There was an instruction to light lamps on the birthday of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi. The instruction was spread across the country, at the official level and privately too. Accordingly, on September 17, Modi’s 76th birthday was observed throughout the country in the glow of lit lamps. A row has now begun over it, and the row has many sides.
Controversy has arisen over the authorities at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Jammu. Their order was that every student had to be present when the lamps were lit. Lamps had to be lit wishing the prime minister well. Failing that, a fine of 500 rupees.
A notice from the IIM students’ council on the matter was published in the media. It said everyone had to attend the lamp-lighting event on September 17. Anyone absent would have to show cause. Under the instruction, illness was the only ground on which someone could fail to attend. Even then, a certificate was required from a suitable doctor appointed by the IIM authorities (Sanjeevani). The doctor had to state that the student in question was so unwell that there was no way of leaving his bed. No other excuse or objection would be accepted. In that case the student concerned would be fined 500 rupees.
The event was held on the appointed day in front of the administrative building of IIM Jammu. The local BJP member of the legislative assembly, Yudhvir Sethi, and the director of IIM Jammu, Professor B S Sahay, took part.
It is the decision on the fine that has set off fierce controversy. A number of students did not attend the event. They have been sent notices for breach of discipline, saying a reply had to be given within a day of receiving the notice. If the reply is not considered reasonable, a fine of 500 rupees follows. The Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader in charge, Syed Nasir Hussain, has asked why participation in observing the prime minister’s birthday should be made compulsory at an educational institution, and why the burden of publicity for the prime minister should be placed on educational institutions. That, he said, cannot be the work of an educational institution.
The RJD leader and member of parliament from Bihar, Suhakar Singh, has also issued a statement condemning the episode. In it he asked why there should be a fine, and why lighting lamps for a birthday should be made compulsory. It would be better, he said, for the prime minister’s office to issue a declaration that those who do not chant “Modi, Modi” and do not take part in praising Modi will not be admitted to an IIM or an IIT at all.
The IIM Jammu authorities have said, however, that no fine money was taken from any student, and that needless controversy is being created over the matter.
On Saturday the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took part in the “Chhatron Ki Goonj” event in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The following day he raised the subject on his handle on X. Sardonically, Rahul said: “For the prime minister’s birthday the government is spending crores of rupees lighting lamps state after state. Yet it cannot build hostels for students to live in. No money is allocated for that.” Criticising the government, he said many female students were being forced to give up their studies because of difficulties over accommodation. Tagging the prime minister in the message on X and referring to those difficulties, he wrote: “Does the prime minister have an answer to this young girl’s question?”
All sorts of things are being said in various quarters about the lamp-lighting. A leader of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), Abhijit Dipke, posted a video on social media. In it he is seen placing a lit lamp in a dilapidated tribal school building with broken furnishings and no doors or windows, saying: dear Modiji, you asked us to light lamps. This lamp is for you. This broken-down school building is your contribution. It is the mark of your twelve years of rule.
Modi’s birthday was observed with lamp-lighting in Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and other BJP-ruled states. Government instructions were issued for it, including to schools, colleges and government institutions. The event was named the “lamp of blessings”. To find out whether everyone was carrying out the instruction, all were asked to record video and send it to a designated place.
The BJP has taken up a month-long programme to mark the prime minister’s birthday. It has been named the “Seva Sankalp Abhiyan”. The campaign will run until October 17.
Human rights organisations have also sharply criticised the official effort. Criticising this “sycophancy”, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said it was in this way that independent thought and a secular outlook were being throttled, and a class of sycophants created.