by B. R. GOWANI
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi addressing students from 200 colleges gathered to share their ideas for change in India. PHOTO/NDTV
Coming up with really bold but truly humanitarian ideas is not a monopoly of people with humanitarian concerns; even (morally) ugly people can introduce such ideas. Recently, Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister, addressing 7000 students in Delhi said:
“I am known to be a Hindutva (Hinduness) leader. My image does not permit to say so, but I dare to say. My real thought is – ‘Pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya‘ (toilets first, temples later).”
Economist Amartya Sen notes that about 50% of the people in India are without toilets (49.8% relieve themselves in the open whereas 3.2% utilize public toilets). That is 600 million people (almost twice the population of the United States). Or 60% of the people without an access to toilets in the world are to be found in India. (In the much poorer Bangladesh, India’s neighbor, the number is 8%. Sen attributes this and other positive indicators to the efforts of Bangladesh government and NGOs.)
(2011 WHO figures for ten countries that “practice open defecation” were:
India (626 million people)
Indonesia (63 million)
Pakistan (40 million)
Ethiopia (38 million)
Nigeria (34 million)
Sudan (19 million)
Nepal (15 million)
China (15 million)
Niger (12 million)
Burkina Faso (9.7 million))
According to WHO (World Health Organization), this is the “riskiest sanitation practice of all.” And women have to wait till dark to carry out this natural function but not without the fear of ridicule and/or rape. Only 10% of India’s 240,000 village councils are absolutely without open defecation. Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment Sunita Narain expressed her concern in these words:
“Rapidly-modernising India is drowning in its own excreta.”
Basanti has a mobile phone and a color television but no toilet. Jharkhand, India PHOTO – Lesley D. Biswas/Women’s International Perspective
Modi’s idea is not new. India’s Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh of the ruling Congress Party had proposed that idea some time back. He was blasted for giving more importance to toilets over temples by BJP and other similar parties.
Ramesh’s comment on Modi’s proposal:
“I still believe we need more toilets than temples. I wish Modi had discovered this 20 years ago, then we would not have had the Babri Masjid episode. … “
(In 1992, Hindu zealots destroyed a 16th century Muslim mosque.)
The condition of the toiletless hasn’t changed though. Now Ramesh has backed a “no toilet, no bride” campaign to shame men into building latrines.
Modi is the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 election and so all the good things are to be expected from him. And more so because about 2000 Muslims were killed in 2002 in his state and under his Chief Ministership. He is working hard to refashion his image. Modi also said:
“I define secularism as nation first, India first. Justice to all, appeasement to none. No votebank politics – a poor man is a poor man, where he prays is immaterial.”
If Modi truly believes in “Justice for all”, then there are millions of people who need Justice in his own State of Gujarat. First thing he can do is to give justice to the victims of 2002. Then he should allow Muslims to rent in any any localities they want to, including the Hindu neighborhoods.
Modi doesn’t believe in such things and so nothing is going to happen. However, what probably will happen is that some entrepreneur/s (as a political investment) will gift him some free ready-to-use and/or material to build toilets to be distributed among the people in need of them.
The only request to Modi is to wash his bloodied hands in one of the toilet bowls before distributing the gifts. I refrain from saying “the face” because that would be insulting.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com