There has been a lot of debate over the
fact that Narendra Modi officially filed his marital status as ‘Married” for
the first time. So, he is a married man who has chosen to go away from his
family to follow his dreams, ideals, ambitions; as the case might be. So what? How
does this fact change any of his efforts and achievements in his career as a
politician? Does it take away Tata from Gujarat? Does that stop making Amitabh
Bachchan the brand ambassador of Gujarat? Does it take away the fact that
Gujarat has made excellent use of solar energy? Does it take away all the
development that has occurred in Gujarat in the past decade? It doesn’t change
all that, right?
Modi is not a film star that his bachelor
status earned him more fans or money. (In fact, marriage has never dented the
popularity of filmi heroes.) Yes, he
has asserted that since he does not have a family he has no need to be corrupt
(not verbatim, but the essence is the same as his alleged quote.). Even now,
knowing he is married does not take away the fact that Modi has always remained
corruption-free. As far as having no family – Modi feels so. He left his home
and marriage decades back. If he feels this and he hasn’t gone back – it is his
truth. It is also a truth that his wife chose to follow the respectable
profession of a teacher and live a life of silence and privacy. The
mud-slinging on Modi defiles her more than him. Does being married make him
corrupt all of a sudden? If that be the case, does it mean that if a politician
is married s/he must be corrupt? Jayalalitha and Mayawati – two single
politicians face allegations of very high corruption. How do you explain that?
Modi was married off before the age of 18.
He was a juvenile. This is a country where juveniles are not held responsible
for even heinous crimes that they knowingly commit. Holding Modi responsible
for his marriage smacks of convenient double-standards.
Leaving his wife was unfair. Even if he was
not responsible for the marriage (given his juvenile status) he could have and
should have afforded her the dignity and grace of acceptance. On this, Modi is
guilty. But leaving a wife to follow his calling is not something that is
unique to Modi. Mythology and history have examples of such men. In fact,
mythology and history speak of men who not only abandoned wives but also very
young children. Modi is not the first person to have done this. He won’t be the
last.
The hullaballoo over his married status
revelation in fact reflects positively on the man. Until this election it
wasn’t mandatory to fill this column of the candidature form. Modi chose to
leave an optional section blank. At best, in this case Modi is guilty of lying
by omission rather than lying by commission. However, as soon as it became
mandatory, Modi abided by the law and filled the column truthfully. He gets
points for firstly for being law-abiding; secondly for not lying and thirdly
for not trying to pull rank to avoid the law.
Yes, Modi is married. Yes he left his wife
and home.
But more importantly,
Yes, he is NOT corrupt
Yes, he has NOT perpetrated
any scams
Yes, he has got
investment into the country NOT taken
away money out of the country
Yes, his
election platform is development NOT division