When the Modi government came to power in 2014, India was celebrated as New India as if India under the Congress was under the colonial rule and only got independence in 2014.
Actually, the new era that started was one that has been seeing ultra-nationalism, a post-truth society, ultra-Hindutva and so on. With the overwhelming support of the youth of India and IT cells, the BJP managed to win the 2019 election, too. But the period of these five years has created a vacuum in the life of youth. Unemployment has been at its highest and the economy at its lowest since demonetisation. The Modi government has unilaterally been giving consent to privatisation. Consequently, government jobs have reduced by half while the number of youth vying for these jobs has doubled.
So, what was the reason behind all of this?
The blunder or the biggest scam was announcing demonetisation just to win the UP election. Hundreds of people lost their lives and lakhs of people lost their jobs even as the government brought in another complex GST into play. Again, the first wave of Covid-19 led to an unplanned lockdown, which left crores of poor Indians on the street. As a result, another three crore Indians lost their jobs. With the second wave, it is expected that more than three crore Indians will lose their jobs again and many will move below the poverty line.
The only people who profited from all of this were the Big Businessmen. The wealth of both Adani and Ambani increased drastically during the pandemic.
How much did your wealth increase during 2020? You struggled to survive the Covid-19 Pandemic while the Big Businessmen made ₹12 lakh crore and increased their wealth by 35%. Can you tell me why? Especially while the rest of the world is in recession and Indians are struggling to procure food for a single day?
Again, the farmers’ bills were implemented for the welfare not of farmers but the Big Businessmen. Disinvestment is taking place at a large scale and it seems that businessmen bring the bills and the Central government passes it unilaterally without any debate or discussion. One by one, all of the best economic advisers — from Raghuram Rajan to Urjit Patel — have left the government and the country is being deliberately pushed into hell.
The second wave of Covid-19 has already killed more than a lakh of people. When the matter of the price control of the two Covid vaccines came to forefront, it was left to the vaccine manufacturers to set a price. They kept their own profit margins that exceeded the price of the vaccine by 2-3 times. Despite getting a financial assistance of Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre, why is the CEO of Serum India, one of the two Covid vaccine manufacturers in India, hesitating to come back to India?
The day the Modi government came to power, people of Gujarati occupied roles in bureaucracy as well as businesses. India is moving towards an aristocratic form of government, with not only Modi or Shah running the government, but rather, the Big Businessmen running the government behind the curtains.
I accept that religion cannot be separated from politics, but can this inseparation not be minimised? There should be no interference of religion in politics, be it Hindutva coming in the politics of the BJP Islam in the politics of AIMIM.
If you speak against the government, you might be booked under the NSA, UAPA or sedition law. But dissent is soul of a democracy. It should be welcomed, the grievances of the opposition must be redressed. Democracy needs representation of all sections, but a regional representation creates discrimination and it is taking place in each and every sector. It is against humanity. Each and every person has the right to a dignified life.
Saurabh K.R. Singh
Campus Law Centre
Delhi University