This is the last week of the year 2019. And we are marching on to 2020. 2020 is the year we waited for long. We waited for this year from the time the book India 2020 of our dear president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was released.
Alas!! We have irrecoverably failed the great visionary's vision for 2020 as a Nation.
The news these days is depressing to say the least.
* CAA+NPR+NRC - creating divide among the citizens.
* Raising of extreme Hindutva Ideologies
* Economy in ICU
* Curfews
* Increasing Internet Shutdowns
* Increasing concerns with respect to Women Safety.
* Naming of great institutions like JNU and Jamias as Anti-national.
*And the list is long.
Haters are gonna attack me - "Where were you when Kashmiri Pandits exodus happened?? " ; "Where were you when UPA govt failed?? And scams... At least BJP is not involved in any of the scams like UPA you see". (let me not even mention the question of "Did you even read what CAA is?, etc. ". Now that it is clear that even PM Modi and Mr. Amit Shah are confused on CAA, NRC and NPR . )
My answers to them are honestly and selfishly innocent. I was hardly 5 years old when Kashmiri Pandits were attacked. And for UPA govt, I did realize that scams were happening and I was disappointed with Maun PM MMS. But it didn't bother me much then.
May be it is that now I am in my 30s with home loan and responsibilities, I care more about the economy of my country. May be I am more aware now. May be I have seen more life in the last 10 years. I know now that no jobs are secure. Unemployment is hitting the country hard.
So haters/ opposers - Before you conclude that I am an idiot, illogical, etc. Please note the below lines that I quote herewith :
‘It has been my experience that I am always true from my point of view, but am often wrong from the point of view of my honest critics. I know that we are both right from our respective points of view. And this knowledge saves me from attributing motives to my opponents or critics. The seven blind men who gave seven different descriptions of the elephant were all right from their respective points of view, and wrong from the point of view of one another, and right and wrong from the point of view of the man who knew the elephant. I very much like this doctrine of the manyness of reality. Formerly I used to resent the ignorance of my opponents. Today I can love them because I am gifted with the eye to see myself as others see them and vice-versa.’ - Gandhi
For Peace sake agree to disagree.
Now, coming back to the issues - can we please agree (or agree to disagree) that there is a problem and there are real issues to concentrate on. Until and unless the government accepts it's failures it will never be able to recover. People had a lot of hopes with BJP govt, with the irrecoverable fall of Congress. Modi vs who was the problem then, Modi vs who is the problem now. The kind of orator Mr Modi is, the country will fall for him again if he accepts his failures. The government has to move out of the publicity gimmicks. Enough of entertainment in the News Channels and Mann ki baat. Enough of bringing on Hindu Muslim debates. Enough of expenditures on Ram mandirs, statue of unities.. We don't need statue of unity, we need unity in this country right now.
Urgent actions should be taken on 3Es of the nation - Education, Employment and Economy. Nothing is more important than this at present. Period. Government should let the ignited minds of the universities work for the development of the country. By naming them as urban Naxals and anti-nationals where are we trying to take the youth to??
And what should we do as citizens?
First and foremost, accept the existing flaws. Without that you cannot cure the disease. Be a patriot. Freedom of expression is a tool to brainstorm about the solutions. Keep expressing your thoughts. Your opinions. Trust me, they do matter.
Dr. Kalam used to say, that we should not always just blame the government. We need to bring the change in ourselves as well.
For us, the system consists of everyone else except you and me. When it comes to making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and wait for a Mr.Clean to come along and work miracles for us, or we leave the country and run away. Dr. Kalam stressed on two important facts to achieve his vision – Sensitization to problems and a will to achieve. One should rise above ones routine, mundane problems and try and achieve something beyond the ordinary.
I wish and pray that we as Indians are able to settle the superficial differences, think and act in a direction that leads to prosperity of the country.
Wish you all a happy new year 2020. May we be able to make his vision a reality by 2030.
Signing off - hopelessly optimistic Indian🇮🇳
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ReplyDelete<>
ReplyDeleteFor the sake of Analogy, During March 2019, there is are million people marched on London Streets opposing the Brexit (Britain exiting from European Union) referendum. But couple of ago weeks Boris Johnson came out a landslide victory with an election promise of Brexit. My comprehension? Brexit is what Brits wanted which defied the gravity of Million march that I watched on 55 Inches Curved TV, Agree or not this will take a toll on Europeans living/working/touring in the United Kingdom and a portion the other way round.
Coming to the original discussion in Page 11 section 7 of BJP Manifesto (2019), they have committed to this moment, and people voted it, atleast more than few million plus voters have read/understood/agreed to this before voting, or atleast that's what it happened when we look at the results in West Bengal (to narrow down the discussion), since the people/jobs/Crimes have taken toll on them due to illegal immigration, which I think touches your economics view or a portion of it if not. On the contrary I couldn't remember exactly what Rahul Gandhi would have schemed 72K Rupees for the unemployed which people of Amethi even have rejected bluntly this time. Yes I do agree that Protest is a part and parcel of Democratic Frame work, but they should ideally be not burning my Government/tax money/, what say ha ?
Thanks for Reading :)
DeleteFor God sake, I oppose BJP doesn't mean I am with Rahul Gandhi. He is a total failure. And half of the majority win for Mr. Modi is because of Raga's failure and not because of his election Manifesto. Modi vs. Who was the problem then, It still is a problem. Rahul Gandhi is an absolute failure as an opposition as well.
And no one vouches for violent protests. It is still not known that who burned the public property. The government can implement internet shutdown but cannot find out the culprits. None of the people arrested were from student community.
BJP is a team of good orators if not good politicians. I wonder why Mr. Amit Shah did not pass the message properly, if BJP is that innocent. "Chronology samajhiye aap, pehle CAN lagu hoga, fir NRC aayega.. Wo bhi desh bhar me. " "All infiltrators will be removed except Hindu, Jain, budh, parsi" - This is what Mr. Shah said in the parliament. This definitely and understandably fueled emotions in the minority section which was not included here. And then Mr. Modi says " We have never talked about NRC word since 2014".
I didn't mean to side track our conversation by putting RAGA in towards of the end of my comment.
ReplyDeleteBut Like I said there are atleast few million voters who must have read/understand/agreed to the manual, since our voters aren't in 1970s any more in other phrase "Lets not underestimate the power of common man".
All of those voters are not choiceless, there's more regional leaders now,than in 2013-14 (People like us have more options or atleast should have gone for third front which was very far from reality), and yet BJP got more seats/more vote share in 2019 to that of 2014, including Bengal, despite of them having a influential leader compared to their neighboring states.
My Point is there is something special requirement in people's mind set for looking upto the current regime. Like I quoted, Look at Brits choice towards fellow Europeans let alone taking in refugees.