When Supreme Court judges give time to the Government and lectures to the people

Nothing has changed since last week. Delhi Police continue to be ‘disciplined’ foot soldiers; girl students in Delhi continue to be molested, Gujarat continues to splurge to impress Melania Trump

Indian Supreme Court rules on politicians' criminial records
Indian Supreme Court rules on politicians' criminial records
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Ranjona Banerji

Now that everyone and their pet fish have analysed the Delhi Assembly election results, where do we go from here? The rest of the country remains the same, or is it worse?

The Prime Minister continues to live in La-La Land, blabbing about income tax terrorism coming to an end.

The protests about the Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Register of Citizens and National Population Register continue. The women of Shaheen Bagh continue to be targeted as either stupid or callous or unpatriotic or a public nuisance or a civic disturbance. No attempt has been made so far to speak to them or assuage their fears. By the Centre, I mean. The stream of unpatriotic people to support Shaheen Bagh continues.

Several politicians and former bureaucrats in Kashmir are not just under house arrest but also booked under the Public Safety Act. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah’s PSA crime is that he is able to garner big crowds for his rallies even when there are poll boycotts on. (Aside, this is from a Centre run by a political party which boasts with glee when people flock to listen to the prime minister. Perhaps the crime is that Abdullah can match Modi here?)

Kashmir itself is still under lockdown, real and virtual. Indians, especially the media and opposition politicians, are discouraged from going there. But politicians from other countries are escorted to Kashmir on “tourism tours” by high-ranking government officials. Everything is so hidden that it could well be that these “visitors” meet actors flown in for the purpose. As far as the actual people of Kashmir are concerned, the human cost has been untold, the economy has tanked and the rules under which Kashmir will operate, since it has been disenfranchised by the Modi government, are still unclear.

Protests against CAA, NRC, NPR continue across the country. Some state governments have clamped down brutally on protestors. Some non-BJP governments have passed resolutions in their state assemblies that they will not implement CAA, NRC, NPR. There is still no clarity from the Centre or its pet spokespersons. They speak in different voices but get fooled at your own expense.

Female students at two Delhi educational institutions have been molested, manhandled, beaten up, injured, hospitalised by friends of the BJP/RSS and by the Delhi police, which means it could be the same people. It took a public outcry for anyone to attempt to find the culprit.

Meanwhile, the Police investigation into the late-night violence against students by outsiders at JNU in January has still not managed to pick up the main perpetrators from RSS’s student wing, the ABVP. Despite ample video evidence. Maybe this is self-explanatory.

The Supreme Court gives more and more time to the Centre on CAA, NRC, NPR and then various judges, current and retired, give the people of India gratuitous lectures about their duties. Our rights as citizens are ignored, meanwhile.

The Gujarat government has spent large amounts to build a wall in Ahmedabad so that US President Donald Trump will not see the slums en-route to his “Kem Chho” rally at Motera to match Modi’s “Howdy” rally in Houston. Or maybe Modi’s just rubbing it in Trump’s face that he can build a wall faster than Trump can?

It is worth remembering that these are two controversial world leaders who are adept at wasting time and money on personal matters when their respective nations need attention. Yes, you might argue that both nations could do with less of both but as it happens, someone put them in charge. Almost ₹3 crore in flowers for Melania Trump, so clearly, someone somewhere has money to waste, just not the people of India.

And then. There’s the economy. Never been worse, no matter how you spin it. Growth prospects, down. Jobs, down. Sales, down. Manufacturing, down. Investor sentiment, down. Banking, down. Tax inputs, down. Industrial input, down. Consumer demand, down. Borrowing, expensive. Union Budget, inadequate, incompetent. Tax regime, inexplicable, unfriendly.

It is hardly surprising that the Government’s principal economic adviser is more worried about the relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh than about the economy. After all, what on earth can they do when they have brought India down to its knees?

I leave you with the refreshing honesty of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who informs us that India is soon on its way to becoming a ‘five-million-ton’ economy.

I think he means sinking fast.

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