Poor, the lesser Indian!

The bloody virus has plagued every aspect of our lives, in ways that we do not even fully comprehend, yet. Our exploratory endeavors educate us of something new, progressively incriminating about the pathogen- we lose to it, every day! But as we’re wired to suppose - we keep reminding ourselves of the need to be patient and to concentrate on our collective survival strengths. We keep reiterating to ourselves that- "we, the humans, are the most superior of all God’s creations and that we will emerge triumphant from it". And it is not entirely suspicious to swear by such a principle if our evolutionary chronicles are any indication, we have indeed withstood. But what is also true and should not be reduced to a ‘nihilism rant’ is that not all of us ever have. Every tragedy claims its share of humans before it fancies to bid us goodbye. So, in that sense, we suffer even when we eventually win.

I sincerely hope and pray that the war against the virus ends in the favour of humankind, sooner than later!

But I can’t possibly overlook, those who have already lost more than they can ever recover, in this fight for no fault of theirs. If independent reports are to be believed those who have succumbed to the stress of displacement, cruel destitution, and painful starvation have far outnumbered victims of COVID19 infection (as recorded in the books of the Government), thus far. At this stage, it will be being unkind to the truth, to escape stating that various journalistic reports have called to question the authenticity of the figures that our elected representatives are putting in the public domain. BBC reports and various other local publications have pointed to alleged underreporting of COVID19 infections and even deaths. The credibility of the Indian administration with respect to the data that it publishes has suffered a huge blow, since they were found tinkering with GDP formula, censoring unemployment figure and subverting farmer suicide data. Assult of truth and facts from the current administration has been so apparent and brazen that Indian PM is often found on the wrong side of the truth when fact-checked; his commentary on India's screening of foreign travelers, providing help to the poor, etc have been very unbecoming of the chair that he holds.

We're the only democracy in which the PM has held ZERO press conference in the last 6 years. Even the horrific COVID19 crisis hasn't qualified in being a worthy enough reason for him to take a break from his resolute abstention of responding to free questioning by the press. This is not to say that he has been silent or absent. He did address the nation, thrice 'spoke a great deal' without saying anything substantive, let along explaining, the burning issues of the current crisis. In fact, his monologues have more in common with his election speeches than giving the nation details of the work that is being done to ward off the risks that the virus brings to the health, wellbeing, and the economy of the country. A few of those questions are:

Why India is among the lowest testing countries? Even the rogue state of Pakistan tests more than we do on a per million basis.

How have we ramped up the medical infrastructure in the lockdown?

What is the nation doing about 162 million people who have lost jobs in the last two months?

Why did he host the US President ignoring the COVID19 threat? We know the heavy price that the city of Ahmedabad is paying his unconcerned and ill-advised showmanship.

Why did the parliament keep running, in March?

How is India responding to the gravest humanitarian crisis that it has faced since partition?

Why has the mighty Indian state forgotten its poor?

When he talks about social distancing why does he not acknowledge that only 5% of Indian households have a room per person? Why does he forget that 18% of the Indian homes have less than 6 feets space between two walls?

When it is being advised that washing hands can save lives, why does he forget that 100 million Indians do not have access to clean water and that 13% of Indian cities are water negative?

India gets its dose of information from a junior IAS officer and occasional sound bites from the health minister. ICMR does its thing too, but they are a body of science and not a communication agency, so I take what comes out of their announcement in that light. There have been over 4.5K guidelines and clarification that have been issued from the Govt on how they wish to conduct the lockdown - such a messy response does not inspire confidence and signals toward lack of organization.

We still do not know why the Govt kept saying that Masks are not essential for common people till March end?

Why does it still publicize Aayush Ministry tips of warm water etc when there is zero scientific evidence of it helping the COVID situation?

You’d wonder why I bring the Government and the PM in the stands; there are two reasons for it. 

I still believe, naively though, that we’re a democracy, in which an ordinary citizen can hold its elected establishment and head of state to account. By asking questions and demanding accountability. 

Secondly, I believe that democracies have worked thus far because, essentially, all democracies shape their character around the principles of citizen welfare. A system in which the state does not become the heartless, evil, and ignorant tax collecting BIG BROTHER but a compassionate friend with social responsibilities towards its citizens. Inequality of opportunity, disproportionate distribution of wealth, social injustice, and lack of individual capacity of the citizen to solve structural problems, makes the idea of electing Governments romantic to the common masses. 

Constitutional representative democracies promise the voiceless a say in the process. It is supposed to be transparent, participative, and nondiscriminatory, everyone above a certain age is allowed to cast their ballot. A careful examination of the demographic of those who vote, reveals that people who are in the bottom half of the economic and social pyramid are the most obedient and responsible in the discharge of their democratic obligations. The bottom half of this country is acquiescent and submissive; they vote, they follow all the rules... most of the time, pay all the taxes and expect virtually nothing in return, and yet, with every progressive election, all they get is a raw deal. They’re also often on the receiving end of police brutality, harassment by local municipal authorities and the insensitive ‘Hafta’ collecting local goons. Every party, all politicians, without any exception, appeals to them, beg for their support and yet forget them after reaching the corridors of power. In the entire political history of independent India, you would not find one incident where a leader would have eloquently not expressed their compassion for the poor.

“For the people, of the people and by the people”; we are the world's largest democracy, a matter of pride for us. When we mention this to our friends in China, Russia, and UAE, they envy us. By way of the introduction we say, we come from a land of progressive, liberal, and humanitarian values, one that is egalitarian, just and runs on the rule of law. We flash ‘freedom of speech’ as a badge of honor. We tell the nondemocratic world we can openly and without any fear, question, criticize, not just the current rulers but also those who were the founding fathers of our nation - such is the tolerance of our society.   

But are we though? 

What formed the defining moment/ picture of the great republic of India, in the last 90 days? Crisis does not weaken us; it only exposes our weakness, which we are either unaware of or we deliberately and deviously ignore. 

I do not wish to present the 'chronology' of events that followed the first confirmed COVID19 case in our country, I assume, quality newspapers (there are not very many of them left, I trust The Hindu though) would have kept you adequately informed. Blinded by his affection for theatrics and his commitment to the principle of 'ruling by shock and awe' our PM locked our continent size country of 1.3 billion people in a heartbeat; he gave the nation a notice of 4 hours. This perceptively resulted in an overnight loss of livelihood for a vast majority of this country; scores of poor people who have already endured the suffering of demonetization, botched up GST implementation, high decibel continuous hate narrative, and limping slow growth on the economy - were left hanging in the balance. They were quietly pushed out of work and thus they had to take to the treacherous roads back home.  

They asked for nothing, no favors as such: any more than transport back home. These hardworking and honest Indians were ready to pay for it as well. But a government drunk on power, that does not get tired in repeating the delusional 5 trillion dollar economy target by 2024, choose to look the other way. Painful visuals of tens and thousands of people walking inhumanly long stretch home on foot with their belongings filled virtually every corner of social media and some portion of the TV news as well. Responsible newspapers and media outlets outraged about it and yet nothing. Well-meaning people knocked at the door of the supreme court and in the first go, the court seemed convinced by the false and utterly shameful argument that the Govt presented in its defense, in April. It said that people are not on the roads and those who are have been instigated by the media. Modi administration even tried using this opportunity to censor and silence the reporting. 

In the meanwhile, the number of helpless and hapless Indians on the highways and roads kept swelling. Civil society/NGOs extended a helping hand. But the capacity of kindness and charity from ordinary citizens does not stand a chance against the restrictions imposed by the mighty state; as a result, things kept getting worse. Heart-wrenching and mind-numbing videos of mothers rolling their kids on broken suitcases, kids cycling their parents across hundreds of KMs, pregnant women being carried on a cart, a lady giving birth to a child while on the journey and then resuming her walk back home anew within hours of delivering a child - filled the mind space of concerned citizens. It cluttered the idea of shiny new India that our rulers want us to believe in.

Add block

Credible international media outlets and a handful of Indian journalists kept showing truth to the power but nothing changed in the all of April and May 2020. 

40+ days into the disaster, news of people dying in inhuman conditions started trickling from all corners of the country. The horrifying accident which killed 11 people on the railway tracks; traumatized the conscience of the country. The tragic incident caused massive outrage in response to which our uncaring and unconcerned Govt announced: some trains and a few buses which were nowhere even close to demand and to make matters worse, they started charging the poor and desperate people even more than the usual fare. The monster was raging at the poor.

Some more outrage got added to the already growing clamor in support of those who were dying and facing the hardship of their lifetime. Financially weak people were robbed of their dignity and were forced to beg. They have no option but to survive on the mercy of charity. In the meanwhile, our PM was busy with his ‘maan ki baat’ and rolling out carefully considered and crafted support consolidation campaigns in which he asked citizens to clap and light Diyas: he gave it the cover of appreciation of COVID warriors.

The country obliged!

Deaths in trains and on the roads became an everyday affair. The opposition proposed to pay for those stranded and then the Govt woke to the possible loss of confidence, that it might cause if the opposition succeeded in helping the poor. The Supreme court too, many say, woke from the long slumber and ordered free transport, food, and water for these citizens, in the last week of May 2020 (this crisis, mind you, began in the last week of March 2020). In the meanwhile, citizens continue to suffer. Democracy is messy and hard but it works when citizens try to make it work. We hope that with Apex court's strong observation, things will get better for those impacted.

We need to analyze the role of the middle class and the rich in this nation, too. 

The indifference of the government does not hurt me as much as the apathy of the middle class and absolute denunciation of the poor, shown by the rich of this country. We, the privileged top 1% of the country, kept tweeting endlessly about how we miss our lives. Some showcased their culinary skills, others binged watched offerings of the OTT till they hated watching any other publication. Many of us picked up new hobbies and also brushed old ones, reconnected with our families, flaunted our riches in every imaginable way by participating in all kinds of mindless challenges on social media. In short, we indulged, while our fellow citizens went without food and water for days on end.

While we worked from home, little did we care about those who built our homes and guard them, those who helped us move around the cities and assisted us in our kitchens? We ignored them as though poor walking on the streets was some kind of pathogen that would infect us too. Our collective morality was as present as the prompt help of the government. Bapu's India happily denounced all its social responsibilities.

I am not overly generalizing, and I am in the know that some of us may have continued to pay our staff and cared about their wellbeing but we were a minuscule minority because if we all or most of us cared, our road would not have witnessed blisters on soles of 5 years old from walking the walk of death. Our governance template is democratic for sure but the social fabric of compassion that holds human values together has certainly been battered. There is no way in which innate class biases, hate, and disregard for the underprivileged can lead us to a better and brighter future, history teaches us that. Our future is more collective than we acknowledge. Capital security that has insulated us from the damage thus far may not always be as intact and solid as it is today and should fate were to look the other way would we ever like to be on the road barefoot under the scorching sun unaided is the questions that I’d like to leave you with?

Do think!

Till we meet again!

Pulwama, Modi and 2019!

In the video that was uploaded minutes before the ghastly, horrendous, inhuman, & despicable act of targeting the convoy, the illiterate sinister idiot is found calling out to those who he thinks see faith and God like he does to unite in a war to put India in chains to punish and to kill those who worship in ways different from his own. He calls out to his God, at least 8 times asserts that his God wants him and his men to succeed in this religious war. All the Gods that I know from my own religion and various others that I’ve observed thriving peacefully in the countries that I have had the good fortune of being in have, love, compassion, respect, and coexistence at the very core of its philosophies. I do not know of one religion that believes in killing innocents, in being on constant war to free the world of the other kinds of humans. So, I have no hesitation in concluding that whoever that son of *****  is hallucinating to be his God is perhaps just as big a shit head, a total loser, a stinking blot on the entire history of faith.

Strangely, most unfoundedly and momentarily they seem to be winning and that is perhaps the biggest tragedies of our times. No one knows what their exact number is, what do they look like, where do they hide, what do they do when they are not killing people. But if we were to imagine that they are only a minuscule part of the humankind alive at the moment, about half a percent of all living beings, they are not only evil but also a big enough force to cause the rest of us regrettable huge harms. These people are well funded, trained and motivated by their religion to kill, they do not seem to know any other way. They see killing others as a spontaneous act, an act as natural let say as thanking someone who hands us a bottle of water when we are thirsty.  These religious fanatics are being used as tools of destruction by their political masters to whatever the hell that they wish to achieve; so far it remains largely unknown and unclear.

If we were to put all major terrorists’ attacks that have happened in last half a century together; we would find one common thread, that is; perpetrators wish to kill everyone who doesn’t worship their GOD. So, we can’t help but acknowledge the role that religion plays in all of this. To that immoral and inhuman form of religion, we must all give it all that we have to fight, reject and finish, totally and completely.

2019 general election is just around the corner, stakes are understandably high. Not sure if it suffices to say that I was among those who celebrated BJPs victory in 2014, Mr. Modi’s anointment as the prime ministerial candidate by the challengers in 2014 election said a lot about, what they wanted to bring to the equation. Many firsts were created in the last general election, with nearly 32% of the overall ballots, Amit Shah and Modi together created a historic majority government. From the announcement of victory to a few months later, when India got to smell the coffee, everything looked rain washed green and pleasant, from Modi kissing the steps of the parliament to his moving speech in which he unveiled the noble clean India project, it all looked ethereal. Perfect to the point of appearing unreal but with every passing month and with every progressive parliamentary session truth and inexperience of Modi’s administration started gaining weight and size, every decision that he took disillusioned the country. Series of misadventures marred India’s prospect one after the other, the very common man that celebrated untimely Diwali on his swearing-in ceremony died in ATM queues trying to withdraw their own money. Demonetisation was not only ill-advised, poorly executed but as we learn now completely ineffective too. The move cost India Rs 3 lakh crore in GDP growth and wiped out over 25 lakh jobs almost magically. Those affected sadly were the weak and marginalised. I wrote an article then on it, will link it down below for you to read, should it interest you.

Mont Blanc pen carrying, ever traveling, well-groomed and swell spoken son of poor India, seemed trying hard towards imprinting his policies irreversibly on the social fabric by generously giving away cooking gas, but India soon paid through it nose by fulling their tanks with costliest vehicular fuel ever bought in this country. Commendable abolishment of triple talaq soon lost its music in the growing clamor of social injustice and pervasive moral policing by the strong man from RSS and other equally ill-conceived and poisonous associations that had enough reasons to believe that they have the PM’s blessing. They went on a witch hunt of beef, cows got the center stage. Vigilantes wreaked havoc on again those who were not particularly wealthy or known. Poor people were targeted and beaten to death for de-skinning dead cattle from the whole nonsense was born the infamous Patel movement. Modi erected the highest statue of all times in India in respect of the man who we all love and admire but with it also climbed joblessness to a record high number in last 15 year or wait there is no official figure because the real report was taken back as it did not bear the color to the taste of the current rulers.

The re-introduction of unpopular and unhealthy long terms capital gains tax coupled with sloppy implementation of GST has left the business class wondering in wild and mounting insecurities. Current regime has been a failure in controlling terrorism but has quite successfully launched its own tax terror using its majority, the surreptitious levy of Swachh Bharat, education and Krishi Kalyan cess along with the reduction of interest rates on savings to a low of 3.5% is clear enough proof of the fact that: Modi doesn’t have the middle class in mind.

Let me not even bring to light, India’s performance on the hunger index and how severely have we suffered as a nation on education, % of college dropouts are also on a rise. When you look at the number of teachers and doctors that this country needs and what it has it will give you no solace either, but his government expects people to sell pakoras and smile, every time he flies on our money to forcefully hug other world leaders. The brand Modi, even if it was shining on the diplomatic scene wouldn’t have mattered much to everyday India like me, the reality is that no indicator says that even on that we have scored much. If Modi’s 56-inch chest persuaded China to withdraw its veto from notorious Masood Azhar letting him labeled a global terrorist, we would have thought endless and mindless foreign trips have resulted in something valuable and perhaps Pulwama would have got avoided too.

India had its issues before Modi, and it continues to have them after his near completion of the 1st term in office too. If performance is any measure Modi is not the answer that we should seek in 2019. At least I would not. What is then the alternative? Well, not having Modi at the helm doesn’t necessarily mean clown led Congress in the lower house. Papu is old and boring and therefore clown, the prowess of his sister is also equally questionable, so that is not an alternative for sure. India needs a stable government for steady growth. It surely does but considering the scenarios where BJP despite its shortcomings is likely to emerge as the largest single party in 2019, I pray that they fall short of majority by a decent margin so that their arrogance and misgovernance is kept in balance by the other party or parties that will side with them to rule India into another term. Then BJP or if it is, unfortunately, Modi again, they will be dithered from creating situations that leave the supreme court judges to come out in the press asking for justice. It will at least make sure that unsuitable people are not rewarded with positions, someone like Rahul Mahajan doesn’t get to lead Prasar Bharti. It should keep a tight watch on making sure that someone with doubtable academic history doesn’t get to become the HRD minister only to be removed quickly to set the public narrative right.

Like in 2011 little did India know that a third term CM will become the PM. Let’s hope that someone waiting in the wings emerges to become an ordinary PM who makes a serious attempt to solve the problems of the ordinary people without grandstanding. India needs a PM who doesn’t carry out a surgical strike to televise the move, swing sentiments and win UP but one that systematically addresses the core issues and ends this massacre once and for all. If stats are to be believed, all the deaths caused by Kashmir aggregated will total up to a number bigger than the population of many European cities. Kashmir is a chronic issue and now seems to have turned terminal, I in my limited wisdom can’t suggest a solution but I do find a lot of value in what poet and professor Dr. Hariom Pawar has to say, listen in his poem.

Poem : कश्मीर को दान करो या गद्दारों से युद्ध करो।।

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkoK-2VBbw

We helplessly mourn Pulwama today, just as badly as we did for Uri, Baramulla, Handwara attack at Rashtriya riffles camp, Nagrota Attack, Sukma attack, Bhopal–Ujjain Passenger train bombing, Amarnath Yatra attack,  Sunjuwan attack and all other 100+ such incidents that have happened since June 1980. Political theatric plays out loud and the cries of every death get subdued in the noise of daily everyday life, we move on and wake up again when some more die .. pause for a few days, cry, get angry abuse and then move on.

This must change!!

Study this link to see how horrible has the history of attacks has been :

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_India

Please do contribute as much as you can towards the funds established by various organisations to help the sad bereaved families of brave soldiers.

May peace prevail.

Article as promised 

Title: Demonetisation, It's not only about economics!

Link: https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2016/12/demonetisation-it-not-only-about.html

  

Free Speech - Status check!

Absolutism is the virtue that applies to Freedom, if freedom is not absolute, It is anything but free! When it comes to free speech, I’m a not only a big supporter but also a fan of the concepts. Given the realities of our times it is all the more important that we have nothing less than free speech. Look at it, we live in a world that is watched over by cameras, run on web, every tiny detail is in the public domain. And here don’t you make the mistake of thinking if you are not a Facebook check in addict you’re discreet  When you pay digitally you leave an impression which is not only recorded but is also traceable- this is one of the many ways in which what you’re eating, what you plan to buy are all floating in thin air! I do not mean to discourage you from going digital. Because anything which is offline is making little or no sense in today’s world where between confidentiality & convenience- the obvious choice for many in most matters is the later. So, by all means you must & you should be digital. Mr. Modi has been spearheading this change initiative and it is only fair that we Indians support our PM when he is trying to bring about a positive change.

Traditionally, those in power have not openly denounced absolutism in free speech - everyone from Pundit Nehru to Narendra Modi have on occasions more than one made public speeches, even written articles supporting it. And as a nation we are making progress, one can’t deny that! Regulations such as RTI bought in Dr. Singh’s regime, to an extent does extend the power to the common man to know things which they do not have direct access to (well, the debate on validity of items exempted from this act is for another day – right to privacy is also what is dear to us). But is knowing enough? At a personal level perhaps it is all that is needed but when we talk of a society essentially thriving on exchange of all kinds - from goods to money to Ideas to even identities in some cases ..only knowing is not good enough! Let’s me give you an example if Mahatma Gandhi kept the knowledge of power of truth and non-violence to himself would we have managed to get out of the clutches of British oppressors? The answer to that question is simple- NO, we wouldn’t have. It was needed that he communicated the goodness to other people, he used the twitter of then – Radio, Newspaper, magazines apart from every effective deployment of public meetings, prayer gathering to reach masses to ‘network’ to gather support for his ideas - and we have today a whole nation to ourselves.

 

So, knowing alone is never enough. Communication of what is known is knowledge when kept relevant. Then we come to that aspect of free speech that is often debated and discussed in societies which are progressive and consultative. How much should be allowed? Well, if you are wanting to regulate you’re not a supporter of free speech, very clearly! For two reasons, when we allow people to speak their minds freely without fear or pressure, we not only let ideas out but also get to know how good or bad our knowledge or morals are.

 Let’s take an example -  when an MLA is allowed to freely say - “Cow is the only animal that exhales oxygen and that cow dung can neutralise radioactive substances". We know it for sure the level of education and general awareness is so pathetic in our county, so we know that there is work to do! Had our man not been allowed to say what he believed in we wouldn’t have possibly understood that gap that exists - therefore it is important to let people say what they have to, even if what they are saying is stupid or plain dumb.

 

The other aspect is shouldn’t we draw lines as people have often misused the right to free speech by spreading misinformation, abusing people, hurting and insulting sense and sensibility of others on purpose. These are valid concerns. Some may not like to have jokes about Jains eating potatoes, or Sardars having common sense or Biharis being well groomed etc . But if we take everything out, what are we going to joke about? Or in other words express our discontent/observations, freely? A good way of looking at a situation like this is comparing it with food options available at a 5-star restaurant - it offers all kinds of food, veg and non-veg, Indian, Chinese and Mongolian and other kinds but do we choose all? No, we don’t, we eat whatever suits our taste. Same should be the case with free speech and insult, take only what suits your taste ignore the rest and like you do not ask to ban an eatery that also sells food that you don’t like, you shouldn't go crazy after those who say things which doesn’t sound nice or appropriate to you. People must and should have the right to say whatever they wish to.

 

Those who want to gag free voices, more often than not – take refuge in hate speeches to say that regulation is a societal need.

Free speech on ‘hate speeches’? As a county we have seen enough instances of violence and public disorder which were cause by motor mouth hate mongers. They on purpose have said and done things which have hurt sensibilities of people who in turn have raged causing severe damage to the state and society. Goes without saying, we shouldn’t let a hate monger walk free inciting uncalled for disturbance but to say that you can’t hate anything is as logical as is the statement that peacocks breed on sweat. 

 

Nothing can justify putting those who say things you do not like to permanent silence of death, in any society . In past 2 weeks, we have seen noted thinkers and writers being tortured & then murdered. If we were to believe the report, since 2013 in UP alone more than 200 journalists have been killed? What does it say about the state of free speech in our country? We must never forget that we live in a great country, it provides for, all of our needs. But that does not mean that we as citizens shouldn’t question the very well-being of the very nation we call home. One and all should be allowed to say whatever they have to. Killing a writer or silencing a contrarian view will never do this country any good!

 

Let us not forget, death is not the end! Mahatma was killed but his values continue to live and guide people around the world, even today!