Little reason to believe the year 2021 will be much better for communities and freedom

There was a lot of hope for the year 2020 being the threshold to a new resurgent decade synonymous with clarity, vision, and foresight. Possibly that is the reason why Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam authored a book titled India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium.

However, the year 2020 did not start too well. India was rocked by the anti-CAA protests, and the world watched with blinders China was grappling with what was later to become known as SARS-CoV2.

If one takes the time to look back at the last 350 odd days, there is much to learn.

National boundaries can no longer protect a country. Human history is filled with the horrors of communicable diseases - from the plague in ancient history to the more recent Spanish flu, Swine flu, Avian flu, Zika Virus, Ebola, SARS and now SARS-CoV2. Over the centuries, humans have played a greater role in the transmission of disease. It is not only from deforestation and consumption of wild animals -zoonotic diseases- but also from travelling.

Democratically elected leaders only cater to those who vote for them. It has always been believed that winning the elections was a stamp of approval for future policies. However, in the past elected leaders have attempted to bring the opposition on their side.

However, both President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have shown scant respect for those opposing them. To cement his presidency Trump has played to the neo-conservative, evangelist and right-wing gallery and in the process has changed the face of the Republican party and divided the country. In India, Prime Minister Modi is slowly unveiling the Hindutva agenda, which only 37.36% of the electorate voted for in 2019. This steady creep endangers the secular fabric of the country. In response, and to the discomfort of many, the Congress has made forays into what is termed as ‘soft Hindutva’. Unlike Trump who has never called out the racism of his supporters, Modi has taken his sweet time to speak obliquely about the mob lynching by so called gau rakshaks and other atrocities committed against minorities. The attitude of both leaders has emboldened their supporters.

Though leaders are elected through democratic means, they may not be protectors of democracy. Leaders from across the globe be it Russia, Hungary, Turkey to the US and India prove this point.

According to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index brought out by Reporters Without Borders these countries rank 149, 89, 154, 136, 45 & 142 respectively. In 2012 these countries ranked 142, 10, 148, 14, 58.

Besides this, leaders in each of these countries are unique in their ways to suppress democracy. Trump, since the beginning of his tenure has suggested voter fraud thereby undermining a key element of democracy. PM Viktor Orban of Hungary has given himself the power to rule by decree, which in effect does away with the Hungarian Parliament. While President Putin has been freed of Presidential term limits. President Erdogan of Turkey has been consolidating his power by arresting his critics and opposition leaders. While in India, PM Modi and his government are influencing various pillars of India’s democracy and suggest that their critics are anti-national.

Citizenship can be used as weapon to further bigoted ends. The US conservatives and right wing are opposed to migrants because of the unwarranted fear of loss of American identity and decrease in American economic wellbeing. Currently, Trump is doing his utmost to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy which gave undocumented children who entered the US with their parents an opportunity to live in the country. With the National Registry of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act PM Modi has threatened the wellbeing of families whose only fault is that they do not have the requisite papers, which do not include AADHAR Card etc, to prove their citizenship.

Youth are in the van guard of protecting democracy. Over the last few years, youth have come out in large numbers to demand governments act to prevent climate change. However, it has been a long time since they came out to take a socio-political stand. In India, youth came out to protest the CAA and NRC. In the US, the Black Live’s Matter movement was youth driven. Youth in Hong Kong are facing jail for participating in protests against China’s growing influence in this Special Administrative Region.

Communities make the country stronger. The handling of the Covid crisis has shown that in most cases national leaders are more concerned about their image than the wellbeing of their citizens. The out of the blue lockdown announced by PM Modi suddenly made millions unemployed. Citizens got together to provide these hapless with food, transportation, and shelter while the government continued ostrich like.

Health is wealth only if the state protects it. The government’s handling of the COVID crisis has once again proved how malnourished the healthcare system is, and that medical treatment is a distant dream for most citizens. From insufficient beds and ventilators to prohibitive treatment costs to insufficient protective gear for medical staff the story was the same. Having insurance was not a guarantee of treatment nor was it a promise that all costs would be covered.

In the US things may change once and if Trump accepts his electoral loss and leaves office. However, he has laid to waste America with his scorched earth policy of calling the elections a fraud and pandering to the conservatives and white supremacists. The threat of Trumpism will cast a long shadow over the Biden presidency. With the BJP in power and in control of the narrative the creep of Hindutva over India will become even more pervasive.

The promise of a New Year is tied down to what our leaders have done in the old year. The only ray of sunshine is if we realise the value of community and if our youth continue actively participating in the socio-political sphere.