Modi Times!

Allow me to take you back to that press conference that late Atal ji had called in 2002 when he cancelled all his schedules to travel to an Indian state that was burning in communal violence, mindless killings tainted newspapers and television sets got a coat of deep red. In the court of the people, the state administration had demonstrably done lesser than they could, the apex court, however, I must mention, absolved all from the administration from all charges. You might wonder a PM in a press conference answering questions, was it ever done? Yes, all PMs before Mr Modi used to hold frequent and well-timed press engagements; all of them with the only condemnable exception of Mrs Indira Gandhi who shared particular hate for critical media, with our current head of state. Atal ji, advised Mr Modi, the then CM of Gujrat that he should, follow RajDharma, he went to explain that “ Raja ke liye praja praja me bhed nahi hota! Has Mr. Modi learnt the lesson? If 2019 election speeches are any indication, he has not quite as well as a head of state should have. Political science has been a subject of my interest, I like to read about it and learn about contemporary politics by following prominent politicians. Anna movement, was one such high voltage event, that I could not have missed. I was among many who travelled to Jantar Mantar to express their solidarity with the cause. Thanks to my friends in the media, I also got the opportunity to briefly meet Anna, I paid my respect to the man and said that we were with him, in the few minutes that my friend could squeeze in for me. I was infuriated by the mindless loot and the immoral plunder that Dr Singh led UPA2 had dispassionately unleashed on our beloved country, it felt as though, my own home was being robbed. Filled with rage, I wrote about it and with my feeble & unimportant voice joined the chorus that was gaining momentum by every passing day, the solution looked simple and in sight : Throw congress as far away as possible from the corridor of power. Facts as it stands today, the same court that found Mr Modi and his aids innocent of 2002 killing of innocent Indians, also pronounced some of the scam unfounded. CAG’s adventurism caused nationwide outrage, the gentleman who headed the respected institution then, is now retired and perhaps living a great life, I wish him well.

India, unfortunately, only has 2 parties with a real national presence, naturally, an alternative to Congress-led government was searched in BJP & there the stars were aligned just right for Mr Modi, he got anointed as BJP’s candidate for the top job. Much like how the character of Mr Bachchan emerged as an antiestablishment protagonist in the most successful years of his career, Mr Modi appeared taller and much more formidable than he eventually is being seen today. Indian looked at him with hope, a country that was already frustrated with UPAs misgovernance, did not ask him to work hard to connect with the Indian people. Media lapped him as the ultimate choice and Indian household accepted him as the sole saviour, the true beneficiary of the Anna movement had emerged and captured the imagination of a billion Indian.

The groundswell of support for the unprecedented anti-corruption movement seemed natural, the citizens were out saving India from the clutches of a corrupt coalition government which had acquired the form of a hydra-headed Frankenstein monster which was determined to steal and fleece our democracy. Media played its part too, dedicated headlines to the crusaders, nothing less than most severe punishment seemed fair and India was in no mood to wait for the law to take its own course. CWG blossomed and started throwing into the public domain details which directly implicated high profile ministers of gross misdoings, every other day, scams would get unearthed, every progressive catch was bigger and bolder than the previous one. It all looked unbearable & suffocating. In all this Dr Singh was deliberately and dangerously quite, moving from one patchy story to another without saying anything that could console the mourning nation. In the hearts and the minds of Indian people Manhoman Singh had lost, all credibility. People forgot liberalisations, his efforts that gave Indian economy a chance to compete in the modern world. He became a joke and we unabashedly hated him. We were falling in love with another politician, who seemed pure, clean and impeccable, new beloved of India looked dapper & enthralled people when he spoke, he alone made sense, everyone else was just ‘chor’.  The entire country was salivating for Gujrat and its model of growth: All of this made Modi into an overnight hero, it seems as though he had won even before the election had formally gotten over. The election seemed like a mere formality. Mr Modi, worked really hard, he travelled across the length and breadth of the country, addressed mega rallies, people frustrated with unclean UPA flocked in great number, heard every word Narender uttered with hope and adulation. “Abki baar Modi Sarkar’, “Har har modi .. ghar ghar Modi” .. “NAMO NAMO” echoed in Indian homes, streets, newspaper and even in news studios. Rahul Gandhi’s visible disinterest in politics and laughable utterances, Dr Singh’s deafening silence and Sonia’s Italian origin were all criminal offences, in the minds of an average Indian voter. People turned out in record numbers. Some right meaning journalists like Rajdeep did try waking the Ghost of 2002 but they were shut down, mocked, and even attacked, people (us) deliberately looked the other way. Supreme Court has absolved Mr Modi of all charges for lack of evidence, the courts with whatever was presented to them couldn’t without reasonable doubt establish that Modi administration in Gujrat allowed the riots to spring out of control. The allegation that they willfully slaughter Muslim families were all forgotten. Indian saw Mr Modi as the man who could deliver progress. ‘Vikaspurush’, carefully crafted speeches delivered artfully played on to the public sentiments, Indian voters and Modi became one, in a rare political black swan moment, in which on 60% of the seats BJP got 90% of the votes.  First time in the history of Independent India, we had a non-congress government sworn-in with a clear and unmistakable majority in the lower house. Constitutional formalities were undertaken and Modi became India’s 14^th PM. In the minds of Indians, Indian was well on its way of becoming the golden bird one more time.

That night India slept as relieved as Nehru would have after delivering the iconic ‘Tyrst with destiny’ speech.

Before we could make peace the new occupants of the New Delhi; things began to change really quickly and with it what was once a wave became a whisper of disappointment. Indian discourse changed into some of the below.

Nationalism: The ruling party re-wrote the definitions of nationalism, by adding, machoism, bigotry, jingoism, and majoritarianism and artfully removing secular principles, at least in the narrative that it worked hard to build. People were forced to prove their nationalism, by saying Bharat Maa ki Jai, out loud for no reason, become the barometer for a few and for others it was agreeing to the demand of Hindu nation. Liberal voices, the intellectual questioning and critical proportion of the population were being sent to Pakistan.

Communalisation & Hatred - An incident thereafter, was never an incident alone, it was either a Hindu or a Muslim’s issue and almost always Hindu Vs Muslim. Back in the day being communal was considered bad, the secular viewpoint was the respectable stand. In these 5 years, before any one of us could realise, masses were galvanised, Ghar waspsi was organised, name changing, from ‘an Islamic name to a Hindu name’ became the new normal and before we knew India started aspiring to become a pro-Hindu Nation. People who tried, separating religion from the issues, were considered terrorists, apologists of bad Muslims and even worse, anti-national. Mob lynching and killing on suspicion of beef were no longer rare incidents. All Muslims were terrorists to the supporter of the ruling party and even those Hindu Dalits who for centuries have been deskinning dead cattle were not spared.  

Institutionalisation of Misinformation - Narender questioned 70 years of Congress rule to suggest that they had not contributed to making India. Dead Nehru was dragged back to public discussions, everything that was not right was made to appear as his fault. Whatsapp became a powerful communication platform and the mighty IT cell of the ruling party uses it to its fullest to spread all kinds of bizarre lies, demonising Nehru and efforts were made to erase him from the memories of modern India. Reading and researching have since long been dying in the modern world, superficial hearsay information makes people knowledgable, now. Most industrious are those who type and search on Google if Google throws garbage in the first 10 search results it becomes the gospel of truth for this brigade. Pictures were morphed and lies were spread like nobodies business. Concerted efforts were made to decimate opposition, not just a party, but then the whole concept of active opposition was being attacked.  Online trolls were legitimised by the ruling party which needed not just ground support but also an army on social media.

Media got broken up in two blocks.

1) Modi’s cheerleaders

2) Anti-national, presstitute, swine and what not

Anti questions & subversion of institution: Prime Minister Modi broke away from the tradition of holding press conferences and answering to the Indian people through these media events. It is not that PM was as quiet as the the previous one, in fact, he spoke, more than any other PM in the history of this country but all of it was either a Monologue or a staged programme where people who he would face, would ask questions celebrating his grand personality and greatness of his hard work. Media houses, barring a handful, just stopped being journalists and resumed the role of ruling parties spokespersons. From Prime Time to headlines, every space was dedicated to celebrating the larger than life personality of the PM. Hero worship was in. People who wrote against him were silenced, cornered, driven out of jobs and in rare cases even killed, like the journalist Gauri Lankesh. The economy started to rumble, following the disastrous currency ban but and botched up implementation of GST, with unemployment at a 45 years high, Indian saw 26 lacs open positions and government gagged NSSO data, which led to the resignation of eminent statisticians, two RBI governors walking out, supreme court judges holding press conferences and what not. On one side, the ruling party muted every information that showed its poor performance and on the other side within their party, they shunted all veterans; thus came into existence the Margdarshak Mandal.

Real issues were masked: Poll promises of 2014 were forgotten and Pakistan made entry into the political debate. To the point where PM in his election speeches dedicates 80% of his time to terrorism and even stoops to the level of asking votes in the name of the dead soldiers. Those who raise questions on his all-around unflattering performance are called “DeshDrohis” by his supporters. Farmer Suicides, trade deficits, questionable handling of the Rafale deal, cultivation of hate, mishandling of the Kashmir issue are all unimportant and must be subdued by the chorus that BJP, one of the wealthiest political parties of the world builds. Mr Modi, in this 2014 election speeches, spoke about fighting 2019 election on the report card, he has forgotten it completely instead he now holds a large card with “Hate Pakistan and Muslims” written on it. He had taken an oath that he would set up a special court to fast track the cases pending on MPs, the reality is that in 2019, his party has the maximum % of tainted MPs. He has been in the harshest tone possible condemned dynastic politics but truth is that his party is not different from any other political party in the country, he has gracefully given tickets to 25+ such entitled naamdars. The below tweets summarises the change in Mr Modi’s politics  

BJP : We will ensure implementation of NRC in the entire country. We will remove every single infiltrator from the country, except Buddha, Hindus and Sikhs: Shri @AmitShah #NaMoForNewIndia

My Tweet (@LKstates): Insurgent #Modi #2014 : Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas, Black Money, Jobs, Sec370, Uniform civil code, development, Price rise on fuel!

Incumbent Modi #2019: India Pakistan .. Hindu Mussalman.. Anti National .. Surgical strike.. Nehru .. Congress..

Voters : Achha theek hain, #Vote !

In such a political climate, it is incumbent on we the people of India to decide by voting which story appeals more to us. Do we wish to preserve and protect our democratic right of holding the Government accountable by asking tough and critical questions or should we surrender like most of the Indian media before the almighty political force and let the change of 2014, forever change the construct of our society? This election is when we need to assert our will of keeping India a plural sovereign, of valuing peace and beating the surround sound of rhetoric. You own your vote, spend it wisely!

I continue to reserve my right to ask questions and I shall continue to do so; should you wish to know those questions too, look me up on twitter @LKstates.

 

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

  

Political freedom is not personal liberty!

History opens us up to various ways, we ‘humans’ discovered to organise our existence, from small groups to big countries - these were essentially created to generate order. Initially it was about the most powerful, physically, leading the herd, because then challenges used to be tough and limited to situations that demanded power, for example someone who could lift a fallen tree branch with ease usually used to be the one to lead the group into the forest, but, thankfully, we made progress and devised better ways of leading life, our focus shifted from mechanical difficulties to hurdles that were more complex in nature necessitating application of the ‘mind’, that change, created space for the ones who where sharp and wise to take the centre stage, physical strength receded in the background for a while and sized from being the sole criterion for success in social life.

We made further progress by accepting commonalities of tradition, culture and therefore history - small groups made way for bigger societies.

Many forms of governments came about, from Kingdoms to colonies to arguably the finest form which is Democracy .. may progressive nations embraced it, inspired by USA’s prosperity and the choice that our foresighted leaders made, India when it got its independence made no mistake in accepting to abide by its fundamental principle to build a nation that will be free and progressive and thrive on principles of equality and plurality. 

70 years, ever since we attained our political freedom, struggle for personal liberty is yet not over! When I say this, I do not wish to argue that we do not enjoy ‘freedom of speech’ or that fundamentals of our nation is in anyway is against it - we are in a free political system, we get to vote, we can challenge from citizens to governments in the court of law etc.. but are we free to pursue our choices is the question, I shall try and explore with you.

A democracy can’t function without rule of law .. after all, there is a need for order and equality but should the same law be allowed to become a medium of subversion of personal liberties? Progressive India of 2016 has many such instances, that in an unequivocal way underlines the systematic invasion of personal freedom prevalent in our politically free society - mentioning a few sad examples to put things in perspective.

#BeefBan - There is a law that prohibits certain states within our country from consuming a food item, which isn’t hazardous in any way, is a rich and poor man’s source of protein but hurts religious beliefs of a community that happens to be in majority and sentiments of a few who don’t see beyond obvious. What does it result into- a BAN, what about freedom of those who would like to eat it? Which part of our democracy is not working? Why is it not being challenged?

#HomosexualityBan -Decriminalisation of Sec 377 was followed by a quick decision to overturn the previous ruling rendering it criminal again, is glaring proof of the fact that, there is a section in our society which believes that time has come for the law to recognise these as legitimate choices that people wish to make, still the final ruling found more merit in the argument that seems to have not progressed since the ice age - result, freedom denied to those who wanted to exercise it.  

#NationalAnthem made mandatory before screening of movies - The rationals of this judgment has given an edge to those, who to end discussion, pop ‘nationalism’ to every single imaginable situation. These are the same people who belatedly compare hardships of common people with life of a soldier to bring home the point that we must all suffer without complaining or trying to change things because nation is important and paramount - Love for the nation has been transformed into a duty towards the state, in which rests all power -  an obligation, failing to which, is going to attract punitive action, not just by the court of law but almost immediately by the fringe vigilantes who now have a SC ruling to support their misguided narrative of nationalism.

Where are we heading? Will over use of national anthem not kill the emotional appeal making it mundane and meaningless to many?

Well, actually speaking no one will ever debate against the need to value one’s country and duty to respect its integrity but to make that argument sound extra patriotic and holy, should we have to give up on personal liberty? My view is certainly NOT!

If I don’t wish to stand when the national anthem is being played .. it doesn’t make me any less Indian, If I wish to have beef biriyani for lunch ..I’ not a criminal, if someone’s sexual orientations are not in line with the majority thinking, it doesn’t make them offenders - in principle, but in the eyes of law- it does, sadly - and that is why I say, political independence is not a grantee of personal liberty, even in great democracies like ours. 

There is a need for us to get democratic in true sense of the word .. where we start according freedom to Ideas that don’t match with the popular or prevalent views, we must create enough space within our discourse for newer and radical thoughts to germinate freely - How else do we progress from being a demo democracy to a truly free society?

Remember dissent keeps democracy breathing - the question is what does it really require?

if it requires civil disobedience, we must legitimately be allowed to protest peacefully, without being called anti nationals or put behind bars because law makers and enforcer are hand in gloves in killing what essentially is the soul of free society - ‘free thinking’. Let people decide what they wish to eat, how they wish to live, which religion they wish to follow, they should have the freedom to challenge customs, deny & defy norms, not by going against the law of the land but by starting a discussion which suggests an alternative way of living, perhaps more free, open and progressive.

Without these liberties .. being free is being as free as is a bird within the rims of its cage.

Leaving you with this thought.