Narendra Modi’s Special Gesture To Amir Of Qatar Has Political Significance

By Sushil Kutty

In a special gesture Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday and received the Amir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. And in another special gesture, because the Amir is extraordinarily tall, security personnel assigned to stand at guard at the foot of the plane’s air-stairs were also picked for their extraordinary height.

Bottom-line, appeasement comes in different heights and the Modi dispensation knows this better than its predecessors. Prime Minister Modi has been only 10 years at the helm but the Modi-brand of appeasement went international quite early during his reign. Also, there is no denying the fact that this is paying dividends.

Having said that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a special “something” for Qatar; courtesy which Qatar enjoys ‘stardom’ with Indian Muslims, who also cotton to the fact that Qatar stands firm with the Palestinian cause and Qatar is a safe haven for the Hamas leadership.

That Qatar’s most celebrated TV news network keeps slamming Modi’s India for various infractions is besides the point. The Modi regime dotes on Qatar and slights are forgotten, and forgiven. When Qatar sentenced eight retired Indian Navy personnel to death for “spying”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to “take a knee.”

The Qatar Amir pardoned those on the death row. It was a close shave with death. The Modi ecosystem gloated “Modi hai toh mumkin hai”, which is Standard practice. But there was also the Nupur Sharma case when Qatar targeted India’s trade with Qatar and India’s perishables lay rotting at Qatar’s gateways.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not bear the Qatar coldshoulder. How could this be happening, Modi’s officials bemoaned and Nupur Sharma felt the cold-edge of Modi’s steely resolve? Appeasement called for Nupur Sharma’s condemnation: Nupur was declared “fringe” and pushed under the Qatar-LNG propelled BJP bus.

Nupur Sharma didn’t know of the “special something” Prime Minister Modi harbours for Qatar. For a while, the Qatar non-response rattled Prime Minister Modi. To this day, the Modi dispensation refuses to call Qatar’s despicable treatment of India “blackmail.”

The fact is, the Modi government is queasy when it comes to Gulf Cooperation Council countries; both the Modi Government and Prime Minister Modi reveal their true colours. The long and short is, there is a coquettishness associated with Modi’s treatment of Hindus. Modi has been flirting with the Hindu community for a decade and more. Modi has been working according to a plan, depending on when the next election would be?

The plan is grounded in mollycoddling the Hindu vote-bank till the elections are over. But Modi’s ‘Viksit Bharat’ will have to fight with “other Bharats.” Importantly, the BJP/RSS plan requires Prime Minister Modi not to keep his promises. Modi’s fidelity doesn’t matter. The Prime Minister treats his Hindu vote-bank with disdain.

And the BJP knows Hindu pusillanimity. Also, Prime Minister Modi is a slave of habit. It didn’t scrap the Wakf Board Act for a decade. Now it has made a move to amend the Act. The promise to scrap the Act — lock, stock and apparel — is water under the bridge!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want to rock the applecart till a couple of personal goals are achieved. Prime Minister Modi is too much under the RSS thumb and busy carrying out the RSS plan of “Viksit Bharat” by 1947. In the meantime, Muslims will hopefully come around and vote for the BJP. Chances are the BJP’s Hindu vote-bank will move away if the Narendra Modi government doesn’t keep its promises?

Like what are the Modi government’s plans for the Places of Worship Act, 1991? The Supreme Court has been hearing the case and wanted the Modi government to take a stand? But the Modi government continues to play truant. The latest is, the Modi government will not come out. It wants the Places of Worship Act, 1991 to continue as it is. Unlike Qatar, the ‘Sahishnu’ Hindu vote-bank of the BJP can’t and won’t do a thing. The BJP’s Hindu vote-bank has nothing to bargain with.

“Went to the airport to welcome my brother, Amir of Qatar H.H. Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani. Wishing him a fruitful stay in India and looking forward to our meeting tomorrow,” wrote Prime Minister Narendra Modi on ‘X’. Modi is as shrewd as they come. Modi knows full well what the Amir of Qatar stands for and how he should be treated? Also, Prime Minister Modi knows what the BJP’s Hindu vote-bank amounts to and is capable of doing? (IPA Service)