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Comment by throwaway312312 | Hacker News Reader

Why is this surprising ? Modi entire term has been him acting too impulsively, either for PR or by being misguided by his advisors.

I mean the man has no dignity; who brings up these issues publicly on an international forum ?

Running water is not something you come across rural India very often. Toilets are bound to stink. NO person in his right mind would use one.

This one move has even brought back manual scavenging jobs back to the poor who have little access to education or power (literally and figuratively). Skilling India, eh ?

Shaming your citizens for the complete uselessness of the state becomes "statesmanship" ? Is this guy some colonial governor ? Frankly, Modi is a disappointment to everyone.

Worse, his and the stupidity of his promoters will almost entirely destroy the credibility of the nativist camp which supported him, for decades to come.

BJP has lived up to its name: Congress with a Cow (which is then smuggled to the Butcher).

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To be honest, I think the important thing is to keep India clean, I do not care what type of prime minister has or what his personal beliefs are, whether he is a devout hindu, muslim or christian doesn't matter. But I liked the idea of a cleaner India, the fact that the campaign is not working is a reflection on our own society. There are millions of jobs out there for the masses just in cleaning the roads of our cities. Building sewers can generate another large amount of jobs, both skilled and unskilled. In the 1800s the whole of chicago was lifted up using hydraulic jacks, block by block just to lay sewers for people.

Providing toilets is important which is why it has to be brought to the forefront. If running water is an issue in rural India, what about the cities? We are not providing sanitation for city dwellers itself, just look at the large number of slums - do they have running water? In Jaipur I have seen whole streets flooded with feces from the shanty towns in the suburbs.

The problem is not only with a dysfunctional government but a culture where bribery is accepted. Practically anywhere you tried to buy a home in the past people would ask for cash in suitcases just to avoid taxation. If a driver gets caught by the police for a traffic offence, the rich just send money down. In this society you blame the government? Isn't a government made up of its own people? Today in a developed nation one does not seperate the rich from the poor. A cleaner's son and a politicians son attend the same school and can become best friends without segregation. In India on the other hand the rich must send their children to private institutions while the government schools can't function properly thanks to lack of funding. And, oh the way the rich spend, particularly on their weddings. What kind of example are they setting for the poor? It is entirely possible today to have water free toilets which do not stink. In Singapore there are many such toilets and I've seen prototypes round the world that do not stink, everything is possible. Its just about the mindset.

> If running water is an issue in rural India, what about the cities?

They generally don't either. Overhead tanks were not all that common until of late even in the middle class.

Occupy Hacker News in a few hours. Bhakts are everywhere. Still can't digest the fact how they conquered Quora. Hope they stay away from your post :)

Please forgive my ignorance -- who are the Bhakts? I've been off Quora since the interesting questions disappeared about two years ago.

Bhakths are devotees of Modi. "Bhakth" in Hindi/Sanskrit means devotee. They are like the die hard Trump fans in the US.

They usually come in hordes and attack any content against Modi on the web usually by unethical tactics like questioning your character/love for country, down-voting, mass reporting, abusing and general trolling - whatever it takes to shut the critics up.

Modi is part human and part mythical figure for the Bhakths - I kid you not :).

Thank you! You've provided a little more context to the Internet today!

He is so obviously agenda driven and is abusing a lot of people with his use of derogatory remarks. He got away with it because, not many people here have the full context of his abuse.

I will leave you with this TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a...

Never build your worldview with what is provided by a hate-filled single sided opinion.

Lets not forget why this man was denied visa to US in 2005.

"In 2005, Modi, an ardent Hindu nationalist and rising political star, was denied a U.S. visa over accusations that he failed to stop religious pogroms in which hundreds were killed, mostly Muslims, in the Indian state where he was serving as chief executive. That decision to bar him now seems like ancient history in both countries. "

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-us-india-modi-201409...

For the sake of historical accuracy, he was a 'persona non grata' not just in the US but also in some 27 EU member countries and in several other countries around the world:

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-modi-still-a-persona-no...

> They usually come in hordes and attack any content against Modi on the web usually by unethical tactics like questioning your character/love for country, down-voting, mass reporting, abusing and general trolling - whatever it takes to shut the critics up.

This. And to add a bit, it is a little-kept secret that many/most are paid workers, hired to carry out those activities.

> Worse, his and the stupidity of his promoters will almost entirely destroy the credibility of the nativist camp which supported him, for decades to come.

Apparently not a 'colonized liberal' either. RSS et.al were similarly distraught during Vajpayee's time. Some even claim that one of reasons BJP didn't get a second term was because the RSS field workers were so disillusioned in '04.

I understand why you may not like Modi, but he his what's good for India.

Care to explain how? His highest priorities appear to be 1) to bolster his ego and 2) to gain more popularity/consolidate his political position (usually with cheap-ish speeches, stunts, gimmicks etc.) while everything else takes a backseat. Seriously doubt if that is good for India.

India is so big that centralization of power is impossible. But thats what is needed right now. We need to be yanked into 21St century. Only way to that is through charisma, because democracy and all.

> India is so big that centralization of power is impossible. But thats what is needed right now.

Sounds scary beyond description.

> We need to be yanked into 21St century. Only way to that is through charisma

So, getting 'yanked into 21st century' (whatever that is supposed to mean) would magically wipe out all the problems of the country (using charisma as a wand) - is that what you're saying?

Seems to be working for China.

And thus, a Modi bhakt is revealed. For those not from India, one of the standard characteristics of a dyed-in-the-wool Modi bhakt (devotee) is that the moment you say something against him (Modi), you are an anti-national.

> We need to be yanked into 21St century.

By a party whose sister organisation, the proto-fascist RSS is obsessed with taking India back to the the "glorious Hindu days" centuries ago?

You can't shame us way from being proud of our heritage.

Age-old RSS modus operandi - when you can't argue a point, try to drive away from it, by bringing up a quasi-related nationalist issue.

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