India, October
2017: We are a country that have a fully functional Judiciary,
Executive & a Legislature. These three pillars of our democracy seem
healthy from the outside and any of our 125 Crore+ people can feel
proud of the fact that our founding fathers have left us a structure
that prevails and despite the humongous scale at which this country
operates, manages to maintain order.
2014 was a year that was full of expectations because in May a new Legislative team was installed by an overwhelming majority after booting out the most corrupt regime this country had ever seen. Sonia Gandhi and her Government were so up to their neck in corruption, it almost became a joke. I will stop right there because even a recollection of it seems like a nightmare we never have to relive again.
Narendra Modi came across as a breath of fresh air, a man speaking the common man's language - talking extensively of development, ridding large scale corruption, restoring the pride of a wounded nation, creating jobs, bringing back the economy on track from the dismal wrecked ruin it was made into by the much famed "Dream team", and many such.
It has been 3 and a half years.
Are we satisfied? Are we happy? Am afraid not.
Are we slightly underwhelmed? You bet we are.
Do we want to throw out the Modi government? HELL, NO!
So what has worked & what has not?
Lets see - Pride has been restored to a large extent. It feels great to hear friends outside the country talk about India's image in the developed nations. Feels good to see International experts and bodies be so bullish about India's economic future. Modi was ridiculed as an NRI PM, but that was what he had to do and he did it well.
And after those trips, he rolled up his sleeves, stayed home and is working extremely hard to fix things - and there are so many things to fix after the bungling Manmohan & team had done in 10 years!
Economy has been more or less on track. Inflation is under control. The note printing (and distributing among themselves) machinery of the Congress has been given a much deserved rest. Demonetization cost the corrupt dear. I know of people who lost part of their ill gotten gains in the frenzy to convert. Some (very little but still, some) of that even trickled down the economic ladder into the pockets of the needy.
Most important, it gave the needy sections of the society an opportunity to see the move causing burn in the holes of the pockets of the wealthy. Somehow that translated into a patient wait in the line, without complaints, to exchange whatever little cash the lower and middle income groups had. The mainstream media folks who tried to whip up emotion were rightly put back into place.
I am not an expert but I know this much - if the Markets are a measure of the economy, one look at India's market indices are ample evidence that the Government is doing the right things.
What has not worked is that prices of essentials has still not come down to the levels that one expected/hoped to see. Fuel prices should reflect the crude in international markets and that is one area the general perception is that the government could have done more.
However, I don't remember Onion prices hitting the roof due to hoarding. Except the one time that pulses went up, prices have pretty much been under control. Even then, quick measures were taken to keep it under lid.
Defence is one area that we have seen HUGE improvements. Now, when we hear of a Pakistani ceasefire violation, it is quickly followed by evidence of a quick, fierce and super aggressive response. We have even occasionally heard of the Pakistani rats scurry along with a white flag begging forgiveness. Manohar Parrikar was a great choice for DefMin and the surgical strikes made our chests swell with pride. The by-product of the external action was that it also showed up the true faces of power hungry communist leaders here at home who asked for evidence, spoke it down, condemned the government etc.
Now in Nirmala Sitharaman, we have a lady who is always at some defense installation or the other, inspiring our forces, waving off women's delegations to sail around the world, shocking the Chinese guarding their border posts with a simple "Namaste" & MOST IMPORTANTLY, TAKING DECISIONS! In her short tenure as DefMin, I bet she has done more than A.K. Antony ever did in his entire tenure. India's war preparedness (as per sources - real sources, am not MSM) has apparently come down to 2 days from the much longer time during the time of Manmohan.
What has not worked? Home Ministry has seen some real cowardly stuff. Lots of "Kadi Ninda" with no real action, Dollops of minority appeasement that has continued unabated. Kashmir that is still handled with kid gloves. Pellet guns that would keep our forces safe have been replaced because the usual suspects in the media criticized the use. I & B has been ineffective in reining in these anti-nationals masquerading as an independent media (more of this later). JNU continues to be the pot where anti-India elements operate with no fear of law. Maoists still kill our forces and get away - but I have to admit that is one activity that seems to be on the wane.
The rest of the arms of the administration - Surface transport, Railways, Power, Textiles etc all seem to be going about their jobs quietly, purposefully and the results show.
The one pillar of this democracy that has really disappointed me during this Government's tenure is the Judiciary. Ever since Modi took over, there seems to be a complete Judicial Activism that has taken over this very important element of our country.
It all started in a very small, innocuous manner that seemed helpful and almost guidance to the government - a few examples:
Why is the Ganga cleaning not given priority?
What is happening in the Black Money case?
Then they moved to areas that prompted "Is this your business really?" in my mind.
What regulations should come in to Cricket?
What about the National Anthem before movie shows?
Then they descended into what now seems like the real agenda:
Water during Holi.
Crackers during Diwali.
Loudspeakers during Chhat Pooja.
The last straw as far as I am concerned is with the stay on sending back the Rohingya refugees who the Government has said are not just a threat to the national security but can also dangerously alter the demographics of our country and threaten our identity like never before in our history.
If this were balanced with number of animals killed during Muslim festivals or trees cut for decoration during Christmas, I'd say go ahead. But the Judiciary doesn't want to interfere in Loudspeakers used from 4:30 AM to late in the night for Muslim prayers. They don't want to interfere in making Id a bloodless festival. With a slim margin, they opted to do away with triple talaq. Though am sure they will eventually throw in the towel on that as well.
The case for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is now pending for over 20 years but instead of taking bold decisions based on archeological facts and documented history, the Supreme Court asks the parties involved to come to an understanding. Couple this with the Muslim bodies saying they will not negotiate and instead will depend on the Supreme Court's verdict, this seems to be a dangerous Tango going on and the Hindu turns out to be just a hapless, uninterested bystander watching this drama unfold, believing at every moment, that we cannot rely on the Courts to be in any way fair to our cause.
All said and done, the Judiciary is increasingly being perceived to be anti-Hindu and the causes they take up regularly are only going on to strengthen that perception. How this plays out, How long the Hindus will rein in their pride, How thin their patience runs and When this patience runs out, is only to be seen. But God forbid, when that happens - and at the rate at which we are going, it is a question of WHEN and not IF, the cleansing will start. And it has to, because whatever parts of the country, the Hindus have let turn into other religions, have been cut off from Bharat, to the point that Bharat itself has been re-christened into India.
Time to rise, to shed off that cowardice in the guise of being tolerant, to revel in being Hindu - whatever form of Hindu, whatever erstwhile Varna, whatever man made Caste, whatever Color, whatever Territory - to take pride in the fact that we are born in a land that is rich with so much legacy, heritage & culture despite the suffering and the attempts to negate & ridicule our beliefs and our way of life.
To quote, perhaps the most famous son of this soil who repeated this from the Upanishads - ARISE, AWAKE, STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED!
The Goal is to reclaim Bharat, not just in terms of territory, but reclaiming everything that Bharat ever stood for.
2014 was a year that was full of expectations because in May a new Legislative team was installed by an overwhelming majority after booting out the most corrupt regime this country had ever seen. Sonia Gandhi and her Government were so up to their neck in corruption, it almost became a joke. I will stop right there because even a recollection of it seems like a nightmare we never have to relive again.
Narendra Modi came across as a breath of fresh air, a man speaking the common man's language - talking extensively of development, ridding large scale corruption, restoring the pride of a wounded nation, creating jobs, bringing back the economy on track from the dismal wrecked ruin it was made into by the much famed "Dream team", and many such.
It has been 3 and a half years.
Are we satisfied? Are we happy? Am afraid not.
Are we slightly underwhelmed? You bet we are.
Do we want to throw out the Modi government? HELL, NO!
So what has worked & what has not?
Lets see - Pride has been restored to a large extent. It feels great to hear friends outside the country talk about India's image in the developed nations. Feels good to see International experts and bodies be so bullish about India's economic future. Modi was ridiculed as an NRI PM, but that was what he had to do and he did it well.
And after those trips, he rolled up his sleeves, stayed home and is working extremely hard to fix things - and there are so many things to fix after the bungling Manmohan & team had done in 10 years!
Economy has been more or less on track. Inflation is under control. The note printing (and distributing among themselves) machinery of the Congress has been given a much deserved rest. Demonetization cost the corrupt dear. I know of people who lost part of their ill gotten gains in the frenzy to convert. Some (very little but still, some) of that even trickled down the economic ladder into the pockets of the needy.
Most important, it gave the needy sections of the society an opportunity to see the move causing burn in the holes of the pockets of the wealthy. Somehow that translated into a patient wait in the line, without complaints, to exchange whatever little cash the lower and middle income groups had. The mainstream media folks who tried to whip up emotion were rightly put back into place.
I am not an expert but I know this much - if the Markets are a measure of the economy, one look at India's market indices are ample evidence that the Government is doing the right things.
What has not worked is that prices of essentials has still not come down to the levels that one expected/hoped to see. Fuel prices should reflect the crude in international markets and that is one area the general perception is that the government could have done more.
However, I don't remember Onion prices hitting the roof due to hoarding. Except the one time that pulses went up, prices have pretty much been under control. Even then, quick measures were taken to keep it under lid.
Defence is one area that we have seen HUGE improvements. Now, when we hear of a Pakistani ceasefire violation, it is quickly followed by evidence of a quick, fierce and super aggressive response. We have even occasionally heard of the Pakistani rats scurry along with a white flag begging forgiveness. Manohar Parrikar was a great choice for DefMin and the surgical strikes made our chests swell with pride. The by-product of the external action was that it also showed up the true faces of power hungry communist leaders here at home who asked for evidence, spoke it down, condemned the government etc.
Now in Nirmala Sitharaman, we have a lady who is always at some defense installation or the other, inspiring our forces, waving off women's delegations to sail around the world, shocking the Chinese guarding their border posts with a simple "Namaste" & MOST IMPORTANTLY, TAKING DECISIONS! In her short tenure as DefMin, I bet she has done more than A.K. Antony ever did in his entire tenure. India's war preparedness (as per sources - real sources, am not MSM) has apparently come down to 2 days from the much longer time during the time of Manmohan.
What has not worked? Home Ministry has seen some real cowardly stuff. Lots of "Kadi Ninda" with no real action, Dollops of minority appeasement that has continued unabated. Kashmir that is still handled with kid gloves. Pellet guns that would keep our forces safe have been replaced because the usual suspects in the media criticized the use. I & B has been ineffective in reining in these anti-nationals masquerading as an independent media (more of this later). JNU continues to be the pot where anti-India elements operate with no fear of law. Maoists still kill our forces and get away - but I have to admit that is one activity that seems to be on the wane.
The rest of the arms of the administration - Surface transport, Railways, Power, Textiles etc all seem to be going about their jobs quietly, purposefully and the results show.
The one pillar of this democracy that has really disappointed me during this Government's tenure is the Judiciary. Ever since Modi took over, there seems to be a complete Judicial Activism that has taken over this very important element of our country.
It all started in a very small, innocuous manner that seemed helpful and almost guidance to the government - a few examples:
Why is the Ganga cleaning not given priority?
What is happening in the Black Money case?
Then they moved to areas that prompted "Is this your business really?" in my mind.
What regulations should come in to Cricket?
What about the National Anthem before movie shows?
Then they descended into what now seems like the real agenda:
Water during Holi.
Crackers during Diwali.
Loudspeakers during Chhat Pooja.
The last straw as far as I am concerned is with the stay on sending back the Rohingya refugees who the Government has said are not just a threat to the national security but can also dangerously alter the demographics of our country and threaten our identity like never before in our history.
If this were balanced with number of animals killed during Muslim festivals or trees cut for decoration during Christmas, I'd say go ahead. But the Judiciary doesn't want to interfere in Loudspeakers used from 4:30 AM to late in the night for Muslim prayers. They don't want to interfere in making Id a bloodless festival. With a slim margin, they opted to do away with triple talaq. Though am sure they will eventually throw in the towel on that as well.
The case for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is now pending for over 20 years but instead of taking bold decisions based on archeological facts and documented history, the Supreme Court asks the parties involved to come to an understanding. Couple this with the Muslim bodies saying they will not negotiate and instead will depend on the Supreme Court's verdict, this seems to be a dangerous Tango going on and the Hindu turns out to be just a hapless, uninterested bystander watching this drama unfold, believing at every moment, that we cannot rely on the Courts to be in any way fair to our cause.
All said and done, the Judiciary is increasingly being perceived to be anti-Hindu and the causes they take up regularly are only going on to strengthen that perception. How this plays out, How long the Hindus will rein in their pride, How thin their patience runs and When this patience runs out, is only to be seen. But God forbid, when that happens - and at the rate at which we are going, it is a question of WHEN and not IF, the cleansing will start. And it has to, because whatever parts of the country, the Hindus have let turn into other religions, have been cut off from Bharat, to the point that Bharat itself has been re-christened into India.
Time to rise, to shed off that cowardice in the guise of being tolerant, to revel in being Hindu - whatever form of Hindu, whatever erstwhile Varna, whatever man made Caste, whatever Color, whatever Territory - to take pride in the fact that we are born in a land that is rich with so much legacy, heritage & culture despite the suffering and the attempts to negate & ridicule our beliefs and our way of life.
To quote, perhaps the most famous son of this soil who repeated this from the Upanishads - ARISE, AWAKE, STOP NOT TILL THE GOAL IS REACHED!
The Goal is to reclaim Bharat, not just in terms of territory, but reclaiming everything that Bharat ever stood for.
