As the ‘Reject CAA’ roar of the nation reverberates through the corridors of power, protests galore characterise the volatile situation in the country today as multitudes join forces against the ‘arbitrary’ citizenship laws promulgated. The government, visibly adamant both on proposing and disposing on matters that it feels it has a prerogative over, is being challenged by an embittered section of the populace which is offended by its insensitive attitude to their plight. Acknowledging the fact that the earlier governments that helmed the affairs of the nation at the Centre, as also in the States, consisted of ministers who were indicted in some scam or the other during their long tenures, the BJP think-tank has adapted strategies from the pages of ancient history to suit its immediate needs. It is either an outright nod for embracing the saffron party, or the discomforts of having government investigations into matters from their buried past, and an assured term behind the bars, which stares them in the face as the only way out of the quagmire. With many of the ‘apprehensive’ legislators going with the former option, the ‘hotchpotch’ that has come to characterise various State governments where the BJP made a back-door entry to install its dispensation at the helm speaks for the rot that has come in to our political system.
While the BJP evidently believes in ‘quantity’ to assert its dominance in Indian politics, it is the ‘quality’ of governance that has been sacrificed at the altar of false pretenses. As it is the BJP, under the stewardship of Modi & Co, has moved over from being one that has cadre-based policies at its core to a ‘party of drifters’ where the ‘migratory factor’ will very soon disintegrate its core values. Over a period of seventy years, our politicians have systematically eroded the very essence of India’s Constitution. It hence becomes essential that our Constitutional guarantees are defended against assaults by any party or government. Yet it does appear that in an apparent bid to assert its will over the nation, the government has diverted the attention of the people from the more pressing ‘domestic needs’ of the common man to dwell on debates on the controversial citizenship issue that has consumed the nation! It is hence time the government realised that the slew of gigantic projects being carried out in the name of development does not impress the common man any more struggling that he is to come to terms with an economy that shows no signs of recovery despite the tall claims by the leaders to the contrary. The country is passing through a harrowing time and the Modi-sarkar is just in no mood to accept the stark truth! With the prices of almost all essential food items skyrocketing in an astounding manner, the aam aadmi is not wrong in feeling that he has been let down terribly by the government. Further, with the back-breaking inflation and unemployment being a true indicator of the deteriorating economic situation in the country, the common man would be the least interested in bothering himself with anything but matters that concern his subsistence. As woes continue to dog the aam aadmi, it is the manner in which he has apparently been marginalized by the government that is quite rankling. If the summer continues to be a ‘scorching’ period for the kisans of the country who have had to give up even on divine intervention to yield them a good produce year after year, their pecuniary conditions have further dragged them into miserable conditions. Farmer suicides are a brazen truth the country has had to learn to live with. Despite announcements of attractive financial packages and schemes by the government to help the farmers to tide over their hardships, the farming community in the country continues to be at the mercy of moneylenders and middlemen who like leeches suck them dry of their earnings. Likewise, when the monsoons are not playing truant, the harshness of the wet-spell has been equally unmerciful on the farmers. Has the Jawan fared any better! Caught up in the euphoria of their accomplishments, the nation just cannot stop eulogizing its defence forces for its daring feats. As sentinels guarding the nation against aggressions from both within and from across the frontier, the armed forces of the country has been tackling incursions and insurgency with equal ease, and coming out winners too. Even during natural calamities and for aid during overwhelming situations that the country finds itself in, it is the army which is turned to for immediate help. But reports about a paucity of funds affecting the payments of their arrears and allowances accentuate the government’s apathetic attitude to their plight. With the Jawan and Kisan both continuing to live in ‘precarious’ conditions, isn’t the veracity of the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ in serious doubt! For the common man though the frivolities of the ‘seasonal’ woes have been a matter too hard to reconcile with. In spite of paying all his taxes; much to his indignation he still finds the administration lacking in necessary resources to sort out his problems. Floods have today become an inevitable aspect of the rainy season. But it is the resulting chaos and destruction in its wake that has laid bare the hollowness of the claims of the authorities as regards their preparedness to tackle any eventuality. The government has become indifferent towards the irregular water supply and frequent blackouts which have become the order of the day when it comes to providing basic utility services. In spite of being in an era of highly sophisticated global communication systems, the services of India’s telecommunication giant BSNL continue to be awfully poor. The unemployment rate in India which is today on a four-decade high many feel is possibly an outcome of the demonetization exercises ‘patronized’ by the government to curb the informal untaxed economy. At a time when the common man finds himself crushed between the mortar and pestle in his attempts to make both ends meet, a government that came to power swearing to usher in achche din ahead for the nation is conspicuous by its callousness in pushing the country further into the abyss of misery. Surprisingly, in sharp contrast to the large popularity that the Modi-ensemble presumes it enjoys among the masses, the agendas it has pursued so far has been strikingly anti-people. Can a government decide on spanning greater political agendas when the aam aadmi finds that deliberations on his basic interests are denied due consideration! Let us not forget that the primary duty of a government is towards its people and their welfare. But when the welfare programmes envisaged for the masses pale in comparison to the larger machinations of the government in pursuing its own ‘self-gratifying’ agendas, the nation is in for troubled times ahead. The mood for ‘experimentation’ should not allow any government to play havoc with the lives of the aam janata of the country!