According to India's New Delhi Radio (NDTV) on October 4, Gandhi's urn, which was originally stored in the laxman bag museum in Raywa, Madhya Pradesh, disappeared on October 2. Congressional leaders discovered this bizarre event when they decorated garlands of Gandhi's portrait at the museum. Even more incredible is that the burglar wrote the words "traitor" in green paint under Gandhi's photo, clearly with the smell of "slander and insult".
Immediately after the incident, the local police intervened in the investigation and began to investigate the recent entry and exit of the museum. Digijaya Singh, a senior leader of India's parliament and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, was even more blunt: saying that such acts must be stopped immediately and that the police must immediately check the surveillance with a view to bringing the "rioters" to justice at an early date.
The question arises, why would the thieves steal Gandhi's urn and leave insulting words? According to Abid Khan, the local superintendent of police in Rewa, the burglar's actions may have violated sections 153b (allegations of detrimental to the integration of the state), section 504 (deliberate insults with the intent to provoke acts of breach of peace) and 505 (harmful speech to the public) of the Indian Penal Code. In other words, the thief's move is clearly targeted, or in the hope of separating India's ruling coalition in this way, thereby putting pressure on Modi's Congress party.
Since Modi was re-elected in May, his ruling coalition has been criticized. The reason is that Modi has failed to deliver on many of his political promises at the beginning of his tenure on economic reform and fighting corruption. On the contrary, it has once again continued the ruling line of his previous term, and put national defense and military construction in a priority position of development.
This governing philosophy seems to strengthen India's control of the border and effectively improve the level of territorial defense. However, its excessive military expenditure has also put India's economic development under heavy pressure. According to data, India's GDP in fiscal 2018 was about $2.7 trillion, of which defense spending reached $66.5 billion. This does not include additional expenses such as the temporary purchase of fighter jets and the addition of warships.
In other words, India's military-oriented and light people's governance style may have "dragged its feet" of the already weak economy again. Since India is a typical agricultural country, it is difficult to make accurate data on the statistics of its unemployed population. But the occasional "demonstration" movement within India has completely exposed this hard wound.
In January of this year, India's largest demonstration in history erupted, with some 200 million people spontaneously taking to the streets to pressure the central and local governments. It is hoped that the authorities will listen to the will of the people and help improve employment conditions and create more jobs for workers. Although the incident was subsequently quelled, the indian people's disappointment with the Modi-led government was also beyond words.
It is no exaggeration to say that the tearing of the Indian class and the mutual attacks of various parties have led to the rise of populist forces and the faint signs of impacting social stability. The theft of Gandhi's urn may be an external manifestation of this trend. That is, more and more people are dissatisfied with Modi's Congress Party, and more and more Indians are expressing disappointment with the "inaction" of the authorities.
The implication behind this is that the insult of "Mahatma" Gandhi may only be the beginning of trouble for the Modi government. If the authorities do not take many measures to improve people's livelihood and save public opinion, it may be difficult to curb similar things.