Edited version
What began with demonising and demoralising of the opposition parties seems to have degenerated into demonetising of high denomination rupee notes with the ‘Aam Janata’ getting their first bitter taste of fascist rule.
By | 25 Nov, 2016, 06:32AM IST
The hard earned money of the ‘Aam Aadmi’ which seemed secure in the bank a month ago now appears beyond their reach for their daily sustenance. Besides the physical pain and loss of a daily wage to stand in a queue to exchange or withdraw paltry sums of cash comes the humiliation of being ridiculed and labeled as thieves and black money holders by right-wing forces. The attempts of the government to allay the fears of the common man with claims that a little discomfort needs to be endured for the sake of the nation’s welfare is more like a nurse convincing a resisting child who fears the injection by assuring it that there would be no pain from the prick of the needle which is necessary to get well. Amidst the obsessive-compulsive disorder over corruption and black money induced in the Aam Aadmi by Annas and Babas, the larger plot of a fascist driven governance seems to be going unnoticed.
The desire to eradicate black money through demonetisation seems more of a dignified excuse to cover up the actual motive to demoralise, demonise and economically disempower all opposition forces and certain communities in the country. If not so, then how come some ministers and right-wing supporters were quick to praise the PM by claiming that this move has punctured the money bags of the Congress and other opposition parties? One needs to be foolish enough to swallow this manufactured and marketed myth that right-wing politics survives exclusively on love and good will of the people. This reminds me of a Whatsapp message forwarded by a friend which read, “When our politicians, irrespective of their party allegiance, go around saying that they don’t have any black money, I am reminded of an African proverb…There is no virgin in a maternity ward.”
The Aam Janata which was instigated to question and disrupt implementation of programs and policies of the UPA government prior to 2014 is now expected to keep silent and relish the ‘Acche din’ propaganda of the government. After the right-wing has assumed power the citizen is suddenly expected to be optimistic and positive about the benefits of government’s policies. This is like saying that in a politics driven by lies, deceit, discrimination, divisiveness, opportunism, U-Turns and fraud, the mark of a good citizen is an unquestioned submission to government with a belief that all mischief is in national interest. It also implies that with a government primarily driven by a sectarian ideology which teaches the art of surgical strikes, the citizen must assume that all actions are just and without prejudice to any citizen. And so, if Rahul Gandhi stands in the queue to exchange currency notes it is political drama but if the mother of the PM stands in the queue it is about ‘desh bhakti’.
The Aam Janata needs to understand that under the pretext of eradicating black money and curbing anti-national activity the government appears to be only curtailing the freedom of citizens one drop at a time.
We should not forget that tolerating abuse, humiliation and suppression of dissent from the government with an understanding that it is helping the nation is a perfect environment for the abolishing of democracy and the rise of fascism. If in the twentieth century Nazism in Germany championed the politics of ensuring purity of race, in this twenty-first century Hindutva dignifies its select targeting of opponents and communities as being in the interest of the nation. Some may be quick to react by asking as to how come one can imply that a government which claims to espouse the interest of the nation is fascist? The simple answer will be that if the government believed in democratic principles then those with differing opinions and showing dissent would have been welcomed as nationalists and patriots. Those who questioned the sanity behind the demonetisation would have been given a considerate hearing instead of being ridiculed as black money holders.
Let us not forget that in a hugely populated country with vast social and economic disparities the black money problem is far complex. Having failed to bring back the black money from foreign accounts within 100 days as was promised and also prove that the Gandhi family has black money stacked abroad, the right-wing PM is now keeping the Aam Janata busy with theatrics such as ‘mann ki baat’ and feed-back by Whatsapp while avoiding the Parliament. One should not be surprised that after the demolition of the opposition, hijacking of educational institutions, strangling of the judiciary and demonetisation may soon follow the dismantling of democracy.
http://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Other-Voices/Demonising-Demoralising-to-Demonetisation/108786.html
Published in oHerald, Other Voices, 25th November 2016
Original Version
From Demonising and
Demoralising to Demonetisation
What began with demonizing and
demoralising of the opposition parties seems to have degenerated into demonetizing
of high denomination rupaya notes with the ‘Aam Janata’ getting their first bitter
taste of fascist rule. The hard earned money of the ‘Aam Aadmi’ which seemed
secure in the bank a month ago now appears beyond their reach for their daily sustenance.
Besides the physical pain and loss of a daily wage to stand in a queue to exchange
or withdraw paltry sums of cash comes the humiliation of being ridiculed and labelled
as thieves and black money holders by right-wing forces. The attempts of the
government to allay the fears of the common man with claims that a little
discomfort needs to be endured for the sake of the nation’s welfare is more
like a nurse convincing a resisting child who fears the injection by assuring
it that there would be no pain from the prick of the needle which is necessary to
get well. Amidst the obsessive-compulsive disorder over corruption and black
money induced in the Aam Aadmi by Annas and Babas, the larger plot of a fascist
driven governance seems to be going unnoticed.
The desire to eradicate black
money through demonetisation seems more of a dignified excuse to cover up the
actual motive to demoralise, demonise and economically disempower all
opposition forces and certain communities in the country. If not so, then how
come some ministers and right-wing supporters were quick to praise the PM by
claiming that this move has punctured the money bags of the Congress and other
opposition parties? One needs to be foolish enough to swallow this manufactured
and marketed myth that right-wing politics survives exclusively on love and
good will of the people. This reminds me of a Whatsapp message forwarded by a
friend which read, “When our politicians, irrespective of their party
allegiance, go around saying that they don’t have any black money, I am
reminded of an African proverb…There is no virgin in a maternity ward.”
The Aam Janata which was
instigated to question and disrupt implementation of programs and policies of
the UPA government prior to 2014 is now expected to keep silent and relish the
‘Acche din’ propaganda of the government. After the right-wing has assumed
power the citizen is suddenly expected to be optimistic and positive about the
benefits of government’s policies. This is like saying that in a politics driven
by lies, deceit, discrimination, divisiveness, opportunism, U-Turns and fraud,
the mark of a good citizen is an unquestioned submission to government with a
belief that all mischief is in national interest. It also implies that with a
government primarily driven by a sectarian ideology which teaches the art of
surgical strikes, the citizen must assume that all actions are just and without
prejudice to any citizen. And so, if Rahul Gandhi stands in the queue to
exchange currency notes it is political drama but if the mother of the PM
stands in the queue it is about ‘desh bhakti’.
The Aam Janata needs to
understand that under the pretext of eradicating black money and curbing
anti-national activity the government appears to be only curtailing the freedom
of citizens one drop at a time. We should not forget that tolerating abuse,
humiliation and suppression of dissent from the government with an
understanding that it is helping the nation is a perfect environment for the
abolishing of democracy and the rise of fascism. If in the twentieth century Nazism
in Germany championed the politics of ensuring purity of race, in this
twenty-first century Hindutva dignifies its select targeting of opponents and
communities as being in the interest of the nation. Some may be quick to react by
asking as to how come one can imply that a government which claims to espouse
the interest of the nation is fascist? The simple answer will be that if the
government believed in democratic principles then those with differing opinions
and showing dissent would have been welcomed as nationalists and patriots.
Those who questioned the sanity behind the demonetisation would have been given
a considerate hearing instead of being ridiculed as black money holders.
Let us not forget that in a
hugely populated country with vast social and economic disparities the black
money problem is far complex. Having failed to bring back the black money from
foreign accounts within 100 days as was promised and also prove that the Gandhi
family has black money stacked abroad, the right-wing PM is now keeping the Aam
Janata busy with theatrics such as ‘mann ki baat’ and feed-back by Whatsapp while
avoiding the Parliament. One should not be surprised that after the demolition
of the opposition, hijacking of educational institutions, strangling of the
judiciary and demonetisation may soon follow the dismantling of democracy.
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