By Ubaidur Rahman for TwoCircles.net
Dear Mr. Narayana Murthy,
“There is considerable fear in the minds of minority in India,” you rightly said at a program on NDTV broadcast on November 1, 2015. [1]
The basic questions that naturally need to be answered, before going for the solution, are how this fear came about? Definitely not overnight, so, for how long was it building before reaching here? Who is spreading this fear? Who is/was complicit in spreading this fear? Didn’t anyone warn? Were those warnings ignored?
More specifically, was this “considerable fear” present in May 2015 when you forcefully exhorted “People, all parties, the Opposition should rally behind him [Modi]” despite Gujarat 2002? [2] And now you say “the first priority of this government or for that matter any government, both at the central level and the state level, to bring back the confidence, the energy, the enthusiasm, the trust in the minds of every Indian, that this is our country”.
What gives?
How can you expect to people rally behind fear-monger(s) and ask their government (BTW, quite a few ministers and leaders from his party and sister-parties seems to strive hard to keep that fear alive) “to bring back the confidence, the energy, the enthusiasm, the trust in the minds of every Indian”.
You claim to be well read, still in case you missed it, this is who you asked everyone to rally around: “Modi has a responsibility to speak out this time because the violence that occurred on Monday night is a direct product of the hysteria which is being deliberately engineered in different parts of the country over the issue of cow slaughter – an issue he brought up repeatedly in stump speeches during the 2014 general election. “ [3] In it are two links to videos around the May 2015 [your rallying] timeframe. (In order not to overwhelm, am deliberately not including the taunts of “miyan” or “Pakistan” or their current utterances in Bihar or anything else. (And BTW, I am sure you would find it amusing that there is a petition created, most likely as a joke, to deport you to Pakistan [4]))
In the same NDTV program you said, “the first priority of this government or for that matter any government, both at the central level and the state level, to bring back the confidence, the energy, the enthusiasm, the trust in the minds of every Indian, that this is our country. I have all the rights here. I am very safe and therefore I will work towards the betterment of India. I think that is the first requirement.”
Again, I agree with you that government has a big role to play here to remove this enviorenment of fear. But don’t you think the individuals and corporations also have a responsibility here? I specifically want to remind you how Infosys, a company that you founded and took to new heights discriminated against two Muslim employees when they were falsely-accused of terrorism.
Rashid Hussain was paid by Infosys merely Rs. 20 lakh and that too four and a half years after illegally firing him. He was detained illegally by Rajasthan Police for nine-days following the May 2008 blasts in Jaipur. He was later released and never charged for any crime. However, Infosys terminated his employment. Hussain made his peace but ongoing case of Atik Iqbal gives an insight on how Infosys is also involved in spreading of fear among Muslims
The case of Atik Iqbal
Mohd Atik Iqbal, was a permanent employee of Infosys. An ‘Excellence in Practice’ certificate winner. He was implicated in 2008 by police in a terror case. The reason given was unreported absence from work for 4 weeks. The police claim to have reported his detention to the company. Atik’s family claim to have informed the company. Even if the absence was not reported, it is so explainable. After his bail and failed negotiations, he is pursuing the only option left to him i.e. the legal recourse to get his job back.
So, Mr. Narayana Murthy, instead of waiting on the “government” to do anything, may be, you can help a former Infosys employee [6] out “to bring back the confidence, the energy, the enthusiasm,
the trust in the minds of every Indian” and cut short his and his family’s already prolonged ordeal. Alternatively you can cop-out using any boilerplate excuse(s). But I bet on a “25 Greatest Global Indian Living Legends” and “Philanthropist of the Year “[7] winner finds a way out. And as they say where there is a will there is a way.
[3] http://thewire.in/2015/10/01/the-pink-revolution-is-marching-on-12061/
[4] https://www.causes.com/actions/1781781-sign-the-petition-to-desh-bhakts-of-bharat
[6] http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/terror-tag-haunts-exinfosys-engineer/1169641/0
[7] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._R._Narayana_Murthy