10 photos to mark 5-year rule of Modi govt

The NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will complete five years in May this year. These years have witnessed a number of significant events, both positive and negative.

Here are 10 photos that show remarkable moments in the years of the Modi government.

1. Ghar Wapasi (June 2014)

This photo shows one of the Ghar Wapasi events held in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.

Hindutva right-wing outfits, who were emboldened after Modi took the oath as prime minister, organised programmes to bring non-Hindus into the fold of 'Sanatana Dharma'. They claimed that all the non-Hindus were once Hindus and converted to other religions like Islam and Christianity due to force or financial appeasement. These outfits have been on this mission for a long time but came out publicly to conduct reconvert events called 'Ghar Wapasi'.

2. Mohammad Akhlaq murder in Dadri (September 2015)

The family members of Akhlaq are seen wailing in the photo.

The cow is a sacred animal in the Hindu religion. The slaughter of the cow has been a point of contention in India as there are communities who consume beef. Several incidents have been reported over the years of people being targeted on suspicion of beef consumption. A chilling murder in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh two days after Bakhrid, a Muslim holiday, shocked the country. A neighbour in Bisara village dragged 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq and his son Danish out of their home and lynched them with a stick and brick in the street on a suspicion that they had consumed beef. The father died and the son was seriously injured.

This incident was followed by more such violence throughout the country and it has not ended. Protesting the growing intolerance in the country, eminent personalities including writers, filmmakers and activists returned the national awards that they received from the government.

3. Suicide of Rohith Vemula (January 2016)

Radhika Vemula, the mother of Rohith Vemula (inset), is seen in the photo.

The resentment of the Dalit community reached its peak after the suicide of research scholar Rohith Vemula at Hyderabad Central University on January 17, 2016. An aspiring science writer, Vemula and his friends, all Dalits, were barred from the university hostel following a fracas with the ABVP right-wing students group. They built a makeshift tent as a students' convenience space inside the campus. Depressed over the uncertainty about his future, the student hanged himself.

This incident shook the nation as an example of Dalits being victimised at higher education institutions. The next month at JNU, another controversy emerged and some student leaders were booked under the sedition law for allegedly raising anti-national slogans. The attacks against Dalits also continued.

4. Una flogging (July 2016)

This is a screenshot of the flogging.

Four members of a Dalit family were flogged in public by a group of upper caste people who alleged cow slaughter in Una, Gujarat. The community is involved in the disposing of dead cows. The upper caste youths picked up these Dalit men from a village while the latter were skinning a dead cow and they were brought to Una town and paraded half-naked.

The video of the incident went viral and enraged the Dalit community. Protests erupted throughout the country. The Dalits in Gujarat vowed to halt the disposing of cows. As a result, the BJP suffered a huge loss in the Saurashtra region in the Gujarat Assembly elections.

5. Demonetisation (November 2016)

The photograph shows people in a long currency queue
at Kavery Rural Development Bank Ramanagar, Karnataka. DH Photo

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, which made up 86 per cent of the total currencies in circulation. The prime minister said that this move would put an end to black money, the influx of fake notes, hawala and cross border terrorism. Citizens had 50 days to exchange the currency with banks. This was a big jolt to the day-to-day life of the common man as well as to the country's economy. Many suffered due to a shortage of currency and there were reports of deaths in queues to exchange cash.

6. Pellet gun attack on Kashmiri protesters

A pellet gun victim. Photo Credit: Umer Asif

Kashmir has remained turbulent over the last five years. Militancy has increased, along with protests against the Army and the government. The murder of Burhan Wani, a popular face in the Lashkar-e-Taiba, kicked off prolonged protests in the valley. Youths pelted Army personnel with stones in broad daylight. The Army responded to these protests with tear gas and pellet guns, which resulted in many serious injuries. The victims included innocent women and children.

7. Suicide of S Anitha (September 2017)

Protesters stop a train at Coimbatore railway station
as part of Rail Roko protest against NEET exam and justice for Anitha. Photo credit: PTI

S Anitha, a talented student from Ariyalur district in rural Tamil Nadu, committed suicide following her failure to crack the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to secure an undergraduate medical college seat. Anitha, who belonged to a poor Dalit family, scored 1176/1200 marks in her 12th standard exams and wanted to be a doctor. Since only NEET scores are considered for admissions, she had to take the test. She scored 86 out of 720 in the NEET exam, which did not meet the cut-off to qualify for admission.

Her suicide triggered huge protests across India against the NEET exam. The protests also found a place in the election manifesto of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (DMK), in which the party promised the abolition of the NEET.

8. Press conference of Supreme Court judges (January 2018)

A photo from the press conference of the Supreme Court judges. Photo credit: PTI

In an unprecedented move, four senior Supreme Court judges addressed a press conference to express discontent against the conduct of Chief Justice Dipak Misra. The four judges were Justice J Chelameshwar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph. They said: “Sometimes administration of the Supreme Court is not in order and many things which are less than desirable have happened in the last few months.” Justice Chelameshwar said that all the four judges “failed to persuade CJI that certain things are not in order and therefore you should take remedial measures. Unfortunately, our efforts failed. And all four of us are convinced that democracy is at stake and many things have happened in the recent past.”

It was a virtual revolt against the CJI Deepak Misra, who was criticised for an alleged bias towards the current political dispensation.

9. Kisan March (March 2018)

One of the photos from the march. Photo credit: PTI

Around 50,000 farmers marched from Nashik to Mumbai over a distance of 180km to register their dissatisfaction with the ruling BJP government in Maharashtra and at the Centre. This peaceful rally was one of the largest farmer protest marches conducted in the country.

The Maharashtra Government spoke to the farmers and assured them that they would fulfil their demands. A long wait forced the farmers to launch another rally in February this year but soon, the government intervened.

10. Pulwama attack (February 2019)

The scene of the blast in Lethpora, near Awantipora in the Pulwama district,
Jammu and Kashmir. Photo Credit: PTI

A militant rammed an SUV carrying explosives into a convoy of CRPF soldiers on the Jammu-Srinagar highway and killed 49 jawans on Feb. 14, 2019. This was the deadliest attack on the Indian Army after 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir. The terror outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad has claimed responsibility. The attack also sparked questions about security lapses and intelligence failures. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force attacked a terror camp in Balakot in Pakistan. This escalated tensions between the two nuclear-powered countries.