Mr Prime Minister,
I take this opportunity to wish you on the occasion of Easter. It is a solemn and sombre time for the country and the world, and an occasion that would have involved togetherness and celebration will be marked this year by solitude, sobriety, reflection, prayer, and in many instances, grief.
You might be surprised to receive these greetings from a non-Christian. My name is not George or Thomas or Matthew, but one of the wonderful things about being a citizen of India is the freedom we have to celebrate each other’s festivals, and greet each other on occasions that we may not necessarily celebrate ourselves.
In fact, on Good Friday, you yourself tweeted:
“Lord Christ devoted his life to serving others. His courage and righteousness stand out and so does his sense of justice. On Good Friday, we remember Lord Christ and his commitment to truth, service and justice.”
As a student of history, religion and literature, I agree. I have had the opportunity to study the life of Christ, and I must say your tweet has rightly cited five distinguishing features of Christ’s life – courage, righteousness, and commitment to truth, service and justice.
In many ways these five attributes of Jesus Christ that you have mentioned also make up the five qualities of a great leader – something we know you would like to be remembered as.
Let’s start with service. Leadership is not about how many people serve us, it is about how many people we serve. Christ made that very clear when he said, “He that would be greatest amongst you must be the servant of all.” (Matthew 23:11)
Also read: On Good Friday, a Message for All Indians
The operative word there, I believe, is all. It’s easy to serve our favourite few but the real test of leadership is to make sure that we genuinely serve every last person we are responsible for. Mahatma Gandhi, who found sustenance and direction in the teachings of Christ, said something similar:
“Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her].”
Did you recall the face of the poorest and weakest man or woman when you announced the nationwide lockdown, Modi ji? Perhaps if you had, then millions of migrant labourers and common people might not have suddenly found themselves without food, jobs and shelter.
Moving on to truth and courage. Truth was important to Jesus. He spoke truth to the masses and he spoke truth to power. It might be argued that that’s what got him killed in the end. Jesus had limitless love and mercy for those who were weak, marginalised and struggling, but he was an avowed opponent of the lies and hypocrisy of the powerful. The 23rd chapter of Matthew is full of his views on those who said one thing and did another.
“Woe to those who lay heavy burdens on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. Everything they do, it is so they can be seen and admired by others… Woe to those who outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23)
Speaking of truth, Modi ji, please tell the head and members of your IT cell – your “cyber warriors” as you call them – to stop spreading lies and falsehoods during this terrible time. By inflaming communal passions during this grim time of deathly sickness, they are not only jeopardising the lives of the innocent, they are making it that much more difficult for India to recover from this time of crisis. It will just take one strong, clear, unambiguous message from you, for them to stop. We have enough problems with coronavirus. We don’t need a communal virus on top of it.
Did you know that in the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, which is also a part of the Bible, King Solomon of Israel said:
“There are seven things that God does not approve of: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)
Also read: How Would Jesus Have Fared Amongst Contemporary Indian Godmen?
We seem to have all seven of those things in abundance in our country right now. And that is a tragedy. What we need right now is for our leaders to be strong in righteousness and justice. Righteousness is the basis of justice. You cannot have one without the other. The country needs both in abundance right now and it looks to its leaders for those. We understand that on your shoulders, particularly, sits a tremendous burden of responsibility.
The Bible says to “pray for those who bear rule over you.” (1 Timothy 2:2) Believe me, Modi ji, millions will be praying as you decide on your next course of action as prime minister. They will be praying that you will listen to the advice of the chief ministers and that the voices of wisdom will prevail.
This is a turning point for the country. Like Christ on the cross, millions feel forsaken and forlorn. Were it not for the decency, goodness and compassion of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Indians who have stepped up to help the hungry, homeless and jobless, we would already have sunk into terrible chaos. We can only hope and pray that there will be a resurrection after this devastation. But that will depend on the decisions that you take as prime minister.
In this time of calamity, may the compassion of Christ guide you.
Rohit Kumar is an educator with a background in positive psychology and psychometrics. He works with high school students on emotional intelligence and adolescent issues to help make schools bullying-free zones. He can be reached at letsempathize@gmail.com.