The sight of Prime Minister Modi sitting and appearing to meditate at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari, amidst media attention, on the eve of the final phase of voting in the 18th general elections, is completely at odds with the idea of pursuing true meditation in solitude.
Having professedly cited Vivekananda as a profound influence on his life, he should have avoided commercialised meditation. But this is not the first time he has done this. He did the same in May 2019, when he went to a Himalayan cave on the second to last day of the final phase of the 17th general elections.
Vivekananda and Selfish Actions
Modi, meditating at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari, should have had Swami Vivekananda in mind. Vivekananda, in particular, was wary of the publicity that could be gained by preaching spirituality in the US. He had said in 1900 that selfish and egocentric actions launched with headlines and crowds rising to their feet and cheering would not achieve their objectives. Swamiji had said, The photo was taken at the Shakespeare Club in Pasadena, California on January 27, 1900. No one can deny that Modi’s so-called meditation, filmed by multiple cameras in a sacred place, constitutes what Vivekananda called “self-seeking action.” Newspapers, television stations and other media platforms broadcast Modi’s meditation. Vivekananda, the famous monk who made a name for himself in the media for his brilliant exposition of Vedanta in his many lectures in the US, was once disturbed by such publicity and sought silence and quiet moments for contemplation away from public attention. In a letter sent from the US on September 27, 1894 to his Tamil disciple Alasinga, he wrote:I am completely disgusted by the nonsense of all this public life and newspaper hype. I long to return to the serenity of the Himalayas.”
Also read: As PM Modi ‘meditates’ in isolation in Kanniyakumari, who is in charge?
A polarizing story
Modi also relentlessly spewed lie after lie and denigrated Muslims with hateful statements while campaigning for the BJP during the elections. His hatred directed towards a section of the Indian population on the basis of their religious identity would have upset and shocked Vivekananda, who defined India as a country with a Vedanta brain and an Islamic body. Modi’s utter contempt for Indian Muslims in his election speeches and later meditated on a rock named after him would have been ironic for Vivekananda, who in his historic Chicago Address at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in September 1893 urged humanity to shun “sectarianism, bigotry and its dreadful offspring, fanaticism” and put an end to religion. “Every persecution by sword or pen, and every feeling of unmercy between those who advance towards the same goal.”
Prime Minister Modi’s harmful and divisive rhetoric amounts to persecution of Muslims. A century ago, Vivekananda yearned for an end to such sentiment.
Violation of the moratorium
In 2014, in his first address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi called for a ten-year moratorium on divisive politics. He cited sectarian tensions that had been festering for years and blamed them for India’s partition. He said the poison of sectarianism and caste system continued even after liberation from colonial rule, and asked, “For how long will these evils continue? Whose interests do they serve?” Noting that such scourges only serve to tarnish Mother India and hinder our progress, the Prime Minister called on the nation to suspend all such activities for ten years and promote peace, unity, goodwill and brotherhood.
Modi himself has violated his moratorium by making divisive communal appeals, sowing discord and disunity, and it is clear to all that he has done so more blatantly than ever before in this election campaign.
Such malicious allegations in the name of religion are contrary to the principles of meditation which are associated with higher states of mind, free from any narrow-mindedness, sectarianism or prejudice.
It must have hurt Vivekananda beyond measure to see professed believers making such spiteful remarks against a section of Indians because of their faith and at the same time daring to meditate on the very rock where he had meditated in 1892 before leaving for the United States to attend the World’s Parliament of Religions in 1893.
PM Modi himself should have stuck to his 2024 ban on hate speech, extending it beyond 10 years and emerging as a leader who would adhere to its letter and spirit. Instead, he has emerged as a man of his word.
SN Sahu served as Special Duty Officer to former President of India KR Narayanan.
