After the Berlin Wall came down and Eurozone created with a new currency the Euro, humanity was progressing in the right direction. Enemies becoming “frienemies” and coming together, open borders with economic possibilities of free trade and less chances of war! The world was globalising at a rapid rate, the liberation of Egypt from despotic rule by people’s power using the Internet and social media to organise and coordinate. Despotic rulers like Saddam Hussein, Muammar Mohammed Gadaffi and Osama Bin Laden “neutralised” and then everything started going haywire!
The oil prices started shooting up and the world went into a recession. President Assad, the despotic leader of Syria could not be dislodged from power. The situation became complex with Russia rooting for Assad, the Western powers on the opposite side wanting to depose him using Syrian and other rebels, the shock of Brexit and back to the old selfish and nationalistic interests of each country. Ironically the people of America voted for Donald Trump as President, not because they trusted him but some trusted Mrs Clinton less and many wanted change from business as usual!
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The UNO set up to regulate and coordinate world order was rendered powerless due the Security Council powerful members being at loggerhead and having veto powers. The dangerously traumatic Ukraine war is prolonging reducing towns to rubble, death and destruction, millions of families being displaced; people of old age to children helpless victims and the whole world are in jeopardy! Sanctions imposed by the Western powers on Russia are doing as much damage to themselves and developing economies as to Russia and China, and are undoubtedly contributing to high food prices and runaway inflation across the world!
Technology is progressing uncontrolled, much too fast changing the way people communicate and live. The mobile phone has revolutionalised lives with selfies, smart cards, robots and AI taking over many jobs and creating a different virtual world. People who are not familiar with smart phones in the next few years will be considered illiterate! Besides the matter of pandemic is computer virus, hacking and trolling and nothing seem to be safe anymore. Drones can photograph from the sky, deliver goods or spy on you or used to track and kill, whilst cars are getting smarter and will be able to drive and park themselves in future. Everything seems to be getting smarter that you can ever hope to be!
The radical Islam of ISIS, suicide bombers, beheading, sex slaves, senseless killing of innocent people and even children and babies indiscriminately, kidnapping and destroying priceless art and heritage possessions of the world trying to bring in a new barbaric world order staggered the civilised world! What motivates such organisations to thrive, get new recruits and prosper should concern everyone. Now hardliner Islamists are ruling Afghanistan! There is Wasabi Islam and Sufi Islam and Shia and Sunni Muslims who do not see eye to eye with each other. The other religions too have their hardliners like Christians with many sects, whilst Hindutva has the RSS and the Sangh Parivar with their fringe militant hardliners now part of the ruling mainstream! Religion is creating violent fanatics and politicians use this and emotive issues to divide people instead of striving for peace, love and brotherhood of man.
We have the complications of reservations for the various scheduled castes, tribes, other backward castes, etc, which is exploited to the hilt so that instead of being forward meritorious looking, some are fighting to be labelled as backward caste as a badge of honor! We have the oft repeated ridiculous scenes where PhDs and graduates apply for a sweeper’s or peon’s job! People commit suicide despairing of obtaining justice or being able to live honorably in peace!
In trying to make sense of all this, what are we doing to our democracy? We the people pride ourselves of being the biggest democracy in the world and we have elections to select our own oppressors? Honestly and sincerely ask yourself these fundamental questions: 1) Why is our unity in diversity being dismantled? 2) After 75 years why more hatred and discrimination? 3) Are all citizens treated equally before the law? 4) Are we all absolutely free to practice and preach our religion? 5) Can we all fearlessly think, eat, dress and freely express our opinions? 6) Are we a nation with happy people living in peace and harmony helping each other? The answer definitely is Negative! Do we positively want to get there? If the answer is yes citizens need to conscientiously work to “bind us together in love!”
In Goa BJP used the MGP Hindu vote bank and marginalised them! At panchayat elections many found if they wanted to get anything done, they better vote for the BJP sponsored candidate? God has provided in each of us an amazing hardware and good operating system. The software is our own installation and this seems to be destroying humanity and the pillars of relationship namely: Tolerance, respect, trust, communication, compassion and commitment. In States BJP rules they control everything, in others every means is used including governors who interfere with elected governments to discredit/ topple them.
Since all parties have proved to be self-serving, people must control them if there is any hope of challenging the expansionist BJP juggernaut and their star campaigner Prime Minister Modi!
(The author is a retired naval officer, freelance writer and resident of Porvorim)
