Uncontrolled science, technology and infrastructure development besides endangering wild life and plant species, many of which have vanished is also affecting humanity, lifestyle and reproductive physiology. Climate change also affects our food security and farmers income.
Beyond material benefits, governments and business make use of today’s technology to hide the damage being done to humanity by greedy/wrong perception of “development”. A sensibly developed country is not where poor people can afford cars but where even the rich generally travel in public transport! The sinking of Joshimath is a prime development frenzy catastrophe. Minor sinking of ground is happening even in Panaji? Continued belligerent confrontation of nuclear powers, universal death and destruction maybe triggered accidentally?
The government has discovered a formula for winning elections. We have Rahul Gandhi with the Bharat Jodo Yatra trying to bring togetherness in the nation and the ruling dispensation appears constantly searching for antinational hate figures and using every tactic get into power pan India with a Hindutva agenda! These are plain facts? Goebbels dictum that if a lie is repeated many times it becomes the truth is valid today! We are the mother of all democracies, the Press and Media are free, the law of the land is fairly implemented and so on whilst the executive and judiciary are dangerously not on the same page? Rahul Gandhi has stated that democracy is under attack in India and democracies of the world including US and Europe fail to notice it. This is projected by the shoot the messenger BJP as betraying India seeking foreign intervention! BJP deliberately ignores.
He also clearly clarified that this was our internal problem and solution has to found in India not outside!
Constitutional democracy is made a mockery of by the arrogant bulldozing majority in Parliament which does not function when ruling party, whose duty it is to run Parliament, refuses to discuss Adani or any issues in Parliament unless Rahul apologizes for criticism of the government when abroad without allowing him any say on the allegation in Parliament!
This is not only undemocratic but also against the principles of natural justice. Parliament is prevented from discussing real issues and builds perception of a constantly derided Rahul versus popular world admired Modi contest!
People may be selfish but are not stupid. It does not matter that our PM when abroad without being charged for partisan politics derided that nothing was moving in India prior to 2014, it was scam India, begging India, denigrating the Nehru Gandhi family, endorsing Trump for president or that BJP MLA in Karnataka on world woman’s day rudely orders a woman shopkeeper to wear a Bindi since she is married, all perfectly ignorable?
Such prejudiced people voted to power are a danger to democracy and our hard won freedom!
A Gujarat magistrate court sentencing Rahul to 2 years imprisonment for a 2019 defamation of all Modis on a complaint by Gujarati BJP individual, in lightning speed thus disqualifying him as a Lok Sabha member will now be legally decided by court procedures!
The relentless confrontation and vindictiveness against political opponents is clearly evident in the hundreds of FIRs reportedly filed on removal of all illegal AAP posters because they failed to mention the printer, and replaced by legal BJP posters but deface public property nevertheless! Courts and laws are meant to dispense equitable justice to all citizens without fear or favour and not be used and abused for political one-upmanship!
We see all over India divisions and communal tension. The Congress is with the BJP against the AAP government in Delhi, but wants to lead a coalition against BJP!
All the Opposition parties feeling selectively targeted and hounded by misuse of police and central agencies have futilely jointly protested in a letter to the PM! Opposition politicians with many criminal charges having switched over are generally given lucrative posts and all charges on hold, whilst the slightest misdemeanour of the opposition parties, also of anyone calling the government to account like journalists, media houses, standup comedians, NGOs etc. bring swift multiple action by police/ central agencies.
The positive aspect is that India has become strategically important in the world, is the fastest growing economy with well packaged impressive achievements projected to be India’s year with iconic Prime Minister Modi leading the charge.
The world expects India to use its good relations with Russia to stop the war. Besides our diplomacy successfully getting cheap oil from Russia and arms from the western world, diplomatic statements like this is not the era of war, the war rages on, human rights violations are rampant, death and destruction continues unabated.
The terrorist activities in Kashmir persist. Regarding China we have joined the Quad of democratic nations and have no choice but keep negotiating with China.
India now intends making its own warplanes/ships, missiles and military hardware and software even for export. With Parliament dominated by the BJP and all those politicians solemnly taking an oath to uphold the values and tenets of our Constitution as by law established, we find draconian laws, custodial interrogation, encounter and bulldozer justice in practice. Whither liberty, equality, fraternity and justice? What example are we showing in our Parliamentary democracy? The world general happiness index needs much improvement. There are riots and agitations everywhere. It is apparent that the world and India need more democracy, less hypocrisy!
(The author is a retired naval officer, freelance writer resident in Porvorim)
