Saturday, July 27, 2013

Re: [IAC#RG] “I am Narendra Modi’s Wife”

Dear Mr Sarbajit,
 
  I am not impressed with your public statement. It was not called for. May be, readers' views have started pricking your conscience. Nobody stops you from being anti-Modi or pro-Congress; what hurts is your pretence of trying to hide your inner feelings. Modi's personal life (will come to this as I proceed) and Rahul calling himself a Brahmin are flimsy grounds on which they can be judged. We need to rise to much higher levels.
   Coming to the debate part, I hate to dump all the politicians (there are good people & bad people every where but the politicians appear rascals because they are seen to be breaking the rules, which they make). Let us be realistic. Can we get rid of them? If they are all bad, would you like to import politicians from outside? You can answer it yourself without much of strain on your mind ????. Hence till the present system changes, we have to live with the menace. The only option before us is to choose the better out of the lot till we succeed or to infiltrate the system by getting into it thru electoral process. Kejriwal rightly understood it and has taken a plunge but unfortunately, he is also under your hammer (looks like you have some personal score to settle with him). Let us also accept that it is difficult to find even one politician, who can claim to be 100% above board; this truth also limits our options. So my personal request to you would be to keep your prejudices as your own secrets. Being National Convenor of IAC, it doesnt behove you to seem to ride two boats simultaneously.
 
  Now coming to Modi specifics (your action of enclosing links related only to Modi and NIL to Rahul again smacks of your bias against the former). Anyway, I have gone thru both the links sent by you related to Modi's personal life. The first one saying that Modi accepts Jashodaben as his wife is dated 01 April 13 & the second one coming from Modi's wife saying "I am Modi's wife" is dated 11 Apr 13. I feel the matter should have been gracefully buried after the first one but the hungry media would have then starved.
    Notwithstanding, after reading the stories my respect for Modi as well as his wife has increased manifold. Differences between husband and wife are common and they are acceptable as long as they escape public eye. I admire both the parties here that they decided to live separately and no mud was thrown at eachother. The fact that they did not separate/divorce also speaks of their greatness, if viewed from the old Indian traditions. Modi, if not his wife, could have easily thrown her away and picked up another partner like Mr Putin, the Great but he did not do so. It is unfortunate that virtue is being displayed as being ugly by the media hounds. We dont really like to let people live in peace. If Modi had married another lady after becoming CM, we would not have spared him, either. Honestly speaking, we should encourage politicians to remain unmarried or if married, staying away from family/ relations (utopian idea); this will, to a great extent, reduce nepotism and corruption besides devoting full time to the profession. Full marks to Modi, on this account. Please look at the similar cases and you will find some resemblance except one.
   Hope my thoughts havent annoyed you, Mr Sarbajit.
Regards.
Air Commodore (Retd) T Pannu 


On Sat, Jul 27, 2013 at 1:01 PM, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
Some IAC subscribers have falsely said that I am anti-Modi / anti-BJP. Accordingly, I hereby give a public statement (offer valid for 15 days) in my personal capacity for benefit of IAC movement and anti-corruption movement in India.

"I, Sarbajit Roy, National Convenor - India Against Corruption an apolitical jan andolan, shall vote for the BJP and publicly support Mr. Narendra Modi for Prime Minister of India in 2014, if Mr. Modi and/or BJP publicly clarifies to my satisfaction who this lady "Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi" is and why/if she suffered humiliation and mistreatment for so long in his and/or BJP ruled State of Gujarat.

Provided
that I am free to vote for the BJP, or not, irrespective of Mr. Modi / BJP providing a clarification"

Provided
further that this offer is subject to a prior offer/declaration given that I will similarly vote for/support Shri Rahul Gandhi / Congress Party if Shri Rahul Gandhi / Congress Party clarifies to my satisfaction how/if Shri Rahul Gandhi claims to be a Brahmin by caste (said prior offer expiring at midnight of 30/31 August 2013)

Provided further that this and all other such offers made by me are subject to their legality under the laws of India.
http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-gujarat-chief-minister-narendra-modi-finally-accepts-wife-jashoda-4223132-PHO.html

http://www.openmedianetwork.in/article/nation/i-am-narendra-modi-s-wife

Sarbajit


"I am Narendra Modi's Wife"

In a poor village, the woman who is believed to be the estranged wife of the most powerful man in Gujarat lives in a one-room home

A first standard teacher at Rajosana Primary School, Jashodaben is very popular among her Muslim students (Photo: SHOME BASU)

She is clad in an ill-fitting blouse and a mod­est printed sari. Somewhat stooped, her face is wrinkled, her hands have obviously seen hard times and her hair is pulled back in a tight bun, making her look severe. Dirt grips the cracks of her slipper-clad feet. She could have been any woman in Rajosana village, Gujarat. But then, she is Jashodaben Chimanlal Modi. Everyone in this village knows her as Narendra Modi's wife.

After the post-Godhra Gujarat riots, Modi's po­litical foes in Banaskantha district discovered her in this dusty village. Since then, Jashodaben has lived her life under intense scrutiny. Few among the 2,500 villagers, predominantly Muslim, dis­believe her story. Even Modi has neither con­firmed nor denied her muted claim. At the time of going to press, a faxed request for a comment was not returned by Modi's office.

People close to her say that she was married to Modi in his native village, Vadnagar, in Mehsana district, when she was 18. At the time of her mar­riage, she had studied only up to Class VII. That is believed to have put a strain on their marriage. (Also, according to a villager, Jashodaben does not like to be photographed as she believes she is not good looking.) A few days after the mar­riage, Jashodaben was sent back to her father Chimanlal's house to complete her education. As those who know her say, in a bid to please her husband and measure up to his exacting stand­ards, she started studying in Dholaka and com­pleted her SSC (old pattern) in 1972. Then she completed a primary teachers course and worked in Ahmedabad for three months.

Subsequently, on 23 March 1978, Jashodaben joined a primary school in Dekwali village in Banaskantha district. She was later transferred to the District Panchayat School in Roopal village where she worked for 12 years. On 2 December 1991, she came to Rajosana village, where she currently lives. Villagers say that though she has been to Ahmedabad occasionally, she was never asked to stay on by her husband.

Jashodaben, a first standard teacher at the Rajosana Primary School, is very popular among her Muslim students. Muslim women in the vil­lage, none of whom were willing to be quoted, say that Modi's estranged wife is shaping the per­sonalities of Muslim children through her dili­gence as a teacher. They seem to like her. But the 57-year-old will be retiring in October.

"Narendrabhai Modi is a national leader. He is intelligent and good looking. Jashodaben may not be able to match him. But she is his wife; he has married her. He must take her back to live with him," says a village elder.

When I met her at the school, Jashodaben was as excited as a child and could not stop smiling. She expressed a desire to talk and tell her tale. But the principal of the school, Pravinkumar P Vyas, admonished her for talking to a journalist. "You will only talk to them after school hours. Now go back to your class," Vyas told her.

She pleaded, "Can I talk to her during the break? It will only take a few minutes." But the principal was unrelenting.

She left the room meekly, only to come back soon. She said,"I will not say anything against my husband. He is very powerful. This job is all I have to survive. I am afraid of the consequences." She then went back to her classroom.

Meanwhile, the principal had made a call from his mobile phone to inform somebody that Jashodaben had visitors. He then went to meet her in her classroom. After that, she became a dif­ferent person. She smiled no more, her excite­ment was gone and she looked nervous. She kept wringing her hands. When I approached her again, she screamed, asking to be left alone. But as she walked away, she gestured to suggest that she would talk later.

Later, some men visited the school, one after the other, in different vehicles. They parked their vehicles within the school premises, and looked directly into the principal's office. After a while, they left. When the school day came to an end, Jashodaben almost ran out to a waiting autorick­shaw. She pointed at me and told some villagers that I was harassing her.

Hiding her face in her hands, she went to her brother's house in her maternal village in Brahamanwada, about 20 km away. A few min­utes later, a young man who identified himself as Prakashbhai, a reporter from Ram Setu (a two-page government-run newspaper printed with inconsistent frequency), approached me and asked me to leave the village. By then a sizeable crowd had gathered around us.

Though Jashodaben earns a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, she lives in a one-room tenement in the Panchalvas area in the village, and pays a rent of Rs 150 every month. The 100 sq ft room has a tin roof, no toilets, and not even a bathroom. The tap is located outside the house. According to the vil­lagers, Jashodaben wakes up very early and takes a bath outside the house.

Despite the fact that she can afford a better life, she has chosen to stay in a somewhat im­poverished village, in a sympathetic and help­ful neighbourhood. Here, her story is known to all. Even the children of her school refer to her as 'Narendrabhai Modi's wife'.

But for all practical purposes, that means lit­tle. Jashodaben does not enjoy any privileges. She has to sweep and clean her house, fill water, use a public toilet, cook her meals and wash her own clothes. She does not have any domestic help.

The moment a car is spotted in the village, those living in the bylane leading to Jashodaben's house gather outside their homes and maintain a close watch on her. Everyone I met claimed to be close to her. In fact, some even asked for money to ensure good access to her. Every Sunday, she takes the 20 km ride to Brahmanwada in an autorick­shaw to spend the day with her brother's family. Her brother runs a provision store.

People close to her say that she longs for that phone call from her husband, the call asking her to come and live with him forever. Jashodaben has consulted numerous astrologers for this rea­son. Interestingly, the verdict of all the astrolo­gers is that one day she will definitely live with her husband.

The war between the BJP and Congress in Gujarat, particularly in Rajosana, works in Jashodaben's favour. Her story will be retold over and over again.

For many years, the Congress had an upper hand in the Panchayat elections, but of late, the BJP is emerging stronger here. So, while Modi's supporters maintain a close watch on Jashodaben's activities to ensure that her dis­closures do not embarrass the Chief Minister of Gujarat, his opponents are keen to reveal her to the nation. Meanwhile, Jashodaben is noticed to be turning increasingly religious.



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