to think of what he will do as a Prime Ministerial candidate or as PM..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
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