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Election year speech

Kashmir Times. Dated: 8/17/2018 11:05:59 AM

Modi's Independence Day address focused more on elections instead of introspection of what his government achieved in four years

Prime minister Narendra Modi's address on the occasion of Independence Day from the Red Fort was unmistakably an election year speech, laced with populist phrases, many false illusions and lofty promises. So much so that instead of making an introspection of the country's achievements since 1947, he chose 2013 as the bench mark, speaking excessively of the giant strides his government had taken since it took over in 2014, as if that was the year of India's independence. Other than taking swipes at the Congress, he used much of his 80 minute address laying down his own government's report card and making the clarion call from the Red Fort the beginning of his electoral battle. This is a serious case of abuse of power and position to turn a national occasion into an opportunity for vote bank politics. Secondly, the list of majority of the achievements he doled out in his speech is far removed from reality. For instance, his big boast on corruption and crackdown on black money hoarders saw Modi talk about efforts of his government in freeing corridors of power from brokers, enhancing the number of tax payers and saving Rs 90,000 crore by eliminating bogus beneficiaries of many schemes. But it did not take into account the huge loan waivers given to the big corporate houses like Ambanis and Adanis, nor did it take into account the great bank robbery by the likes of Mehul Choksi, who fled the country with bank deposits of ordinary tax payers in jeopardy right under his government's nose. If he spoke about fixation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers, projecting it as a major boon for farmers, he remained silent about the pittance such MSP policy was bringing to the farming community and the increasing suicide rates of farmers. Thirdly, his speech conveniently ignored several issues that have been an impact of his government's policies, primarily the demonetization which has led to severe economic crisis, inflationary trends, ruination of small businesses and massive unemployment. He also displayed his selective amnesia in not recognizing the severe threat to India from within by glossing over the manner in which lumpen elements and hooligans acting with tacit official patronage, trying to hamper the secular fabric of the country and disrupting social peace through lynchings, murders and intimidating acts.
Unmindful of shortcomings and without recognition of the many failings of his government, the prime minister went on to sketch a vision of the future by making lofty promises on all fronts - economy, agriculture, health, social justice, women and even Kashmir. He drew back on the strength of Vajpayee's phrase of 'Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat' at the fag end of his tenure even though his government has played a consistent role in leaving Kashmir's traditional brotherhood, humanity and democracy, whatever was left of all these three when he took over the reins of power, in sheer tatters. The brutality of his government's policies, the increased repression through a continuum of bullets, pellets and arrests which have pushed Kashmir to new levels of violence, is all too well documented. Few months back, he ended even the pretence of democratic mood by unceremoniously pulling the rug from under the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir. The credibility of his vision is lost in the present day reality of crackdowns, restrictions, increased militarization, stepped up militancy and spiraling graph of human rights abuse. His word that "we do not want to move on the road of bullets and abuses, we want to move ahead with love and affection with the Kashmiri people" ring hollow as they are a complete mis-match from the ground and mean nothing other than rubbing salt over the wounds of the Kashmiris who have heard these phrases before. In 2016, Modi had similarly spoken about embracing the Kashmiris. His government's policies before that and ever since have proved to be just the opposite, diminishing all hopes in the Valley. Whether it was with respect to Kashmir or rest of India, the prime minister's address to the nation was impressive only for the weight of words which are contrary to the reality and based more on lies and false assumptions. Overall , it was just another attempt of trickery to create mirages at the national level by the prime minister.