It is a nasty truism that the finest political humour is found in dictatorships. It festers nicely in whispers and the thrill of danger. Travels in the generals’ Pakistan and the unravelling Eastern Bloc taught me this.
The current situation in India brings back to me a familiar joke in the Soviet Union’s last years. Lenin, Stalin, Brezhnev and Gorbachev were travelling in a luxury saloon on a train across Siberia. At some point in the middle of the vast emptiness, the train stopped. There was no track further ahead. So, what to do now?
Lenin said let’s collect some villagers from nearby and sing ‘The Internationale’ and the workers will happily lay the rest of the track. Stalin said, this is stupid. Do get those people, but shoot a few and the rest will do the job, happily or not. Gorbachev suggested he find a phone to reach his friend Ronald Reagan for advice. Brezhnev, silent so far, looked up and said, Lulz! There is so much vodka in the saloon. Keep sipping and presume the train is moving.
Now look at the situation in our country today. With coronavirus numbers and deaths going up and up, all economic indicators crashing down and down, and the Chinese being the Chinese, we have the Prime Minister and his government producing one new slogan after another. Hoping to ride a ‘hawa’ of grand distraction.
It goes from the rediscovery of Atmanirbhar Bharat wrapped in Make in India, pisciculture revolution, hiring of a consultant for a $1 trillion Uttar Pradesh economy, ban on Chinese apps, claims of lowest per million cases and deaths from Covid and, of course, an endless celebration of a booming economy when the reality is the opposite.
How is it any different from Brezhnev asking his top comrades to presume the train is moving even when there is no track ahead? Just that there is no vodka here. At least not free, sarkari vodka.
Since this column appears simultaneously with ThePrint in India’s finest financial daily, Business Standard, as well, I am diffident talking economic data. Especially because T.N. Ninan’s ‘Weekend Ruminations’, published simultaneously, is so rich with it. But, we are looking at a 23.9 per cent contraction in the first quarter of this year. Economist Arvind Panagariya, who I respect immensely, argues with much merit that the steep decline is mostly Covid-linked. But, two questions follow.
What was the GDP growth trend in the two years prior to the novel coronavirus being identified? India had already had four successive quarters of growth decline. It is as if a train rolling down without power or brakes now suddenly hit the end of the track (read pandemic). Before we think the ‘day after’ the virus, we need to remember where we were headed the day before. The virus didn’t reverse our direction. It accelerated our decline.
Also read: Govt needs to be scared out of complacency & Q1 contraction could do that, Raghuram Rajan says
The pandemic has been described as an ‘act of God’ and, whether or not it is a justification to deny the states their anticipated share of the GST, it is a fact. It is also true that the Modi government, unlike Donald Trump, Boris Johnson or Jair Bolsonaro, can’t be accused of taking it too lightly.
If anything, you might say it over-reacted. That the lockdown was too early and too total and the call of ‘jaan hai, toh jahaan hai’ contributed to the panic that saw millions of migrant workers walk back home and take the virus to the interiors. But, all of that is now, with the benefit of hindsight.
There are other issues with its handling of the crisis. Too much centralisation has probably led to many failures, lack of trust in states, remote-control by the Centre. That power and responsibility should have devolved to the states much earlier.
Even now, there is no real justification for the Disaster Management Act to continue. So heady can such unfamiliar powers be that even a usually staid and understated scientific institution like the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) deludes itself into writing firmans with a few weeks’ deadlines for a vaccine. The primary diagnosis here has to be, when the medical scientists catch bureaucratitis.
Again, you have to be fair to say that it wasn’t the Modi government that invited or provoked China. The Chinese decided to move in because they saw India in Covid crisis and with a declining economy at a time when the world, especially the US, is distracted. I have argued in this column earlier that it may be Xi’s response to India’s changes in Kashmir on 5 August 2019, and the reassertion of the claim on Aksai Chin. It is definitely a possibility and you might argue that it wasn’t a risk worth taking. But that’s your view.
Its handling of the Chinese threat, however, has been realistic. The military has been given reasonable tactical freedom, official and political rhetoric is controlled, and an unwise response like Nehru’s in 1962, under pressure or in anger, has been avoided. So, what are we complaining about?
If India is being strangled by this triple crisis, we have to remember what it started from. Which takes us back to the economy and that ‘the day before’ question. India’s economic growth was looking brilliant until 2017. The recovery post 2011 had been quite significant. What went wrong then? Who shot through the wheels of the economy? Or, who removed the rails in the middle of nowhere while the train was gathering pace nicely?
This is what will take you to the most important man-made element of this complex situation. Whatever Covid may have done March onwards, we cannot blame God or the Chinese for the stalling of our own economic growth. It was a series of unthinking, and poorly war-gamed decisions — from demonetisation to instability in the Reserve Bank to indecision on PSU banks and more — that already had our growth down to levels we thought we had left behind in the 1980s. Then, self-defeating return to protectionism. Even Panagariya, no critic of this government, said to me in our conversation on ThePrint’s Off The Cuff that this protectionism would shave up to two percentage points from our growth.
Also read: India is paying higher costs for its Covid crisis than we know yet
If there is one thing a nation and its government need in times of such intense, multiple and intertwined crises, it is political space and confidence. It needs a reality check internally on whether it has created the best possible environment for itself to deal with these issues. Or, is it so deluded by Modi’s cast-in-titanium image that it couldn’t care less?
In this column, I have argued repeatedly over a decade now how India is now at its most secure, internally and externally. To a child of the crisis-ridden 1960s, this has been a wonderful feeling. Does it still feel so?
There are important reversals. Externally, India faces an active two-front situation with some of the other neighbours too getting impatient over one thing or the other. Of course, the Chinese are up to their games there, but why wouldn’t they?
Now, there might be limitations to what any government may be able to do with a hostile neighbourhood and international environment. But, must the constant combat of domestic politics also rage at the same time? India has had a stellar record of closing ranks when faced with an external challenge, except now. This responsibility does not lie with the opposition.
When you face a threat at the borders, a much stronger army carrying live ammunition, the first thing you do is suspend hostilities at home. In the old days, we would call the National Integration Council. We know there are Bihar and West Bengal elections and MP by-elections coming up. But, in a time of crisis like this, a government needs its people and politics united. A nation of India’s size and diversity can’t fight a stronger rival with fraying social cohesion. I know it is virtue signalling, but can we forget our divisive politics for a few months and focus on these crises? The onus is entirely on the prime minister and his government.
Also read: Indian economy is heading for a K-shaped recovery and it won’t be a pretty sight
Great site to read. Worth the time. Do YOU know a College Student? More help with their written assignments needed than ever before. Tell them about Essays Unlimited. They can assist with this problem.
Dear Moderators,
The moderation unit at The Print has apparently abdicated its responsibilities. I am appalled at the fact that the comments of a certain “rasgolla” have been published, despite the hate speech he indulges in.
Rasgolla generalises from the behaviour of some violent adherents of Hindutva, generalises that to all Hindus and posits that violence and hatred are the only things that Hindus are capable of. That is a dangerous fallacy and a false equivalence being set. As an Indian Muslim, I know that the vast majority of Hindus would go out of their way to help other human beings in distress. And as a member of the Muslim minority within the larger Muslim minority in India, I will anyday prefer to live in Hindu majority India than in any Muslim country. I simply do not recognise the Hindu that Rasgolla portrays in his hate-filled posts. I firmly believe that Hindutva, the ideology of Savarkar & Golwalkar, is not Hinduism.
As a patriotic Indian and a true Muslim, it is my duty to defend my Hindu brethren when uncouth individuals like Rasgolla unleash their unbridled hatred on my fellow Indians who are Hindus. We need less hate, not more. And people who spread hate like Rasgolla ought to have been stopped a long time ago by the moderators.
My entreaty to the moderators at the Print:
Please screen the comments for hate speech and expunge comments of the type that Rasgolla makes here. Rasgolla is a boorish, Hindu hating bigot who cannot debate without spewing hate. And as a Muslim, I hate the poison he is spreading and find people like him revolting.
PLEASE STOP THIS BIGOT RASGOLLA NOW.
Thank you.
Dear Moderating team,
The subject matter touched upon by an esteemed and a regular commenter on theprint.in comments forum, Kili Jolsiyar, in his direct address to the moderators in this column, provided me with the much-needed impetus to write to you about the disgraceful comments-writing activity being indulged in by yet another regular commenter, identified as rasgolla, but who has an inherent and deep hatred for my fellow brethren Hindus, and which hatred he/she tries to promote by his/her outwardly well-written and seemingly based on facts submissions. I may not be a well-read person or capable of doing appropriate social analyses, but I am a well-intended person who strongly feels that no section of the people as a whole should be singled out, hated, condemned, held responsible, or foolishly assigned the reformative task for the “wrongs” perpetrated by the minority percentage of that section. His/Her concluding line in one of his/her comments below in this section, which says, “I understand, you will vote for a monkey, if Hindu.” is highly objectionable and simply not acceptable. This is no gentlemanly writing, no matter how knowledgeable he may consider himself/herself to be. This reflects deep, and out and out hate, which needs to be blunted brutally. Rest can follow later.
Hence I request the moderating authorities to look into this matter urgently and seriously, and ensure that such hate-filled and humanity-shaming comments do not find their way onto the comments forum. Thank you very much.
Mr. Murtada, the comment ‘I understand, you will vote for even a monkey, if Hindu’ was written to Mr. Harry.
It does not say Hindus are monkeys, it says Mr. Harry who supports ‘Hindus before anything’ will vote for a monkey if it says it is Hindu. To which Mr. Harry agrees !
Mr.. Harry writes proudly : ‘Yes. We have been voting for monkeys like Jawahar, Indira, Rajiv, Sonia etc.’
Mr. Harry added : ‘Yes. Hindus who align with you guys are monkeys, while you guys are pigs.
and further he wrote ‘If Hindus like Nehru in 1947 were smart, and not monkeys ,you would be writing from Rawalpindi or Islamabad, not from India.’
The proudest Hindus like Mr. Harry actually call the best Hindus like Nehru monkeys, and that does not enrage you ! So you are missing the point here.
You and Mr. Kili need to read – and understand. You need to raise your grasping power. If Mr. Harry is not offended and he agrees with me, why are you offended ? Maybe The Print understands better than you or Mr. Kili.
On your remark that ‘no section of the people as a whole should be singled out, hated, condemned, held responsible, or foolishly assigned the reformative task for the “wrongs” perpetrated by the minority percentage of that section.’, let me tell you that the Allied powers held the German Nazi party members responsible and instituted reformative tasks for the wrongs perpetrated by the minority percentage of that section.
It is not a minority percentage who is endorsing fascism in India. And when you put ‘wrongs’ in inverted commas, are you telling us lynching and pogroms are not really wrong, these are only alleged wrongs ?
Dear Moderators,
I wonder if you chaps are snoring away whilst in some sort of deep Rip van Winkle type slumber ! Clearly, you seem to be oblivious to the fact that a certain commenter has used these columns to spew copious amounts of religious hate and abuse. And has gotten away with it.
I am talking of our resident Hindu hater who goes by the moniker “Rasgolla”.
A quick count reveals that this full-time Hinduphobe has sent in about 35 comments to this article alone. I quick scan reveals that 24 of these comments denigrate Hindus, stopping perhaps just short of outright abuse. But a hatred of Hindus is the one common thread that unites the person or cell writing under the Rasgolla “nom de guerre”.
A glance through the commenting history of Rasgolla in other articles would reveal the same.
I do not want Rasgolla to be banned. But I would like to have comments of the sort that violate your guidelines be either not published or, preferably sent back to Rasgolla for reworking the language.
I would like that policy to apply not only to Hindu hater Rasgolla but equally, to the many Hindutva types who indulge in vulgar displays of Islamophobia.
It would also help if The Print publishes the guidelines for commenting standards that commenters must adhere to. It follows also that moderators should also implement these standards and weed out comments that don’t meet The Print’s policies.
And I re-iterate, it is the individual comment that does not meet your editorial guidelines for decent speech that must be banned, not the writer per se.
Kili Jolsiyar (my nom de plume!! )
What is the evidence that shows I am a Hinduphobe or Hindu hater ? I deny your charge. Cite the passage.
There are people who have written praising me for my points. I can cite them. Even you have !
My comments are sound analysis of fascism. That fascism is responsible for India’s downward slide. And who is behind that fascism and who is supporting it ?
You enter a plea for some form of censorship so that the culprits are not identified squarely. You seem to want to shield the fascists. Do you think India’s slide towards break up can be stopped by censorship ?
There are two views : the BJP Hindus believe India is now an established a Hindu superpower due to Modi, and second only to the US. It is a vishwa guru and the whole world is in awe of the Hindus. For Hindus in India, their delight in Modi is the feeling that he administers thrashings to Muslims. It makes them feel powerful. The NRI Hindu crowd who have settled in foreign lands have an inferiority complex, and they would like their mother country to be an equal to the US, so they can feel equal to Americans (for them, Modi is about boosting their self esteem).
Others believe Modi has sunk India. India has missed the boat to pull itself out of the Third World. We had about 20 years of growth, due to two able finance ministers, and we had the hope that we could pull ourselves up. But all that has been set back by the the Hindu chai wallah-chowkidar. It is not just that momentum was lost, but Covid and its mishandling by Modi has put us in the negative. Now with other pressing problems looming like a youth bulge without jobs, population growth, global warming , and China, I cannot see how any govt. (let alone a collection of semi-educated Hindus ) can dig India out of the hole.
Which assessment is correct ? Amongst Hindus, there are two polarised opinions. Thus one should look at what non-Hindus within and outside India think. That may give a more objective view. No non-Hindu in India thinks India is a developed country or thinks Modi has the capability. Are they all uniformly biased ? As for other countries, at the time of the MMS-Chidambaram era, there was the feeling that India was on the road to success and will be an equal to China eventually. Articles published at that period in The Economist, CNN etc. testify that. During Modi 1, foreign countries gave the benefit of the doubt and thought Modi as PM will become responsible and not rely on Hindu communalism. But Modi 1 shattered the economy, and the social fabric. Modi 2 gave up on the economy and concentrated on CAA-NRC and Article 370 – it was opiating the Hindus. Now, if you read The Economist, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian etc., India is written off as a disapponting failure. Kissinger had once said ‘India is the largest non-important country’. Now it is worse : India is compared with Yugoslavia and other countries that broke up.
Covid and China however have injected some pain which the opium of Hindu pride could not entirely suppress. It made SG to wake up and enter a plea to the govt, to concentrate on solving the pressing problems : economy, Covid management, and China. Enough of theatrical shows of Hindu pride !
But alas it is too late for the reality check. India’s problem is not Covid and China, nor even Modi. It is the RSS and its ideology. The RSS is the eminence grise of Indian politics.
In a 1936 speech, Churchill alone of leaders recognised after Hitler came to power that he would inexorably take Germany to the path of self destruction. The combination of ultra nationalism, militarism and racial pride pointed to that. Churchill foresaw accurately what would happen. India had no leaders who could foresee what would happen if the RSS was unchecked, and they never took steps to guard the Republic against fascist infiltration.
Mr/Ms/Messrs Rasgolla: I have read all the 14 posts that you or the Islamic organisation that is behind this mass production of posts has sent in. Most of your analysis is correct and indeed I actually agree with many of them. I reckon your analysis of my posts would have revealed that we both hate fascists and Nazis and the forces of Hindutva that embody, enshrine and endorse these violent ideologies.
But as usual, the seriousness of your posts are weakened by your congenital, abiding hatred of Hindus. Indeed, in this article, 9 out of the 14 posts that have come in so far from you are attacks on Hindus and Hinduism. Though with some pertinent analysis and factual stuff thrown in. But you cannot conceal your hatred for the religion you or your ancestors got converted out of can you ?
You conveniently forget that the vast majority of Indians did not vote for the pogromwala. Indeed, the BJP received only 37% of all votes cast in 2019. And the majority of states in the South did not vote for the pracharak and his brand of thuggish, gaurakshak driven ochlocracy. Blame India’s First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system – inherited from the British – for this strange state of affairs.
So your claim that Hindus want this fascist government to rule is just as absurd as Donald Trump claiming that Muslims rejoiced when 9/11 happened in the US. Or for that matter claiming that all Muslims support Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The Athenian philosopher Plato once said:
“Democracy is the triumph of opinion over knowledge”.
And you see that happening even in mature democracies from time to time. Despite all the hardships and death that Donal Trump created for the American working class, white, blue collar Americans support him overwhelmingly. I once saw a BBC interview with a coal miner in Pennsylvania whose monthly medications bill of USD 6,000 was given to him free of charge due to Obama care and yet voted for Donald Trump, the very man who wanted to get rid of Obama care ! In coal country in the USA, health outcomes for the many sick people in the region improved under Obamacare but many voters actually chose Donald Trump – effectively signing their death sentences.
Likewise, a Netflix documentary showed the predatory landlord policies of Jared Kushner and the immense harm it inflicted on the many poor who rented that thugs houses. Yet the tenants voted on his father-in-law !
And you have yourself given the example of people supporting Adolf Hitler despite the destruction his policies wrought on Germany. Indeed, hatred of Jews was a mobilising factor for Germans to rally behind Hitler. Slobodan Milosevic did the same thing in the former Yugoslavia when it descended into civil war. But Serbs stood behind the man who took them to gloom.
Masterful manipulators of public opinion and demagogues like Modi, Mussolini, Hitler, Milosevic, Trump, Viktor Orban etc. play the public like a fiddle. And even educated citizens fall for their wily charms.
But you don’t attack and abuse Christians because they vote for a vulgar, Muslim hating man called Trump do you Rasgolla ? Do you attack and abuse Christians for supporting Hitler’s anti-Semitism Rasgolla ? Do you abuse Serbs who belong to the Orthodox Church for attacking Catholic Croatians and Muslim Bosniaks Mr Rasgolla? Do you attack Jews in Israel for their violent repression of Palestinians ?
No Rasgolla, it is only when about 37% of Indians vote for a party – that I will be first to admit is a fascist, Nazi inspired party run by a man with a pogrom under his belt – that you see fit to link religion, viz. Hinduism as the reason for that behaviour. And incidentally, had Balakot not happened, Modi would have been history.
The fuel that flames Hindutva comes not only from bigoted Hindus but the equally – if not more bigoted – Muslims like you.
SHAME ON YOU RASGOLLA !
Mr. Kili, thank you for your educational post.
When the RSS fellow Ram Madhav was interviewed by Mehdi Hassan of Jazeera, and got cornered about RSS being a fascist organisation, his retaliation was to ask Mehdi ‘What about YOUR ISIS ?’ !!.
Mehdi retorted ‘MY ISIS ?’.
Your opening ball to me indulges in the same line : you speak like a typical RSS fellow and tell me I must be an Islamic organisation (which one ? ISI ?).
When the Nazis took over Germany, Hitler had been elected by a similar 30-40% votes. Certainly not all the Germans agreed. But eventually many lined up. Now, did not the rest of the world tag Germans for being brutal and bestial ? Has that image not stuck ? The Germans cannot open their mouth even today about that era.
In 1936, had not Churchill foreseen correctly what Nazism entailed – he had said Germany was a most educated nation, with science and technology and disciplined people. But he said they had been brainwashed since childhood with militarism and racial supremacy , and told to put their own good aside for an imagined collective glory. I advise you to hear that speech.
We have the same situation in India. Except that India is not the most educated nation, with science and technology, and the discipline of Germany. The RSS is brainwashing Hindus (I cannot say Indians because only Hindus are targeted for the fascist brainwashing) in the same way as the Nazis did in Germany. Not all Hindus are fascists in India, but only Hindus will become fascist in India due to the RSS.
You ask why I tag Hindus with fascism due to BJP and not Christians for Nazi Germany. Well, in Nazi Germany, the driver for fascism was not Christianity, but their belief in racial supremacy of the Aryan and Nordic race. In India, the driver for fascism is Hindu supremacy. Nehru had said ‘Hindutva is fascism, Hindu style’.
India’s fate depends on Hindus, and not on its minorities. Who is running the government, and who is whipping up mob violence through the state machinery ? Only Hindus. Only Hindus can do so. Therefore Hindus have to take responsibility for what they are doing to India just as Germans have to take responsibility for what happened in the Nazi era.
India’s insoluble problem of gross inequality comes from the Hindu caste system. The fascist impulse in India is driven by the desire of the Brahmins and caste Hindus to keep all the cake with themselves. Hence, in the discussion of Hinudtva or ‘fascism, Hindu style’, the subject of Hinduism cannot be avoided.
As for tagging other religions to fascism, one may do that where appropriate. Israel can be called Judeo-fascist as it is a state built on religious and ethnic supremacy, and it uses force to maintain it. Afghanistan under Taliban was referred to as Islamo-fascist. However, these are not the subject of discussion here.
You need to address the problem of fascism in India, and that stems from Hindus only. The sooner people like you speak up and say to the RSS-BJP that you do not want Hinduism if it means fascism, the sooner the message will strike them. Your attempt to claim Hindutva is rising because Hindus are being criticised shows an unwillingness to tackle the problem. Even if you criticise and oppose the RSS-BJP’s fascism obliquely without any critique of Hinduism, they say ‘the more you criticise Modi, the more I shall vote for him’. Hence, it is better to say it bluntly ‘India’s problem today is RSS and Hinduism, either Hindus take responsibility and fix it, or India goes down as Nazi Germany’.
rosgolla is a Tamilian leftist think. Not a Muslim. Just guessing.
If I am correct, then his stance on Hinduism is basically a reaction. It is at it’s core about indigenous Tamils rebelling against Brahminical thoughts and ideas which have dominated our country in the past and now politically revived to it’s height post 2014 .
With this ‘Hindu nationalism’ will come Hindi chauvinism. Every Tamil knows that. The Tamil language is the mother, just as the cow is the mother for northern Indians.
If push comes to shove on Hindi, the Dravidistan movement will be re-started. Kerala and other southern states who are fed up with northern bullying will join. Southern states are paying taxes and UP is wasting it.
You don’t except modi to give bihar & Bengal om.platter to opposition,but if you meant that discourse in the country should change,but this discourse have started by award wapasi gang,scared to live in india like statement,& not bjp-rss but these people should stop.Hindus have nevar been assertive in last 2000 year,they have suffered huge loss es & paid heavy price for non assertive,India is india because hindu are in majority,Problem with secular is that they see every thing from west eyes where they opperessed black,native red indians,but in india opposite happen hindus were being operessed from last 1000 year ,Rest aasirwad if this demand 80% hindu country equilbrium will be maintain otherwise hail will break down.
On the subject of Hindus becoming assertive, show that by leadership, excellence in science and technology, business, and arts.
When you fail in economy, healthcare and cannot defend your borders, one wonders about Hindu capabilities.
Assertiveness by mob lynching, rape, setting up fascist groups, beating up minorities shows Hindus in a poor light. In fact, it symbolises Hindu ineptitude and failure. The outsider concludes Hindus are unable to govern and India is another failed country.
As usual I know all attitude.
You are right, Modi has a know all attitude : chowkidar, humble chai wallah, slayer of corruption, and nothing less than a Hindu godman….
That is why India is in a triple crisis.
Modi has twice won majorities, something that didn’t happen for 30 years before that. So how is he divisive? Isn’t he a unifier?
Whatever he is doing, he has the support of the majority. So why should he not do that? Wouldn’t that be undemocratic?
I cannot fathom these irrational (be-sar-pair) advice people keep dishing out to him. Who is asking for your opinion? Who appointed you?
If Modi cant manage who can manage? You cant even get 50 people to support you. Half the people criticize your article. Doesn’t that mean you are not competent enough for anyone to receive advice from?
Abhi: Nonsense !
The BJP won only 37% of votes cast in 2019. In other words 63% of the populace rejected the Gujarathi Prophet-cum-Pracharak. The BJP and Modi do not – repeat do not – have a majority of the populace i.e. the electorate behind them. Indeed, in the South, barring Karnataka, he is a despised man. As any autorickshaw driver who was deprived of his earnings due to demonetisation in Madras will tell you – in somewhat unprintable language.
But India, like many other former British colonies has inherited the wretched British First-Past-the-Post” electoral system whereby votes cast are not proportional to seats – and hence power – wielded in Parliament. Most European nations have proportional voting systems ensuring that most parties get seats that are proportional to their representation in the population. Not in India though, with its flawed winner take all British system.
Additionally, you have a puerile view of what democracy constitutes. Democracy is anything but dictatorship or tyranny of the majority as you claim. And in true democracies, you have freedom of the press and anybody can say anything to the executive – within some legal bounds of course. So your rant:
“.. Who is asking for your opinion? Who appointed you? ..”
is nothing the braying of a demented bhakth whose understanding of democracy was perhaps obtained whilst breathing Arnab Goswami’s and Adityanath’s hot air.
As regards your other rant:
“.. If Modi cant manage who can manage? ..”
Well, you would do well to remember that even before the Pracharak ascended to the throne on the strengths of his ability to butcher innocent Muslims in a pogrom and little else, India has done reasonably well compared to countries in the neighbourhood. Indeed, it is under the Pracharak and his ill-conceived, autocratic ideas that the economy of India nosedived. And it was in the doldrums long before the COVID created slump took effect. And it is under the Pracharak that India lost territory to the Chinese, thanks to provocative sabre-rattling by the other Gujarati God Amit Shah. India will not disintegrate if Modi is dethroned. His infallibility, indispensability and invincibility are mere hype.
Or as former President of France, Charles de Gaulle said:
“The cemeteries are full of indispensable people”
Modi will win again just because of the hipocracy of opposition and so called left liberal sicularusts
We want Modi to win again – and take responsibility for India’s triple crisis. The crises might multiply.
Mr Ajith: The ancient Greek philosopher Plato once said:
“Democracy is the triumph of opinion over knowledge”
The electoral victories of demagogues like Trump, Modi, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Turkey’s Erdogan etc. often prove that masses are often, though not always swayed by opinions, prejudices, hatred for other groups and so on rather than facts.
As you too prove though your post.
Sure Modi is managing fairly well – 2 years straight GDP reduction per quarter. Highest unemployment rate in 45 years (and that was before the lockdown). Surely even this record is broken now. Highest GDP contraction since independence. And these are real number not anyone’s opinion. So to counter these you better get some real data. This is the progress your leader has given you. Remember one thing – it’s your children who will inherit the broken economy and the society and will be able to judge the mess your leader has turned the country into. And they are going to curse you and your ilk for all the Bhakti that you devoted to this guy, keeping your eyes and mind closed to the reality around you.
Abhi lives in Amrika, his children will not inherit Modi’s mess.
His relatives in India can be shakha attendants, cow lynchers, IT cell propagandists etc. He will send them money for such activities.
So this man,SG, implies Modi should let opposition win, as a show of unity. The opposition sold India out to the highest bidder, and are hated by the majority of people across all lines. China crossed Indian territory in 2007, 2012, 2018 nothing India did made any difference. Pakistan and Arabs voted against India on every issue for last fifty years. Sorry, Modi must keep up internal pressures to improve India. Pushing against Islamic radicalism is always better than giving an inch. For all the talk of Authoritarianism it is democratically elected Modi, according to Gupta, who must appease the dictators of China, Pakistan, Arabia, and who knows maybe of few racist Ex-Colonialists, because they are the bellweather of democracy and Human rights. More Ghar Wapsi and remove all minority preferences .
SG did not imply Modi should let opposition win, as a show of unity. That is your reading.
SG means Modi and BJP should concentrate on economy and Covid and China, and not Indian Muslims. He did not say it is explcitly.
Take Covid. India should have started preparing in Jan or Feb. (Kerala state did that, and see the difference). From May 2019 (last election) to Feb. 2020, Modi and Shah were planning CAA-NRC. Their energies were spent on that. As late as Feb. 2020, they were planning Delhi riots to counter Shaheen Bagh protest.
After the outbreak of Covid, they brainwashed Hindus it was a corona jihad. Some Hindus in the Gulf got carried away posting hate messages. They got caught and deported. The UAE is not India where Modi has given Hindus the privilege to post hate messages. Hindus have a lot of business in the Gulf, and Gulf was starting to invest in India, and SG pointed out such acts put the brakes.
Modi and the BJP cannot change. The damage is done, and India has to sit out the consequences of Hindu infatuation with megalomaniacs and fascists. Things have to run their natural course as with Nazi Germany. Once the Germans went with Hitler, the die of destruction was cast. As India’s economy shrinks, the power to show off Hindu greatness automatically will diminish. Eventually, the discontent between Hindus will overtake the Hindu discontent with Muslims.
I really see Kerala as a model these days. Yesterday it took over Gujarat. Their actions have left dry cause of early control. Only country that has successfully controlled Covid as of yet is China. Even dream model Kerala is going for dip with New Zealand. This virus has really shown whose the boss. Early control had left people way too complacent and now theyre giving the price. Countries with no control whatsoever have done absolutely better like Pakistan I must say. They dug up graves first and then got to the job. Now the virulence has dropped significantly.
The fomenting of division,conflict and chaos has served the BJP very well, so why should their leader change the strategy ? To somehow achieve national progress ? Forget it.
Excellent observation Mr Sudarshan Nityananda !
Divide and rule is a time-tested formula that served the British imperialists well and the Hindutva imperialists have taken a leaf out of that playbook. As you say, there is no need to junk that technology when it is paying very good dividends. And in any case, who cares for loss of territory to China, economic hardships to migrant workers and a complete loss of India’s soft power and reputation internationally ? For middle class Indians in thrall to the Modi image, facts don’t matter and if their Prophet tells them that 2+2 = 5, they will bash you up if you dissent ! And Arnab Goswami will become the mathematician who will endorse it !
As American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-96) said:
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
Exactly. SG being an initial enthusiast knows very well why those who support him support him. They won’t even look at the decreasing pie. They can’t envisage the disaster of power going from their hand.
‘SG being an initial enthusiast knows very well why those who support him support him.’
That is certainly correct. He was fellow traveller of fascism. Even now he is a fence sitter from time to time. Sometimes he plucks up the courage to ask where the inept handling India’s triple crisis will lead. But even here, he is careful not to say what he means by divisive politics – he leaves bhakths to think it means BJP’s rivalry with Congress, whereas the most destructive divisiveness is the Hindu-Muslim one, which we saw even in the handling of Covid.
SG is careful and wise so as to not step on the toes of the powers that be. If he keeps always ranting against the party in power he will have a sedition case piled up on him. He has to protect himself so once in a while he gives in to the bjp supporters.
I think all liberals need to do the same.
‘I think all liberals need to do the same.’
You are correct that SG has to be careful, otherwise he will have a sedition case piled against him. They have filed sedition cases against Prof. Jayati Ghosh of JNU etc. for Delhi riots – as if she organised it.
However, what you are saying is ‘fascists better be appeased, otherwise they will beat you up’. Appeasing them in the first place is what has emboldened the fascists.
SG and the Indian media played a role in building the fascists in the early days. Even on NDTV, they regularly invite RSS fascists on discussion panels. This way, they get normalised. SG realises the disaster they have inflicted on India.
The only good newspaper that does not invite RSS to write is ‘The Hindu’. N. Ram, the editor, is very clear minded.
Unless Indians demand the RSS to be banned, the RSS will take India down just like the Nazis took down Germany. There was the possibility of a mass disobedience movement which sprung up around CAA-NRC, but it should have been led by Hindus and widened into a movement against the RSS. It has been interrupted by Covid.
It would be difficult for Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah to really build a nation that is inclusive. Remember the Godhra riots. Has anyone been to Gujarat and noticed the hate for minorities.
Modi is definitely not keen on building an America. He prefers building a new building and China or Russia.
Who started godhra riots?
The VHP-RSS hired kar sevaks to help Modi. They sent the kar sevaks on trains to pressurise the govt. to build Ram Temple by 31 March 2002. On the way, they burnt them, and made out Muslims did it. The Godhra riots were then done by Hindu gangs armed with voters lists, and the police had instructions to stand by.
They brought in people from outside – like in the Delhi riots.
Mr/Ms Sa: Even if one assumes that Muslims were responsible for the initial fire in the train wagons, I would like you to, at the very least, reflect upon the following questions.
1: What crime did a 5 month pregnant Bilkis Bano commit to deserve being gang raped, watch her 3 year old child Saleha killed in front of her very eyes with the child’s head smashed on a rock ?
2: Tell me what crime did Ms Bilkis Bano’s aged mother and the other women in her fleeing family commit to deserve being gang raped and killed?
3: Ms Bilkis Bano’s cousin Shamim had delivered a baby girl the day before this incident and was in the group of people that fled to safety. That cousin too was raped and killed. Her 1 day old child – I reiterate 1 day old child – was also killed.
Ms Bilkis Bano was left for dead but survived and was re-united with her husband. She sought justice in the courts but was hounded and harassed by the Modi government but finally won compensation. Today, she lives in an undisclosed location.
But for Hindutvaists like you who march to the drumbeats of the fascists of the RSS, Bilkis Bano’s ordeal is something you would justify with a “Who started Godhra riots” ?
What has the Pracharak turned India into?
I dont want a America. Way too hyped. Just destruction and utter chaos. Americans wont wear mask cuz of some god given oxygen drama. Atleast Chinese have civic sense and are punished for violating them. You may think Im acting weird but a country that builds it up from scratch to be questioned by none other than hawk war mongers I must say its a lot better. True dissent is absent there but one may always leave china for some dissent action. Also India had zero dissent prohibition during most of time, Cant say we fared much better. BJP or Congress both have been jokers. Some great people like Atal ji and Narshima Rao were disowned by their own parties. Anyways world is dying no matter what so what better than to die in riots rather than choking off to death.
When India attacked our boundary — India should have blocked Malacca steight and force them to go back . Sinking couple of ships could have given a strong message . India babushahi and paralysis by analysis and currupt politicians like Shivsena , Congress ,NCP . BJP takes action without thinking through the models and understanding Process, and People – giving rise to BAD product -GDP.
Solution:
1. Bring FM Swamy with a goal of 15% GDP so India can achieve 10-11% .
2. Create a new ministry for diverting supplychain from china to INDIA
3. Make in India – Disruptive technology, Six sigma linear administration ,Ease of doing business bring to the level of first 10 ; Do what is in YOUR hand. Consistent futuristic policies with one step in right direction will move the wheel of economy as catylyst to one another–
Well Modi promised 60 years Congress development in 60 months, and Sitaraman promised 5 trillion economy.
With your grandioise suggestions, you could be a good fit with other BJP loudmouths. Empty vessels make….
What nonsense. We are a third world country.
Our roads are so bad have potholes, everywhere drainage overflows, litter and garbage everywhere.
In this country basic administration and citizen discipline is so bad, so how can you jump to Six Sigma.
He is a US settled Hindu, with simplistic plans to make India like US.
Such US Hindus coached Modi in 2014 with slogans like ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. Modi does not have to understand what he is saying. Like that, Modi may talk about Six Sigma one day !
Many Hindus pretend that they do not understand SG’s message about why Modi needs to de-escalate and disengage from divisive politics at home and attend to India’s triple crisis.
Certainly SG has not explained it directly, and BJP Hindus will hide their head in the sand like small brained ostriches when faced with a triple crisis. So let me explain bluntly what SG means.
SG is not talking about confrontation with Rahul Gandhi, Mamta etc. That is in the course of normal politics.
Modi and his RSS-BJP have had only one agendum : pumping Hindus up to fight Muslims within the country, to assert Hindu dominance and ownership of the country.
Modi’s rise was only due to a pogrom he organised in Gujarat 2002. You think he put Muslims in their place and that was a great achievement. In fact, it is only burning your own country, it is not an achievement, you should be ashamed of yourself. It means you do not have the capability of leadership.
After Modi became PM, all we saw was lynchings, rape, and destruction of the economy. In the second term, he embarked on CAA-NRC and a plan to build concentration camps in the Nazi style. Another pogrom was organised in Delhi. As he was engaged in these destructive and divisive activities, he did not plan to tackle Covid and China.
See how Covid panned out. In Feb., he had no plan, he was engaged in confrontation with students and planning the Delhi pogrom. When Covid broke out, the initial reaction was for BJP oriented channels like Republic and Zee to declare it was a Covid jihad by Muslims. They broadcast stories claiming Markaz delegates spat on people – later it was admitted it was a fabrication. Based on this, Hindus started tweeting messages against Muslims and Arabs. The Hindus living in UAE and Kuwait also got carried away and started tweeting hate posts. They were caught and deported. The Arabs got to know what is Hindutva. Due to Aarti Lalchandani, there is a question mark about recruitment of Hindu doctors. In the end, all this has harmed Hindus and India more than Muslims. India’s Covid curve has gone up, it has gone out control and the govt. has given up.
On top of that, Modi has created enemies with all neighbours – including Nepal. Threatening China with capture of Aksai Chin has induced China to give a beating and take more land. And they are going to harry India along the border. Now, India with its failing economy and Covid has to spend on defence. The army is now bogged down in Kashmir.
That is what SG means. Divisive politics brings the BJP dividends, but at India’s expense.
India has probably gone too far down the road of fascism to recover. Fascism has failed without exception and it will be the case in India also. Germany was destroyed, but because it was a mono cultural country, it could recover. Where fascism was tried in multi ethnic countries, it has led to break up of countries – like Yugoslavia. India is going Yugoslavia’s way.
SG’s message is too little too late, and many Hindus will not even understand it.
Yes they are doing divisive politics, they should give up on this pesecuted minority issue by only giving lip service like MMS, or give up totally like Mamtadi who needs 35% votebank, (she was the one who raise Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue in parliament) now she is secular. All politicians are same they only think about how will they win an election.
Hindus have nevar been assertive in last 2000 year,they have suffered huge loss es & paid heavy price for non assertive,India is india because hindu are in majority,Problem with secular is that they see every thing from west eyes where they opperessed black,native red indians,but in india opposite happen hindus were being operessed from last 1000 year ,Rest aasirwad if this demand 80% hindu country equilbrium will be maintain otherwise hail will break down.
Your self pity is tiresome. Don’t tell me you were victims 1000 years ago, that is why you are incompetent today and do not know how to rule.
You cannot rule because of your casteism and communalism.
England was invaded and subjugated by Vikings and the Normans 1000 years ago, but they do not go on about it, they went and built a world renowned country. The best you could produce was an ignorant chai wallah.
I can think of one – statesman Pranab Mukherjee our former President and Bharat Ratna whose death Chinese conveyed their sincere condolences.
Even enemies can make out sane voices in their opponents. Contrast the sanity of Pranab Mukherjee to reckless statements made in parliament about recapture of Aksai Chin during the article 370 abrogation.
Even Pranab Mukherjee turned out to be an unprincipled Brahmin fascist when he attended an RSS meeting. The rot amongst Hindus is very deep. Many are comfortable with Hitlerism.
No, not all. Stay the course and do not begin to sing Congress Party tune.
Nothing succeeds like success. Nothing fails like failure. Undoubtedly our economy is on the ruins. Credit for destroying our economy must go to our distinguished Prime Minister. Why SG is using rigmarole language to speak the plain truth. The plain truth is that Demo was a disaster, GST was a colossal failure. Unplanned lockdown is unmitigated nonsense. Besides, the Govt is run by business tycoons who make money their money by using others money. They wanted two things – and they got them. One they wanted to cut down the interest rates to abysmally low level and the govt has obliged them, notwithstanding the fact that there is no empirical evidence to show any connectivity between the low interest and economic growth. Since he took over in 2014, Modi govt has been slashing the interest rates systematically – and lo and behold, our economy was going down the drain more systematically. This mindless pursuit of low interest regime has pushed the middle class and pensioners – who are the spenders – has pushed into a bottom less pit. Demand has shrunk, production went for a toss, employments were lost, economy shrank and tax collection took a nosedive and the Govt finds itself in a mess. Second the business tycoons demanded major tax concession. The obliging govt generously obliged the tycoons with a massive amount of 1.42 lahs crores – which they have refused to pay to poor and the middle class who voted for him. The argument flaunted at that time was that it would boost investment, create jobs, and help to expand the economy. Now the RBI says that the amount of Rs 1.42 lakh crores to the rich, opulent business tycoons were never invested – but were pocketed by them for to increase their personal valet. In keeping with its tradition of reneging on the promises that are liberally doled out to people, the Govt has refused to honor its commitment to compensate the states for the GST loses. When cornered by the CMs, it was attributed to the “act of God”. The “sovereign guarantee” has lost its sovereignty. This has never happened in the history of independent India. The breach of faith is the “New Normal” with this Govt. Today, India is most vulnerable. We currently face threats from two sides. Our soldiers are brave. 2020 is not 1962. Fortunately the Govt is acting with a lot of maturity – and not on impulses. But can we afford a war with China when the economy is neatly slaughtered? Will it not push a vast majority of people into an army of beggars – and when begging becomes impossible ( when all are beggars, who will give the alms), thievery, murder, loot, etc., will become a “New Normal”. Is that India we have bargained for? Under these circumstances, if a war is foisted on us, we cannot run away. That will be a greater disaster. Therefore I suggest the following: Convert the threat into Opportunity. Our border conflict with China has ramifications that are beyond our border. The objective of Xi is not merely territory but to demonstrate to the world who is the real boss. It is open demonstration of his hegemonistic intentions. In other words, Xi is the present century Adolf Hitler. His aim is not India. His aim is the US and other western powers that include Japan and Australia. Our foreign office must burn midnight oil to take this message to the world capitals that matter and convince them that they have a stake in the conflict. Undoubtedly there is an underlying antipathy towards Dictator Xi on account of his biological weapon which has killed millions and destroyed billions. They can neither speak nor act against China except for occasional outburst of Donald Trump. In other words, they are suffering in silence. Our Foreign Office must exploit this underlying sentiment against Xi and tell them: “We know you can not fight; But you have vested interest in cutting down China to its original size. We will send our soldiers and tackle the Chinese in their own game and bring them to their senses. When we stop the Chinese in their track, Xi will have no option than to go because of seething discontent within the CPC which is under control but which will be uncontrollable in the face of a definite military set back. This should suit you. Since we are going to fight for you too, please underwrite the cost of it collectively. Say 2 to3 trillions US dollars”. What is hampering our strategy is not military prowess, or political will, but lack of funds. That is why Modi is extremely cautious contrary to his grain. If we are able to sell this idea and get the funds required, I think we can give a body blow to the Chinese predators in a manner they tend to give to lesser mortals. When countries of the world enter into military alliance to combat a common enemy, can’t they come forward to underwrite the finances without committing their troops. They will, provided we move our pawns in the Chess Board with dexterity and imagination. If the Indian elephant tames the Chinese dragon, the world will look at us with respect – and hope. Regards
I agree with SG on broader suggestions about doing away with petty politics.
I do not agree however that we can give benifit of doubt to the government over china border issue.
1) Government tried its best to get political mileage on china issue. It let internal politics decide its foreign policy. [SG also raises this issue in previous episodes of CTC and National Interest]
2) The government was non up-front when giving information on border clash. The source based information filtering out from armed at start was benefitting only the Chinese.
3) The extended coverage of the issue by media was good but it was more of headline management initiative than reporting of facts.
There are other factors but these were the major ones
I have said in these talkbacks also that India is now pinned by three challenges ‘economy, Covid and China’ and Modi has proved he is inept in his handling of all three.
In this article, SG has pointed out indirectly that Modi has focussed on divisive politics for personal power, where national interest calls for unity to face this triple whammy.
However, SG has not stated boldly about what he means by divisiveness, and here many readers here have chosen to take it that SG saying that the internal division is with the opposition. The opposition is largely non-existent, so the division is not with them. What SG means but did not want to say is the relentless pursuit of Hindu-Muslim conflict that has charcaterised Modi, BJP and the RSS, has weakened the country, as the govt. has not shown advanced sensing capabilities on economy, Covid and China, to mitigate and find solutions. The obsession with showing off Hindu domination over Muslims has cost the country dearly.
The destruction of the economy occurred in Modi’s first term with demonetisation. Then indeed the need of the hour for Modi was to destroy the opposition in UP. UP was won with demonetisation and a firebrand Yogi spouting against Muslims. With UP in the bag, it was possible to consolidate further for term 2. In the second term, from May 2019, Modi’s focus was CAA-NRC ; while claiming it was about refuge for Hindus in neighbouring countries, it was how to put Indian Muslims in concentration camps. That led to nationwide confrontation with students, minorities and women. It led to a deadlock which ended – temporarily – due to Covid.
India was heading for civil war with CAA and NRC. Ironically, it is Covid and the beating from China that slowed down the targeted persecution of minorities.
But looked at another way, what SG means is if the Modi govt. had not got bogged down in divisive politics (read CAA-NRC), it would have realised and prepared for Covid before March, from Jan. or February. One state in India, Kerala, started preparing from Covid in Jan/Feb 2019, and they have performed the best. That is clear proof of what can be achieved if the govt. and people are united as in Kerala. But at the national level, Modi and Shah were organising a riot in Delhi in Feb. 2019 and building a wall for Trump (to hide the Gujarat model). The Trump Namaste turned out to be a Covid hotspot. Covid itself was used to promote anti-Muslim hatred. Various BJP TV channels claimed Muslims spread Covid and Dr. Aarti Lalchandani advocated not treating Muslim patients. This is the divisive culture Modi spawned. Even SG wrote an article claiming Covid was not a serious problem for India, unlike for the west – Indians had natural immunity. Finally, when the govt. realised Covid is an issue, it started with silly Hindu messaging like lighting diyas, and then after fooling around, a lockdown with 4h notice was ordered. The result is India is among the few countries where the Covid curve is rising with no peak in sight, and the economy is flattened. In fact, Covid has gone out of the govt’s control, so they don’t bother about it. It is the same with the economy.
Then came China to deliver the beating – which was caused by Amit Shah’s provocation. Now the result is there is a threat of a two front war, and China will squeeze India to spend money on defence and slowly take land.
Despite all these follies, as SG pointed out in another article, Hindus see Modi as the only alternative. But Modi’s party is about consolidating Hindus as a means for enjoying power, it is not for consolidating Indians.
‘Hindu nationalism’ is defined in terms of a state of permanent anger towards Indian Muslims. Many Hindus think that it is the first time there is a Hindu ruler in 1000 years. They do not see that he is disintegrating India, they go with the moment, and it feels heady to them to have a real Hindu ruler, who they imagine is making India a Hindu superpower.
Germans who supported Hitler till the end would not admit it was a mistake – having gone down that road, who else was there ? If you remove one extremist, there was another extremist to replace him. Germany was saved by destruction by Soviet Union, UK and the US.
The truest and saddest commentary I have read of India’s current circumstances.
Your criticism is valid but this govt is headed by someone who does not heed advice or does not feel he makes mistakes. If one feels that way, then there is no incentive for correction – even well-meaning critics are looked upon as paid agents of the opposition or anti-nationals. Poor Shekhar babu gets vilified in the comments regularly.
To all those who support the govt and thus encourage it to brazen it out, I only wish to say that a. You are not using your democratic option to force the govt to course-correct when the ship is drifting. b. The repercussions of this economic catastrophe (if left unaddressed) will blight all Indians (of all religions) for generations to come. We all need to work together to get better – this is everyone’s country.
You are correct. But the problem we have with Modi is that he has projected himself as a saviour of Hindus and Hinduism.
Most important, he is a Hindu who stands up to Muslims. His supporters are Hindu bhakts seething not with intellect but with resentment of Muslims.
The suggestion that Modi is a failure is indigestible because they take it as a case of criticising Hinduism as a failure. It would be a terrible loss of face in front of Muslims, and that would be intolerable. Hence, in elections Amit Shah and BJP leaders say ‘a defeat for Modi will be a victory for Pakistan’.
No one can change the Hindu psyche. They are happy with self destruction. False pride drives the philosophy of cutting the nose to spite the face.
Guptaji the FAMILY thinks
1) China is attacking MODIJI
2) They had prepared INDIA for a disaster by neither acquiring weapons nor initiating development within. Some how they lost elections and now we are giving it back to pakistan and resisting china.
3) No decision on reducing POPULATION was taken and same will be opposed if taken now.
4) MAUNWRAT was appointed as caretaker PM and the economy was destroyed through phone banking and NAC who are Maoist in their ideology and played their role in advancing Chinese web inside INDIA.
5) Taking opposition along is going to be tough as politics for some in INDIA means corruption and a weak INDIA is best for corrupt activities.
The admirers of the PM must realize that there are some journalists still left who have the guts to say what they think.The present dispensation must understand that it is media’s job to point out what is wrong with the Government .Mr. Modi has enough followers, both inside and outside.How does it matter if a Shekhar Gupta says something which the PM and his admirers do not like.
Mr Ajay Sunder: Yes, you right in that people wedded to the Modi cult will believe in their pseudo-Prophet no matter what he does to them. But the Pracharak-cum-Prophet has corporate support from marketing firms.
Ruthless, unethical marketing firms like APCO Worldwide (Ref: apcoworldwide.com) have been paid nearly a billion dollars to create the Modi image that gullible bhakths swallow lock, stock and barrel. Incidentally, APCO has built a solid client base for itself burnishing the credentials of dictators, tobacco companies, polluting oil companies and other less savoury outfits. Had Hitler been alive, I am sure APCO would have created a campaign to flatter him too !
That said, you are right that Indian media should see through the hype, the headlines and the artificial hoopla and write articles that highlight the plight of the country. Alas, barring a handful of publications like The Print, The Wire etc., the vast majority of Indian media platforms is in the business of paid news. And media houses critical of the pracharak and his thuggish Hindutva gaurakshaks and other itchy-testicled Adityanath wannabes face the wrath of the pracharak’s government. Indeed, not very different from the tactics employed by PM Indira Gandhi during the hated Emergency of 1975-77. Except that Modi did not have to declare a de jure Emergency, a de facto Emergency suffices, aided and abetted by the Modi worshipping middle classes who will sing praises to him even as they lose their shirts.
Meanwhile, smart Gujarathis are quietly transferring their assets to safer overseas banks.
Democarcy requires hard work and citizens holding their elected leaders accountable and judging their performance based on objective criteria. That does not always happen and India is a classic example of that. And cunning politicians like Modi are around to exploit that weakness as well as the latent anti-Muslim and anti-Christian sentiments in the populace. As the British philosophy professor Susan Stebbing (1885-1943) said:
“There is an urgent need to-day for the citizens of a democracy to think well. It is not enough to have freedom of the Press and parliamentary institutions. Our difficulties are due partly to our own stupidity, partly to the exploitation of that stupidity, and partly to our own prejudices and personal desires”
Yaaaawn! The Congress darbari poodles like Shekhar Gupta — don’t forget the Padma Bhushan Saint Sonia gave you — are getting really tiresome.
While I’m no admirer or believer in Modi’s govt, I relish sight of the Khan Market mafia and award-wapasi gang pathetically hopping around like headless chickens!
yaawwn! so tired of people just brushing aside critics as khan market mafia etc etc. so theres no right to criticize a govt for its failings? or do you honestly believe that there are no failings by this govt. just for honesty sake i request you to mention what as per you are the failings of this govt. if you think they are 100% correct, well good luck to you
Mr Arvind: An excellent retort to Monsieur Mandal and his “Modi lite” ideology. The usual “I don’t believe in Modi but ..”. You find that tribe in the West too “I am not a racist .. but..”
The Mandals of the world do recognise that they are in the same boat that Prophet Modi ran aground, causing it to sink. But they comfort themselves by saying:
“I know I am in a sinking boat, but I am at the end of the boat that hasn’t sunk” !!!
Meanwhile, capital flight from India is reaching record levels. Smart Gujaratis i.e. the v2.0 of India’s NiMos, LaMos, Choksis, Patels and others peer into the future, dump their Indian Rupee denominated assets and transfer them to safer Western financial centres.
I guess Mr Mandal ought to realise that these businessmen, many close to the BJP government are the one who are going to have the last laugh. They will be the ones who will be relishing the sight of Mr Mandal running around like a headless chicken when the economy hits rock-bottom.
‘I guess Mr Mandal ought to realise that these businessmen, many close to the BJP government are the one who are going to have the last laugh. They will be the ones who will be relishing the sight of Mr Mandal running around like a headless chicken when the economy hits rock-bottom.’
60 years of Congress development in 60 months was promised – it was meant for the cronies like Ambani and Adani, but ordinary Hindus imagined they were in the boat with Ambani and Adani.
By and large I agree with the thrust of this article, though Mr. Gupta avoids making the point forcefully. He does not substantiate his arguments by listing list the government’s sins.
In my view, Shekhar Gupta, as a journalist, has three problems. 1. He is inherently an unintelligent man with poor English language skills, and so he often appears dishonest. I can quote a countless examples of his writings/TV commentaries to make this point. 2. He has tendencies of Arnab Goswami but not his(Arnab’s) vehemence. 3. He is Modi-bhakt because he cant afford to hurt his investors’ money.
Let us take one sentence in this piece: One sentence in this piece says “The military has been given reasonable tactical freedom, official and political rhetoric is controlled, and an unwise response like Nehru’s in 1962, under pressure or in anger, has been avoided.”. Removing the words “like Nehru’s in 1962” from it would change absolutely nothing. But still….
I agree with you. Often SG’s articles are contradictory, or obscure in meaning.
Here, SG is right that there is a three point pincer : the economy, Covid and China which will set back India. India is sinking due to it.
The economy was destroyed by Modi with demonetisation. Covid was mishandled and the priorities were elsewhere (CAA-NRC), and it has gone out of control. China was also Modi’s doing – touching Xi’s feet and making announcement that India will recapture Aksai Chin. SG will not say that directly.
Under MMS, The Economist wrote that India will displace China as the tiger economy. The foreign watchers were apprehensive about Modi but they gave him the benefit of the doubt. Now the foreign press – and hence investors – are writing off India.
Often SG is a weak writer because he is a fence sitter. Even in this article, he does not spell it out what he means by divisive politics. The bhakths here therefore interpret it to mean RG and Congress and opposition. They then come with their familiar refrain ‘there is no credible opposition’.
Actually, the divisive politics that SG mentions is the ‘Hindu-Muslim’ politics of the BJP. The government’s energies have been spent on this : CAA-NRC, concentration camps, accusing Muslims for Covid, Article 370. All their efforts centre round anti-Muslim hatred. Naturally, they were unprepared when China struck, as their minds are on Hindu-Muslim. SG does not spell it out, he knows the problem, but he is afraid to say it directly. It is this evasive style that makes him appear dishonest.
You can see he is trying to keep on the right side. After this muted criticism, SG will get some RSS fellow like Chari Seshadri to write eulogies of how Modi is checkmating China in the South China Sea.
Not a troll: Agree with a good deal of what you say.
But do note that in Modistan or Lynchistan or non-Akhand Bharath, you must always pin the blame on Nehru to be taken seriously. Hence that mandatory:
“.. unwise response like Nehru’s in 1962..”
SG has raised valid issues in this piece. But…..
“It goes from the rediscovery of Atmanirbhar Bharat wrapped in Make in India, pisciculture revolution, hiring of a consultant for a $1 trillion Uttar Pradesh economy, ban on Chinese apps, claims of lowest per million cases and deaths from Covid and, of course, an endless celebration of a booming economy when the reality is the opposite.”
I would say that all of the above are necessary in the short, medium and long term; yes, more actions as suggested, are required.
Also, for once, in this situation, the numbers whether it is in regard to COVID or the economy are no indication of reality and should not be relied upon for possible corrective actions in these areas. The answers are not available in text books (the usually employed methods have failed all over the world) but in novel thinking and ingenuity.
As a country why do we resist that in a democracy, in a sense, the opposition is also part of Governance!!! More so in a Federal system. They too have responsibilities other than pulling down the ruling dispensation.
Then there are always the questions: Who and what is divisive? Is it just a play of words by interested parties. Is it new? Is it part of the Indian traditional society? Does it really exist? Does it really affect COVID, China or economy?
For the Ostriches with their heads in the sand criticising Shekar Gupta for his views, pls watch : Republic, Times Now and Zee. I’m sure in those channels India is an economic powerhouse with +23.9% GDP, that has wiped out Covid and China from the face of the earth.
Is the average citizen’s toast getting buttered a little more thickly each year. Or is it getting progressively more burnt. That was the simple test the government ought to have set for itself each day over the time it has been in office. That would have prevented it from doing some really crazy things like Demonetisation, which has wrecked the economy and – may one say this with trepidation – the abrogation of Article 370., whose aftershocks are being felt in Ladakh. On acts of omission, no meaningful reforms of the economy, education and healthcare seeing no improvement. So many things are now coming to a head. Hard to say everything is someone else’s fault.
For the govt. and its bhakths, economy, Covid, China are not major issues.
Modi has created the feeling amongst many Hindus that he has made Hindus a world power, and the whole world is sitting up and noticing. It is a craving Hindus had. Such Hindus felt others had stopped their rise – Congress and Muslims.
As long as Hindus feel they are a superpower due to Modi, and they do not apply the criteria people in other countries do to judge performance, then Modi can continue. Why should he de-escalate the divisive politics when he knows that alone creates his support ?
His Hindu supporters have an ‘alternative reality’. It is like followers of Assaram. Even if the Baba rapes the daughters of his bhakths, they will support him. On the Delhi riots, Modi’s supporters wrote a book of alternative facts. Hindus were ready to go with it, they could not understand why Bloomsbury UK did not allow publishing it. Likewise, Republic TV told them that Hindu holymen were murdered in Palghar by Christians through Vatican and Sonia. The Indian police discounted it. But for bhakths, Republic TV is the reality. The Hindu TV channels pumped into them that Covid was ‘corona jihad’. With this kind of Hindu brainwashing, the Hindu loses the sense of reality.
How long will this continue ? Till the economy and country are shattered and the pinch of reality replaces the alternative reality.
Hope Shekhar gupta reads through the comments…even a cursory calculation shows that more people vote against the content and thought process in his writings…time and again… or perhaps he also dumps all such, as “bhakths”…
You response is the standard reply of the bhakts : we don’t care for reality, we care for criticism of our beloved Hindu godman, and to show you, we shall strengthen him and vote for him more !
Mr.Shekhar Gupta is at it again up to himself—a victim of his anti-Modi rhetoric which he has developed as a anti-Modi paranoia and can not get over it At the end of his article he has asked Modi ji to pursue the policy of closing ranks within India and suspend hostilities at home . Why Mr. Shekhar Gupta ji you forget or ignore the history of post- independent India . India faced such type of problems earlier too—like economic downturn, border tension/ war with China/Pakistan . Did he ever remember any Opposition leader —- right from JP, Madhu Limye, Atal Bihari Vajpeyi and many others except some communists leaders — parroting the language of Pakistan or China ? They all gave 100 % support to the Government of the day . And now see what your darling dynast of Congress Pvt Limited speaks day in day out. Most of Indian –except journalists at the payroll of Dynasty – find his utterances carbon copy of Global Times of Communist party of China.
As for as economic down turn is concerned why you have forgotten the era Circa 1966, 1974, 1991 etc etc. . India had to go in for devaluation of currency, gone to rich countries with begging bowl, taken out tones of Gold to foreign countries to pledge and to secure some loans. Why Sir , you forget to mention that 12-16 % consumer inflation had been norm during Congress era. Modi Government is fully aware of that past sordid economic story of Congress era and taking permanent structural reforms so that past is not repeated again. As the effects of Lockdown are being rectified by making available adequate liquidity in the system , the upward movement in economic parameters is just weeks away. Don t panic or spread panic.
Can you say China has been able to brow beat India or in plain language defeat India in first half of Conflict 2020 ? Answer is Known to you and every Indian . Does Modi Government failed to meet the threat militarily , diplomatically or economically ? Answer is well clear to you and many of Indians .So far India has not buckled under Chinese threat and hopefully will not buckle in Coming November when second round of this episode is most likely to happen .
It is so called opposition party that needs to mend their ways and thinking to remain relevant in politics. The people are watching their conduct carefully. How people think of the Congress party will be soon known in Bihar and M.P. A much worst disaster is waiting for them in upcoming elections and by-elections.
The irony is those with some preconceived ideas (especially parochial Media) believe that the idea of India is only about politics. My experience in living (not visiting) in many parts of India over decades is that over 85% percent of Indians are, thankfully, NOT interested in the brand of “politics” played out in the media. For instance the i million subscribers (including me) form only .7693 % of the Indian population.
Extend this liberally to all such media…..you will get the perspective.
Disclaimer : I am for Media and a fan of The Print.
” ………. over 85% percent of Indians are, thankfully, NOT interested in the brand of “politics” played out in the media” – What brand of politics are they interested in then? Or are they interested in anything? These 85% pf the people, do they know what is going on in the country? Do they have any sense of responsibility as the main stakeholders in country;s future? WHY DO THEY ELECT GOONS? In the last election, 43% of the candidates elected as MPs had criminal charges filed against them! Are these 85% people interested in electing only the goons to the parliament?
Maybe, just maybe, 85% know what is good for them and some of us sitting in ivory towers read it all wrong. Yes, goons get elected probably because at local levels they deliver whatever little there is. I am not justifying; but saying for what it is…
Maybe, then again maybe, we (and all media) need to project our electorate better, give them their due (not treat them as nincompoops) and learn to respect them; educate them of their responsibilities (rather than always blame the Governments, as is being done over DECADES) for everything and have them constantly looking over their shoulders. Other measures by the administration – direct transfer of benefits / subsidies, digitized land records, identity cards, bank accounts, regulate unorganized sectors (remove system of “hafta” mafia) – in these Modern times it takes more than two to tango!
It does not look like you know what you are writing. You are typical fellow traveller of Hindu fascism with unrealistic expectations . Modi was your Great Hindu Hope that failed. You know that but you do not know where to go next. So continue apologising for wickedness, and cover up.
‘educate them of their responsibilities ‘
Who will educate them that lynching, raping and rioting is not responsible ? The kind of people you voted for ?
Your last statement is not even a coherent sentence : ‘direct transfer of benefits / subsidies, digitized land records, identity cards, bank accounts, regulate unorganized sectors (remove system of “hafta” mafia) – in these Modern times it takes more than two to tango!’
When the literacy rate is 60%, you expect them to use card transactions ? If you educated them, who will be the kar sevaks, your cow saviours and thugs for the communal riots ?
‘… the upward movement in economic parameters is just weeks away.’
Ha, ha, ha …. dumb bhakths have been saying this since 2014.
After demonetisation, Modi said, ‘give me 58 days, if economy does not revive, hang me’.
During the 2014 campaign, he took television adverts saying he would give 60 years development in 60 months.
The Hindus who were deluded then cannot admit it, so they have to continue with their failed godman. Your writing embodies that.
These criticisms of the Govt and PM Modi are getting tiresome. Surely the Opposition has some obligation to act in a responsible manner in this time of crisis? Would you call Mr Rahul Gandhi’s statements as responsible? Is the Congress acting responsibly?
No one is acting as responsibly as Modi and RSS. Others should keep quiet. Yes, I say one more term is needed for Modi. Whoever takes over will have a very hard time, it is impossible for Congress to restore India to the growth days of MMS.
Oh growth days of MMS give me a brake, starting from 2002 economy was booming world over, remember last year of Atal govt had 8% growth.
The thing is when you have growth you do reforms MMS didn’t do anything . On top of it there was Crony capitalism and corruption in 2G , coal mine allocation and Vadhra land loot (don’t argue no one get jail because it’s very hard to prove in govt. contact)
By 2008/09 he spend money like there is no tomorrow gave bad precedence in waving farm loan, loan to businesses without proper scrutiny.
That creates problem of NPA which is still going on.
My assessment is Modi thought that demonetization will give him coupe of lake crore of black money and will Help in solving NPA problem but he was wrong in his assessment and forget Indian jugadu system.
Like other politicians he use extra money received in patrol excise on welfare like building toilets and house construction instead of using it to reduce NPA problem. No doubt because of welfare and nationalism he won second term.
NPA problem was solved temporarily due to demonetization as banks at that time have good amount of cash available but it comes back to haunt our economy.
Modi did some good reforms Like GST (don’t say it is not working as in a country like India it’s not easy to do it, it was an idea since last 15 years and no previous govt try to get consensus of states) it is work in progress.
Even though in those growth years of MMS they didn’t bought any defense equipment, compare to that China become more powerful, Pakistan has better air power than India, whom should we blame for this situation?
Mr RG’s early statements on covid were laughed off. Madhya pradesh bjp said to kamal nath that covid cannot save you.
RG asked about the china intrusion only after Mr. Trump’s deliberate slip of tongue. Isn’t it strange we hear about serious problem at the border from the head of state of a different country.
Also dont you think china problem is because of us. Our unnecessary belligerence in declaring that aksai chin would be reclaimed. We had much better chance of stabilizing economy post covid if we weren’t having china problem.
Of the 3 problems, covid and economy can be attributed to be acts of god. To say china problem is also an act of god would surely invite the wrath. China going rogue is an act of bjp.
Sir, getting Ram Mandir after 500 year of struggle in a so called Hindu Majority country and getting Delhi and Banglore burning by your friends and Modiji is divisive. Looking at you and Shiv Sena now I know how hundred thousand British were able to rule over us. Shame on you. I know it’s difficult to let go your years of self inflated ego, but you have seen in 2014 and 2019. Hindus, by nature are not aggressive, but we feel pain to see so much discrimination against us in the name of appeasement. That period is over.
To your point, yes u r right, but is China, Modi problem. He met him 18 times and this is what we get. Yes the difference between him and your favourite Nehru is that he fights back. We love him. Atleast he is trying. He has to fight both external and Internal enimes of our civilization.
Wishful thinking from the writer to imagine that the ruling regime would eschew divisive political agendas for the benefit of the country. Their whole image has been built on the edifice of divide and rule and something that is in the DNA of the BJP, well supported by the RSS, cannot just be wished away.
An apt and pithy analysis of the fascist, Hitler worshipping RSS and its pracharak, who with a pogrom under his belt and a Delhi University degree nonetheless becomes the darling of the many gullible who conflate Hindutva and Hinduism.
Excellent comment Mr Gunvinder Singh !
it is Jihadi-Khalistani view. Finally Hindus have awakened and they are not going to let minorities take them by nose.
The minorities produced Dr. MMS, Dr. Kalam.
1 billion Hindus produced a chai wallah !
‘Finally Hindus have awakened and they are not going to let minorities take them by nose.’
I understand, you will vote for even a monkey, if Hindu
Two losers who know nothing about nothing. The 1984 crisis was brought about by a socialist leaning congress party led by a self entitled fool who did more damage to india then any leader since independance (and we have had some bad ones- All related). On the CAA /NRC these are non issues to the majority of indians. The foreignors sat in the border states should have been removed in 1947 after they forced partition down our throats. I am not a BJP voter but have no issue with these changes made – long overdue.
The BJP does seem to have fallen into a rut, Modi is still relying on the playbook which worked in 2000s. The next leader of BJP, they will win the next election , needs to make the next step. Modi has finally put an end to the stupidity of the 60s & 70s. Dr MMS was prevented by his own party from acheiving this.!! Those vote banks are not quite so valuable after all. The collapse of the INC is fully deserved lets hope the BJP does not repeat the same mistakes and become selfish ego driven corrupt machine. I might even vote for them next time.
‘On the CAA /NRC these are non issues to the majority of indians. ‘
Yes, for fascists, it does not matter if minorities are out in concentration camps. It was a non-issue for Germans also in the Nazi era. They are living through that shame still.
‘The BJP does seem to have fallen into a rut, Modi is still relying on the playbook which worked in 2000s. The next leader of BJP, they will win the next election , needs to make the next step.’
Hindu communalism is indeed a rut, but that is all the BJP knows. It silly to expect that its next Hindu knows anything else.
‘I might even vote for them next time.’
You voted for them out of Hindu communalism last time and you will continue to do so. Plus ca change. Why pretend you are anything other than a cheap Hindu communalist ?
You are happy with the collapse of INC. Are you happy with the subsequent collapse of India due to the triple crisis SG outlines ?
Yes. We have been voting for monkeys like Jawahar, Indira, Rajiv, Sonia etc. Therefore Muslims were able to walk off with 1/4 land and still remained in large enough in India, while they cleared Pakistan of non-Muslims.
There are large number of monkeys in Hindu community. good example is Mukul Keshavan who was arguing that Indian secularism is biggest challenge to Pakistan. Pakistanis couldn’t stop laughing after they get rid of non-Muslims.
Thanks for letting us know you also think Hindus are monkeys ! When I say it about Modi and his followers, I might be pilloried for racism.
To exemplify what you say, the current Hindu monkeys did not notice China taking land little by little. Instead, Pak was as ever on the minds of Hindu monkeys. Amit Shah said in the last election, if Hindus did not vote for Modi, it would be a win for Pakistan. Kangana Raut says Maharashtra is PoK. Many Hindus have monkey intelligence.
The question then you have to ask is why Hindus could not keep India united in 1947, and why they are working to disintegrate it further. Could the Hindus have some shortcoming ?
Yes. Hindus who align with you guys are monkeys, while you guys are pigs. You will use them and throw them to wolves when you don’t need them. We will watch with folded arms and won’t raise a finger to protect them , when you throw your Hindu supporters to wolves.
It is good that bulk of Hindus think rationally like me. Call us communal, if you want. We don’t give a damn. We are not that dumb to help you kill us. If Hindus like Nehru in 1947 were smart, and not monkeys ,you would be writing from Rawalpindi or Islamabad, not from India.
Rasgolla: You bray
“.. 1 billion Hindus produced a chai wallah ..”
You mean they produced a zero? Or the Zero ?
They produced a zero currently !
As for the Zero, that is no doubt it is the greatest of achievements of the past. However, it took the British to decipher the Bakshali manuscript which resides in the Bodelian Musuem of the University of Oxford, and which shows the first known calculation with a number system having zero. India’s past was rediscovered by the British, not the Hindus.
The ‘nationalist Hindus’ of today are into fabricating history. That is their level of scholarship . They claim Talpade invented flying, Hindus invented surgery and Ganesha is the proof etc.
rasgolla, whom you call chaiwala is running the country, while you are simply non-descript beast of burden. all your keyboard jihad is not going to change that fact.
I dont know what this divisive politics is ???? How is pursuing the cause of Hindu Interests divisive? It was never at the detriment of other communities…. It never was and never will be. was not pursuing the interests of other communities, by most of the parties , TMC, Congress, Leftists, equally divisive…. Has TMC done anything different to take the hindus of Bengal into confidence…. No… My request why dont you call her out for her divisive politics?…. Yes there are challenges…. Life is full of challenges…. Nation comes across challenges, all the time…. Leaders will take the necessary path to resolve it… Like Mrs I G did when she faced both Sikh & Islamic terrorism in her tenure in Punjab & Kashmir…..
‘Like Mrs I G did when she faced both Sikh & Islamic terrorism in her tenure in Punjab & Kashmir…..’
And what are you doing to stop RSS’s terrorism against minorities ? Lynchings and bringing hordes from outside Delhi to organise a pogrom ? You have no problem with that. You see that has Hindu’s showing off their patriotism.
And what did you do to stop the Hindus from being kicked out of valley and their rights? There are countless number of Hindus and BJP leaders killed in Kerala and Bengal, what have you done to stop this leftist jihadi terror on Hindus?
The Indian army was deployed in the Valley to protect the Pandits. It was certainly not deployed to protect the Muslims. In fact, the J & K Governor, the wicked Pandit Jagmohan asked the Pandits to come to camps in Jammu, as he said he was going to unleash the army on Muslims, and he wanted to save the Hindus from being caught in the crossfire. So what do I have to do with it ? The Indian army was used for Hindu communalism, and the result of Hindu communalism has been disastrous for India.
‘There are countless number of Hindus and BJP leaders killed in Kerala and Bengal, what have you done to stop this leftist jihadi terror on Hindus?’
There were countless leftists killed by RSS fascists in Kerala and Bengal, and the left gave the treatment the fascists understand. Just like the Soviet Union was needed to crush the Nazis in the language they understood.
The old witch created the crisis in Punjab after god saved us from her taking total power during the emergency. Look at how Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists are treated in all muslim majority places in the world by incuding parts of India.
Indira Gandhi was a disaster and tens if not hundreds of millions live in poverty due to that useless family. Even today they are a curse. The reason the BJP faces no real political challenge is due to useless Sonia, the loser son and wannabe daughter.
This is a problem as a strong opposition is needed, not to protest like children, but to push the government to improve its policies. The arrogance with which the INC treated other political forces during 50s to 80s is coming back to haunt them.
Hope the BJP has the wisdom to understand the danger of total power and the value of having a strong political system were rivals are not enemies but should be respected and have to be part of conversation.
Onus to forget divisive politics though is entirely on Prime Minister but the media has to assert itself to the truth of the situation. Prime Minister is born out of divisive politics and and is thriving on it while the elections to the two states are though important the nation cannot be ignored, but for our Prime Minister who is silent on divisive activities of BJP and RSS for whom the nation is what Hindutwa is the crisis is to be exploited for the same and when media is on its knees he thinks anything wrong can be laid on the shoulder of Nehru and Danasts while the anger of people against them have been kept alive. Pandemic is created a crisis but instead of dealing with it taking people along Modi created another crisis that of Migrant labor which further aggravated the situation. While Judiciary, media and the bureaucrats are on his side 130 crores most of whom are ignorant and illiterate could be tackled easily.
Typical communist mentality of considering oneself above everyone else. A rickshaw puller has.more intelligence than your kind of divisive people
That’s because nationalist leaders like Modi Trump BOLSANARO putin etc are the only hope along with the people who are waking up to dismantle destroy and bury for good the leftist paedo Satanist marxist cabal for whom you work for after having sold out your women kids and your filthy soul to the devil ?
‘like Modi Trump BOLSANARO are the only hope….’
Their countries became the top three for Covid ….
You need to have your head examined, perverted bhakth.
consider the population , fool.
Even ur leftist supermodel Kerala is now gaining covid cases at a fast rate.
Talking about economy, check the growth rate of BJP ruled and non Bjp ruled states, you will understand who is causing the slowdown.
‘Talking about economy, check the growth rate of BJP ruled and non Bjp ruled states, you will understand who is causing the slowdown.’
The majority of states are BJP ruled. – at least 85%. So you are saying the minority non-BJP states are causing the slow down ? It sounds like the Hindu belief that minorities are dragging India down, whereas it is Hindu incompetence that is the cause for India’s failure.
I haven’t heard a single comment on the Shiv Sena going on rampage in Maharashtra breaking all constitutional norms and their hoodlums taking law in their own hands. From breaking Kangana’s office even though there wasa Mumbai HC order not to demolish any structure till end Sept 2020 to the brutal thrashing of a ex navy personal for sending a mere watsapp forward, to overzealously giving Rhea extra protection , arresting TV media reporters and harassing them, turning a blind eye to killing of Sadhus…the list is too long. So why should we be surprised that Shekhar Gupta doesnt want to comment even a bit on these atrocious events. The answer is simple. Maharashtra has a 3 legged crippled government which is doing all it can out of the rule book but since it is opposing the BJP all its since have to be given a cover so that at least he is doing his bit in not allowing it to spread across the country. So a government throwing all constitutional norms to the wind, breaking established laws with impunity, harrassing its citizens, protecting drug peddlers has to be protected at any cost. Reporting it is a sin. It is not in national interest. National interest of Shekhar Gupta, which is a proxy for congress and the Left’s interest, is to give a cover fire to such misdemeanours of his political grandmasters. And then he lectures the government of India on what wrong have they done. Is his narrative credible ? For e.g for last 2 years he has been shouting from rooftops and toeing Rahul Gandhi’s line that demo was a disaster. He gives no explanation for it. But continues the rhetoric. Now does he answer as to what happened to crores of black money stashed in cash in houses of politicians like D K Shivkumar which everyone saw in the electronic media. Does he not know that bundles of money were found in lakes in waste landfil ares which people, unable to convert into white, had just abandoned it. The people who have lost auch unaccounted money are screaming the most. Any common man on the ground is not even touched by it. Yes, some pain was there but it was temporary. But as with all congress supporters in the media, Shekhar too likes to experiment with the saying that repeat a lie thousand times so that it starts appearing real to many, atleast to the uninitiated. And which economy in the world has prospered in the last 6 months. Shekhar Gupta knows very well but feigns ignorance of the fact that for majority of Indians, National interest is not equal to Gandhi family’s interest.
‘For e.g for last 2 years he has been shouting from rooftops and toeing Rahul Gandhi’s line that demo was a disaster. He gives no explanation for it. But continues the rhetoric.’
Modi boasted in a video that he managed to close 3 lakh enterprises with demonetisation. He implied that they were running on black money.
The problem is that 3 lakh new enterprises running on white money and 2 crore jobs per year were not created as promised. Hence, GDP shrank 2% straight away.
‘Now does he answer as to what happened to crores of black money stashed in cash in houses of politicians like D K Shivkumar which everyone saw in the electronic media. Does he not know that bundles of money were found in lakes in waste landfil ares which people, unable to convert into white, had just abandoned it. The people who have lost auch unaccounted money are screaming the most.’
That is a fabrication. RBI reported that 99.9% of cash in circulation returned to the banks. BJP fellows were caught with counterfeit 2000 notes. demonetisation was done to remove the funds of the opposition to win UP elections. He was ready to sacrifice the country’s economy. That is the level of cynicism.
Few comments to make
1. I have been arguing for a national integration govt since the time of lockdown 1. Near 25% contraction of the economy is nothing short of a catastrophe for a country the size of India. We need to stop bickering and nothing will stop that more than a unity govt.
2. Whether hindsight or not Modi must bear the responsibility for creating havoc in the economy with ill-thought steps beginning with demonetization, botched GST and having a non-serious FM like Nirmala Sitaraman replacing the late Mr Jaitley. All Indians must ensure that if they vote for Modi, they should restrict him to 200 seats in Parliament which will force him to abandon divisive politics and go back to politics of Vikas.
3. Modi started the trend of politicisation of national security issues. He must apologise for it and stop repeating. Otherwise it is recipe for taking immature and ill-thought out decisions by politicians who will oppose for the sake of opposing and voters who will be bamboozled into supporting govt who play on security fears of the population – the example of Pakistan is before us.
4. I am glad that SG has brought out the point of responsibility of the opposition. The opposition is not tasked with running the economy or managing the pandemic. That is the govt job and the govt must be held accountable for any lapses. Mindless blaming of opposition serves only the purpose of providing distraction instead of addressing real problems of people.
I wish to end with a joke of mine. When Nikita Krushchev abdicated in favour of Leonid Brezhnev he left 3 envelopes marked in order and told Brezhnev to open them in the order marked in case he faced any difficulty governing the Soviet Union. When the first crisis came, Brezhnev opened envelope 1 in which was written BLAME IT ON STALIN. So Brezhnev followed this advice and got over the crisis. When the next crisis arrived, envelope 2 was opened which said BLAME IT ON THE CAPITALISTS which helped Brezhnev get through. Crisis 3 followed and envelope 3 was opened which said VACATE YOUR CHAIR AND KEEP 3 ENVELOPES READY FOR YOUR SUCCESSOR.
Modi has got by with blaming Nehru, God, Chinese etc. I hope he (or the RSS) realises that his space for blaming others is reducing. Otherwise the next generation will blame the RSS and that might be a bitter pill to swallow. Ask Rahul Gandhi.
This Shekhu is imagining like shown in the Russian example he gives. Shekhu should understand that defence establishment and army is always 100% fit and ready to defend borders rather than giving a f0olish argument that covid and economy has made it weaker. Shekhu, Country’s separate health establishment is there for covid. Shekhu f0olishly thinks some voices of dissent within country would affect army. Shekhu should go to a poets’ gathering to air his imaginary and fictitious views rather than writing in The Print.
Divisive politics at home is as vague as it can get. There is a group of people who have and never will reconcile to the fact that Modi has to power with a resounding mandate not once but twice.
So instead of asking Modi to de-escalate the India’s triple crisis , would it not be better to find ways help to de-escalate.
1. Support the Government on border issues, right or or wrong can be debated after the issue is resolved.
2. Nobody in the world has been able to come up with a solution to Covid, every country is trying for a solution, so support the initiatives of Modi, instead of hoping he will screw it up and get dislodged from power.
3.Unless we now what the economic demands are going to be post Covid, we can only be careful, so we will be able to handle the demands when the time comes. Modi going after the money that drains the economy by corruption, drugs, terrorism and chronic free-booters is not going to stop so they will have to live with the reality and face the law, it is not divisive.
.
Shekhar jee
Totally disagree. There is no govt and no opposition in this country. Every party is ruling somewhere. What we witness in Maha these days makes Mamta look like mother Teresa.
Don’t single out. A PM draws strength from its people. Anurag Kashyap called Amit Shah an animal who should be spat upon…but his home is still intact. Your silence on this topic was deafening.
Please, we respect you. Dont lose your credibility. I beg of you.
Regards
Demonetization, faulty GST, world’s strictest lockdown instead of localised containment in early stages, – 23.9, . Neither of them was the work of Rahul Gandhi. But they say he is a Pappu. So we also say he is a Pappu.
None of them
Effect of draconian lockdown is not a hindsight. It is only true for you. All respectable and renowned public health specialists predicted them accurately. Just read Dr Mullayil’s interview at the time lockdown was announced.
The ChaiKnees ambassador mentioned that they have many “friends in India”.
Does the author leave any doubt who these friends are?
The Chinese PM’s closest friend was Modi. He visited China 18 times. Modi touched Xi’s feet, proclaiming an acronym STREANH (meaning STRENGTH) to symbolise Indo-Chinese closeness. But when Modi and Shah said they will capture Aksai Chin by force, the Chinese gave a forceful beating. After that Modi became a mouse, and said no one had crossed the LAC.
this article is like holding a mirror to the powers that may be. we need to take urgent action. Repeatedly showcasing success of the Army at the border will not improve economy. We need to co opt experts to get us out of this jam.
Nakkar khane mein tooti kahan ? In a hall full of drum being played where is the chance of a tooti (small flute) being played
No one in prepared to listen in their head long rush to destroy India ! Will not heed even your advice
Acharya
Unlike 1965 and 1971 when the nation was united this time it is not. The problem is the Big Boss. because for one thing we surely know is we just cannot trust him. Its like a bedbug. Place him anywhere and the first thing he does is to suck your blood.
Dear sir,what can we expect from hopeless opposition who cannot set their own house in order? is it not a waste of time in engaging with them? Tell us ,What control one, specially opposition, that too a dynasty family, can exercise on China or Covid? Pls understand we are passing through a very unique phase which no government in world ever faced so far and it can be tackled only with strong and and decisive leadership, weather one love it or hate it, and one has to give time for it. Better not to waste time with dynastic opposition who cannot decides at their own about their leader.
SG did not spell out what he meant by lack of unity. He did not mean opposition. He meant the govt’s attention in the years has been to stoke Hindu-Muslim conflict. That distracted them from tackling Covid and not reading China. Even now, the typical BJP Hindu’s obsession is fighting with Muslims in the country.
Irrespective of what Lenin said or Mao said, Modi should continue to keep the divisive elements in India down, by force if necessary. Democracy is not something that the liberals of India understand or appreciate. There is no need to compromise with them or even waste any energy trying to understand them. Just keep them down and if possible, eliminate them from the minds of Indians.
‘Modi should continue to keep the divisive elements in India down, by force if necessary. Democracy is not something that the liberals of India understand or appreciate. ‘
You have a fascist’s understanding of democracy ! Use force to crush dissent, because dissenters and liberals do not understand democracy. Liberals have never advocated force against dissenters.