VOX POPULI
by
Aam Admi
Issue:
165 Date: 22.08.2016
Contents:
1. Baloochistan
Another Modi Gaffe In The Making
2.
India An Ageing Democracy To Be Handled With
Care
3.
The Olympics Spectacle
Baloochistan
Another Modi Gaffe In The Making
The raising of
the issue of Baloochistan by PM Narendra Modi during his Independence Day
speech is going to open a can of worms with Pakistan. They have already taken
the comment to confirm that India has been inciting the people of that region
in Pakistan. Just like we have been stating for decades that Pakistan should
not raise the issue of Kashmir considering that it is a wholly integrated part
of India, we should not have raised Baloochistan since it is an integral part
of Pakistan. It is one thing to have covert operations in a disturbed region of
an enemy country which should be kept away from the glare of international
comment but it is a completely another thing to interfere publicly in the matter
and encourage it. This will only encourage Pakistan to raise the ante on
Kashmir including fomenting terror activity. We have thus played into the hands
of Pakistan. We should have tried to win over the people of Kashmir
particularly their youth in which we have miserably failed. By blaming Pakistan
for the current trouble in Kashmir Modi’s government is taking the easy way out
since accusing Pakistan has been the de
rigueur strategy of all
earlier governments in Delhi. It is also acknowledging that they have miserably
failed there even after being a part of the government in that State. What next
– is the question that Modi should have asked himself? The Baloochistan issue
will be just like making needless noise without any concrete results emerging
out of it. This is precisely what happened with the chai pe charchha with Nawaz
Sharifi that Modi bumbled into and within a matter of months we had Pathankot
and now we have a complete reversal of our earlier stand with Pakistan. Modi
would be better advised to heed Sushma Swaraj’s advice on foreign affairs
considering that the National Security Adviser Doval seems to be another
yes-man, dancing to the tune of Modi’s play of the damroo.
India
An Ageing Democracy To Be Handled With Care
The
70th anniversary of India's independence from the British colonial yoke was
celebrated with gusto. However, we need to consider that even a nation at this
age carries signs of aging. India has over the years generated its own problems,
difficulties and biases. It therefore needs
to be considered warts and all as we go towards the future. It is unfortunate that poverty eradication
has not kept pace with the development of the country. In fact instead of
citing GDP growth, the better judge of the Indian economy would have been a
metrics to measure poverty eradication. Just prior to any elections that are
held in the country garibi hatao slogans
are raised by all political parties to be hurriedly consigned to the corner
upon the declaration of results. With agriculture continuing to be
rain-fed there is an urgent need to focus on irrigation so that a guaranteed
minimum of agricultural production takes place to feed our burgeoning
population. In growth of agricultural income is the solution to poverty
eradication since more than 60% of India’s population lives in its rural areas.
With our rural areas flourishing there will be less compelling reasons for
our people to migrate to our urban centres thus reducing the pressure of
population on our cities. Recently PM Narendra Modi exhorted the Niti Aayog –
the new entity that has replaced the Planning Commission – to look for
out-of-the-box solutions to resolve India’s problems. In India with various
estimates of population ranging from 28 – 40% being under the poverty line, it
is still too early to ask our planners to think differently. We will have to
trudge for at least another 10 years with the focus remaining on roti,
pani, kapda, makaan to reduce poverty levels to below 10% of the
population and then these event management headlines that Modi is fond of like
Smart City etc. will become relevant. The continuing attempt by the
present government to tailor economic policies to benefit the middle
class and the rich will turn out to be disastrous for the country. The
other lesson that India teaches the present government is that you cannot
forget history. If you do so, it is to your own peril. Many a time in the last
two years or so that the Modi government has been in power there has been an
attempt to recast our history which is wrong, since you have to live with what
is and move forward. Further, many a time you also hear the comment from this
present government that ‘we are not responsible’ for something or the
other and attempts are made to blame the previous dispensation. This is
not a sign of a responsible government and will not allow the
ruling parties to see matters with a clear perspective. Right now
what is happening is that the Modi government is trying to paint the picture of
a vibrant economy while the reality is that India in its 70th year
is like the proverbial dhobi’s donkey being flogged with the whip of
vibrancy while being overburdened with its acquired problems and its tired legs
likely to give way at any moment.
The Olympics Spectacle
The Rio Olympics 2016 concluded for
us on the morning of Mon, 22nd August with the closing ceremony. For
all the criticism that the Rio Games, the first ever to be held in South
America, has received in its administration and operational matters, for
television viewers like us it has been a wonderful spectacle right from the
opening ceremony for a clear two weeks of exciting and fun-filled watching of
the best athletes in the world striving to show that they are the best of the
best. Star Sports need to be commended for bringing us the television coverage
live from Rio for which it dedicated almost exclusively 4 complete channels. On
land, water and air (for gymnastics and diving) the athletes have followed the
motto of the Olympics – Faster, Higher, Stronger – in letter and spirit. After
witnessing two of the best athletes of this century, Phelps in the water and
Bolt on land, amass their gold medals from one Olympics to another, it will be
a sad thing not to see them perform at Tokyo 2020, the next venue of the
Olympics. Apart from Phelps and Bolt, you had many athletes repeat their feat
of capturing the gold medal in their event at successive Olympics. Notable
among them was Mo Farah of the UK who took the title in both the 5000 meters
and the 10,000 meters races. Many added the Olympic gold medals to the World
Championships title that they held like Kipchoge of Kenya who took the men’s
marathon. Overall one would say that the Rio Olympics had fewer records, both
Olympic and the World, compared to the earlier Olympics maybe because of the
weather or whatever which was hotter for some of the athletes. But even then
for us avid watchers the sight of a Usain Bolt sweeping past his co-runners and
crossing the finish line with that wry grin on his face was enough to send us
in raptures. Thank you, International Olympics Association (IOC), for
maintaining the tradition to challenge the body and mind to achieve
performances at the very edge of human capacity and to bring it live into our
homes wherever we live across the world.
**************************
No comments:
Post a Comment