The unbridgeable distance.

"Nine years ago, vicious sectarian riots broke out between Bodos and Muslims in the Kokrajhar district of Assam. The disturbances left nearly 80 people dead and nearly four lakh (400,000) people fled their homes and took shelter in makeshift camps," wrote Swapan Dasgupta, Rajya Sabha MP for the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. "Curiously, the riots left the 'national media' in the country unmoved," whereas, there has been "fulsome coverage of the farmers' agitation on the outskirts of Delhi". Dasgupta's thesis is that riots in Assam were ignored because they were far away from the national capital and journalists are too lazy to go that far. Maybe not. Life is cheap in India because there are too many people competing for limited resources. India has 1350 million people crammed into 3.3 million sq km, giving a population density of 409 per sq km. China has 1400 million people in 9.6 million sq km, giving it a population density of 145 people per sq km, less than half that of India. Dasgupta talks about students in Bengal protesting against appointment of unqualified individuals as their teachers, but that is against the University Grants Commission (UGC), hardly of national significance. Even the thousands of families with little children walking hundreds of miles back to their home villages had no effect on Modi's popularity ratings which apparently "is a thing of pride for all Indians", according to President of BJP JP Nadda. The protests by farmers is directly against the Central government which forced the bills through without discussion in parliament. Not just that. In the Rajya Sabha, "MPs demanded division. This was voiced at 1.09pm on Rajya Sabha TV. But it never reached the public ear because footage was doctored to such an extent that it was muted," wrote KTS Tulsi and Tanessa Puri. This was pure skullduggery. Farmers know that. "The modus operandi is to introduce momentous laws without advance consultations with stakeholders and opposition parties; enact them in both Houses in one to three days without referral to parliamentary committees; enforce them with the heavy hand of the state; conflate India with the ruling BJP and Modi, creating a personality cult in the process; delegitimise protesters as anti-national agitators, apologists for terrorists, Naxalites, and/or in the pocket of foreign paymasters; and be wilfully blind to the potential foreign policy implications of the actions until the damage has been done," wrote Prof Ramesh Thakur. "Habituated to adulation from adoring crowds, Modi doesn't do humility and apologies." Students protesting in Jawaharlal University (JNU) were viciously beaten up without any BJP member objecting to the barbarity. India seems to be leaning towards monopoly in certain sectors, seen to be benefiting billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, wrote VK Vijayakumar. "That the Adanis and Ambanis come form Gujarat, the PM's home state, only serves to bolster the impression that proximity to power confers an undue advantage," wrote Rajdeep Sardesai. "On the ground in Punjab, Reliance Jio (Ambani) telecom towers have been vandalised while Adani products are being boycotted." Modi is stuck. If he gives in to the farmers his "prestige suffers a body blow" and the longer the protests drag on there will be a gradual erosion of his authority, wrote Prof Mohsin Khan. It is not physical distance but the distance between Modi, as an exalted leader, far above a cringing, submissive people, that is the problem.  Dasgupta is subservient to his political master, but surely he has some responsibility to his fellow citizens? Maybe, he is afraid.