The author is worried about the vast masses of India facing unemployment, poverty, starvation, and communal divisions that threaten to destroy the nation built with sacrifices of thousands over centuries.- EDITOR
What the Indians are celebrating this 15th August, and why they are celebrating; only they can explain. India is celebrating 75 years of its Independence on Aug 15, 2022. Modi government kick started the 75-weeks of festivities by coloring them with RSS/VHP/BJP brand of Hindutva on March 12, 2021 on the 91st anniversary of the historic Dandi Satyagraha/March of March 12, 1930, an act of nonviolent civil disobedience against British colonial government led by Mahatma Gandhi. The irony is that Modi’s BJP rather its parent organizations RSS, VHP &Hindu Mahasabha etc. were working for the British and never participated in the freedom struggle of India. Here Modi is pretending to honor MahatmaGandhi, and the same Modi publicly honors his idol Savarkar who conspired with his follower Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi!
Celebrating 75 years of Gangster Capitalism that Criminalized the Politics of India?
The most disturbing is Modi’s BJP MP’s and his own Cabinet of Ministers have the most criminals in the current Parliament. Out of 303 BJP MP’s, 116 have criminal record including a bomb maker & a terrorism accused and 22 are in Cabinet and out of that 16 ministers have serious criminal cases registered against them. Most pathetic is Home Minister Amit Shah was accused of having orchestrated the extrajudicial killings under CM Modi of Gujarat. Serious criminal cases include terrorism, treason, arson, murder, rape, robbery, burglary, communal disharmony/hate speeches, electoral violations, and kidnapping, among others. Unfortunately, of the 539 winning candidates analyzed by the ADR, as many as 233 MPs or 43% have criminal charges. Nearly 29% of the cases are related to rape, murder, attempt to murder or crime against women. “There is an increase of 109% [in 2019] in the number of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009,” it said. If that is the plight of the India’s Parliament and government run by criminals; one can for sure say the states must be doing worse than this!
The criminalization of politics is directly related to “Gangster Capitalism” that is being practiced in India since its independence in 1947. In India, politicians are selected & financed by the “New India Company” (NIC)jointly owned by Gangster Capitalists of India; the voters play a part in the charade of voting for them!New India Company has looted more in 75 years than Jewish & Christian East India Company in 200 years of their occupation of India. Obama targeted Indian Billionaires, saying that they have left behind kings & Mughals while Millions are starving & homeless.
Celebrating Rising Hunger and Poverty in India?
In the 2021 Global Hunger Index, India ranks 101st out of the 116 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2021 GHI scores. With a score of 27.5, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
India also added significantly to global poverty in 2020 and 2021, according to research. “More than 46 million Indians…are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020 (over 50% of the global new poor according to the UN),” according to the Inequality Kills report released by Oxfam India in January. The report noted that this was a direct consequence of an “economic system rigged in favor of the super-rich. ”In 2020 alone, India contributed 60% to the global rise in poverty, according to a January 2021 report from Pew Research.
Celebrating India’s rank as one of the mostUnequal Country?
The world inequality report ranks India as one of the most unequal countries in the world, with rising poverty and yet an affluent elite.Richest 98 Indians own same wealth as the bottom 552 million (55.2 crore) people.The wealth inequality is so horrendous that the top 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the total national wealth. The richest 10% of Indians account for 57.1% of all income, compared with only 13.2% for the poorest half.
Celebrating 50 years High Unemployment?
Unemployment rate rose to 45-year high of 6.1% in FY18 as per Modi’s own statistics ministry. It further increased to 7.80 percent in April from 7.60 percent in March of 2022 making it 50 years high. India a country of 1.41 billion people, its total employment fell by a massive 13 million to 390 million in June 2022 compared to 403 million in May, the lowest level since July last year.The urban unemployment rate rose to 9.22% in April from 8.28% the previous month, while the rural unemployment rate rose to 7.80% from 7.29%. The highest unemployment rate of 34.5% was recorded in the BJP aka Modi ruled state of Haryana. India’s unemployment rate exceeded most emerging economies like Bangladesh (5.3%), Mexico (4.7%) and Vietnam (2.3%),
Pre Covid-19, desperate 2.3 million Indians applied for 368 low-level government jobs in BJP aka Modi ruled state of Uttar Pradesh, paying 16,000 rupees ($202) a month that involve making tea and passing files between government offices. Requirements for the 368 jobs include having finished primary school and being able to ride a bicycle. The applicants included at least 255 people with doctorates and 150,000 graduates.
But unemployment in India mainly refers to educated young people looking for jobs in the formal economy – although the informal economy employs 90% of the workforce and generates half the economic output. So, unemployment numbers don’t reveal much about the total supply of workers in the economy as a whole. Three-quarters of India’s workforce is self-employed and casual, with no social security benefits. Only a little over 2% of the workforce have secure formal jobs with access to social security – a retirement savings scheme, health care, maternity benefits – and written contracts of more than three years. A paltry 9% have formal jobs with access to at least one social security source. Earnings are pathetically low, 45% of all salaried workers earn less than 9,750 rupees ($123) a month. That’s less than 375 rupees (($4.73) a day, the minimum wage proposed by Modi regime in 2019 but later dropped. According to Dr Radhika Kapoor, a labor economist, “The majority of India’s workforce is vulnerable and leads a precarious existence.” “Unemployment is a luxury which the educated, relatively well-off can afford. Not the poor, unskilled or semi-skilled people.”
Celebrating Low Governance Indicators awarded by World Bank?
The World Bank’s World Governance Indicators (WGI) provide a ranking of 215 countries territories based on six dimensions of governance: ‘Voice and Accountability’; ‘Political Stability and Absence of Violence’; ‘Government Effectiveness’; ‘Regulatory Quality’; ‘Rule of Law’ and ‘Control of Corruption.’ The presentation noted India’s WGI score is much below the BBB Median on all six indicators. While BBB is an investment-grade rating issued by global rating agencies such as S&P and Fitch, a WGI score below BBB Median would suggest that India falls below the middle when the scores of countries are arranged in a descending order. A sovereign credit rating is an independent assessment of the creditworthiness of a country or sovereign entity. It can give investors insights into the level of risk associated with investing in the debt of a particular country, including any political risk.
Celebrating Global Ranking of 46 as “Flawed Democracy” in 2021?
India is ranked 46 on the Global Democracy Index with an overall score of 6.91, lowest since the index was first published in 2006. The score has been continuously declining since 2014, when it was 7.92. It has the lowest score of 5 on political culture and the highest score of 8.67 on electoral process and pluralism. It scores 6.18 on civil liberties, 7.22 on political participation, 7.50 on functioning of government.
The analysis of the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed India’s rank in the EIU’s Democracy Index that fell from 27 in 2014 to 46 in 2021and classified it as ‘flawed democracy’. Now India rank along with other flawed democracies like Mongolia, Peru, Romania, Poland, Brazil etc.
Celebrating 66th Rank out of 100 countries in “Freedom in the World 2022 Index”?
India ranked 66 out of 100 countries: Political rights 33/40 and Civil Liberties 33/60. India’s status declined from Free to Partly Free. While India is a multiparty democracy, the government led by PM Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has presided over discriminatory policies and a rise in persecution affecting the Muslim population. The constitution guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and freedom of religion, but harassment of journalists, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and other government critics has increased significantly under Modi. Muslims, scheduled castes (Dalits), and scheduled tribes (Adivasis) remain economically and socially marginalized.
The numerical scores and status listed above do not reflect conditions in Indian Kashmir, which is examined in a separate report. Freedom in the World reports assess the level of political rights and civil liberties in a given geographical area, regardless of whether they are affected by the state, nonstate actors, or foreign powers.
Celebrating 150th Rank out of 180 countries in “World Press Freedom Index 2022?
As per World Press Freedom Index 2022, India’s ranking dropped to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank among 180 nations. Now India ranked along with countries like Sudan (151), Belarus (153rd), Russia (155th), Afghanistan (156) and Pakistan (157) that are on the Index’s red list (indicating “very bad” press freedom situations) on the map.
Celebrating 85th Rank out of 180 countries in Corruption Index by Transparency International ?
“India scores 40 out of 100 in the Corruption Index to win the coveted 85Th Rank”. The case of India is particularly worrying under Modi rule since 2014, some of the mechanisms that could help reign in corruption have been weakening. There are concerns over the country’s democratic status, as fundamental freedoms and institutional checks and balances decay, the report said.In Corruption Index, India now ranks with Columbia, Ethiopia, Guyana, Kosovo etc. “India also scores very low in the transparency index, with a score of 5.5 out of 20.
Celebrating 136th Rank out of 146 countries in “World Happiness Report 2022”?
India was ranked 136 out of 146 countries in the United Nations‘ World Happiness Report, 2022. The Narendra Modi government has not disputed the survey, which marginally increases India’s position by three ranks from 2021. Before Modi in 2013, India ranked 117 in World Happiness Index and now it trails even with its neighbors; China (83), Nepal (85) Bangladesh (99) and Pakistan (103).
Celebrating Rising Islamophobia in India?
“The Gangster Capitalists of India” are financing Islamophobia and Modi that is representing each and every Hindu organization that wants to make India a “Hindu Rashtra”. The current top 3 Poster Boys of Gangster Capitalism of India are Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, and Rattan Tata. Their net worth under Modi’s 8 years rule has gone up by 175% to 350% and now they own all the major industries, including defense and service sector of India.
“Hindu Rashtra” a communal agenda, the Elites that are financing and promoting it; call it a “Majoritarian Rule” where Upper caste Hindus are more equal even than the lower caste Hindus. No one can ignore how the minorities especially Muslims & Christians along with Dalits and Schedule Tribes are being treated under Modi Rule since 2014. Unfortunately, history tells us that such countries rarely progress much. Retd. Admiral Arun Prakash in an interview has observed that under the current rulers, “India is prone to a Civil War in the very near future”.
Celebrating a big majority of Indians becoming communal?
Right now,the problem in India is that people have become communal & have started believing in False Nationalism and fake glorification of Hindu Kings. Since the rise of Modi in 2014, “Freedom of Expression” has been severely curtailed, while traditional media and especially journalists critical of the government have been openly persecuted. Modi regime has contempt for democratic procedure. This is a government with no humanity, no civility, no decency, no transparency. It is committed only to the pursuit of total power. It seeks absolute political, ideological, and personal supremacy. The noble sentiments expressed in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution are being violated everyday by those who took their oaths of office on that document. That is why, when challenged by young minds like 22 yrs. old Disha Ravi a climate activist or 23 yrs. old Nodeep Kaur, a Dalit activist, and lot of other young activist;to honor and uphold those Constitutional values, the response of the state is to put these young minds in jail.
Modi regime fears independent thinking in general. Indians must be obedient, conformist, loyal to the state and the ruling regime, and worshipful towards the Great and Visionary Leader. Ideally, the Indian state would like no critical, objective, detailed, scrutiny of its policies and actions to be permitted at all. Since May 2014, democratic freedoms have been greatly attenuated in India.Religion, as interpreted by the state now plays a significant role in politics and governance. The example of its harmful role can be seen in the deterioration of the rights of Muslims, Christians, Dalit Hindus, Schedule Tribes and other religious minorities being targeted by the state.
“Modi’s eminence is due to the surrounding flatness of India”.
Unfortunately, here the flatness means; Modi’s high reputation is only because the terribly low morals, ethics, honesty and talents left in India these days. Modi led government in the Center & BJP Ruled states are nothing but “Kangaroo Courts” that is “perpetuating political theater, vilifying and destroying political opponents, all the democratic institutions, courts, educational institutions, media and citizen’s rights to freedom of expression and demanding any accountability from the governments”. Since 2014, India under Modi has become a sad story. Over 60% Indians are gladly willing to pay Islamophobic Tax, participating in False Nationalism, Fake Glorification of Hindu Kings& communal agenda of Hindu Rashtra, even if it begets them unemployment, poverty, starvation and even death! No one can save a nation in death wish mode.
(Compiled by Devendra Makkar from various internet sources & writings of prominent journalists. The author is a US based social activist. He can be reached at davemakkar@yahoo.com)
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