India on Independence Day 2020!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

When one takes stock of India on the occasion of its Independence Day 2020, one is aghast to witness everything topsy-turvy with its rule of law based democratic governance, fundamental human rights of its composite people in the form of Justice, Equality and Fraternity in tatters with the Constitution of India castrated, election laws and all other public institutions established thereunder to strengthen democracy and public accountability shattered with the emergence of a one man arbitrary and  fascist NDA Union Government. All that without formally tinkering with the Constitution on paper with the Supreme Court and media being complicit in the game of fascist governance. Even Lord Ram, extolled by poet Iqbal as the Imame Hind (Supreme Deity of India), has been appropriated by the Sangh Pariwar as political Ram, making a bonfire of secular polity of the country. Poet Iqbal gave India its best national song, “Sare Jahan Se Achcha Hindustan Hamara……” Even leading lights of Hindus were not invited to the spectacular inauguration ritual. It was a grand spectacle of PM show seemingly enlarged as a mega saint/sage who bestrode on the horizons of India escorting Ram Lalla to his exalted birth place throne.

August 5^thAyodhya grand ritual together with the same date abrogation of special constitutional arrangements with Jammu and Kashmir, demoting the state to two Union Territories, just a year ago, incarcerating all Kashmiris deprived of their civil liberties, human rights and connectivity, considerable loss of livelihood together with criminalization of triple talaq, Prime Minister has given a message that a particular minority community will remain subjugated in his ‘New India’, thus castrating the Constitution of India to plunge entire community in despair of fear, insecurity, deprivation of all rights they have been deriving in keeping with the time tested gold-value idea of India with non-discriminate equality for all citizens amidst unity in their diversity and co-existence. It also intends to deny particular community any place in history and geography of India as can be seen in the divisive CAA/NPR/NRC. August 5^th is thus construed as a landmark of new narrative of an agile new fascism of the 21^st Century by RSS-BJP and their affiliates to downplay the significance of the Independence Day for which the RSS had no role to play.  These with hatred, bigotry towards and mob lynching of minorities and Dalits have ushered India in Hindu Rashtra (majoritarian nation) mould as in Hitler’s Germany.

Country’s economy has dipped to negative growth with the highest unemployment since Independence in 1947 with 14 crore job losses in the failed lockdown alone wherein the PM retreated following the situation slipping out of hands with ever rising Covid-19 pandemic fearing enmasse food riots and public uprising, leaving the state governments to fend for themselves. Number of loss making Central Public Enterprises popularly known as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) rose from 36 PSUs in 2013-14 to 270 PSUs in 2019-20. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a Navratna company, which earned a sustained profit of 119, 000 crores from 2009-10 to 2013-14 dipped to loss making company in 2019-20. This government has not built any assets during last over six years but is out to sell them out to private sector to the disadvantages of the people. Informal sector of national economy, considered largest employers, has been destroyed by failed demonetization. Majority of MSMEs are closed down. Foreign investment as also domestic investments are down to negligible level in view of growing fissures in social and communal harmony, the premises being without peace and social harmony no investments for development comes forth.

With the dismantling of the two national platforms: National Integration Council (NIC) and National Development Council (NDC), presided over by the PM with all Central Ministers, state Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and social and economic affairs wizards on board, the two national fora for brain storming discussions and consensus on national, social and economic policy issues, façade democracy has been destroyed thoroughly in the country. Result has been emergence of one man fascist government that has almost destroyed rule of law based democratic constitutional governance, civil rights of people with freedom of speech, voices of dissent dubbed as anti-national crimes and curbed with iron hands especially in the BIP ruled states. Media has become captive as a tool of official propaganda with a few individual journalists outshining by putting their neck on gallows.

All types of major corruption, political and bureaucratic, has gone up manifold and reached crescendo with no public accountability aided by judiciary having abdicated its onerous role. A coercive device of electoral bonds for donation by corporates to political parties under the veil of secrecy, introduced in the Union Budget in 2017, has helped ruling BJP garner thousands of crores, which has emboldened the party to build massive nationwide infrastructure for itself, besides buying legislators of the duly elected state governments of opposition parties for 25-50 crores each to break the governments, even buying out MLAs of largest elected party at such hefty costs to bolster BJP led coalition in States.

Country’s foreign policy built since Independence based on national consensus has failed completely with all our neighbouring countries turning hostile to India. It is fully centralized in the PM with high rhetorical optics and low on ground with the External Affairs Minister having been dwarfed with little role as country’s image builder abroad.

To conclude, I quote a recent tweet by Kaushik Basu, a former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and currently a professor of economics in an Ivy League University in the USA, who wrote, “All economies are doing badly & India particularly so. It’s likely that the growth in 2020-21 will be the lowest since 1947. The only parallels to such growth were in colonial times. Divisiveness and lack of trust is hurting investment & job creation. Time for major policy initiatives.” This, in sum total, is the grim scenario on all fronts of social and economic activities. Meanwhile, NDA Union Government’s engine of cruelty and oppression rolls on, expanding its maximum-security prisons across the country particularly in BJP ruled states!

Powered by Froala Editor