The Indian election is over. India has a new cabinet of ministers. Election process was long but smooth. It took more than a month to conduct elections. In general it was peaceful. There was no big news about election violence or booth capture or ballot rigging as in the olden days. If you measure the ability to conduct elections and hand over power peacefully, the Indian election was a great success. Kashmir constituencies such as Baramulla and Anantnag recorded more than 50 percent polling. NDA won the election which means continuity of Modi policies. At the same time BJP lost the majority which means it cannot act unilaterally. These are all good! Having a progressive party such as TDP should help NDA from taking authoritarian steps like last time. Peaceful transfer or power is commendable. Especially looking at recent events in the US, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Things are much worse in African countries. Even some of the European nations are witnessing political unrest. 👏
Election result was a big relief. It felt like India was falling into a theocracy quickly before the election results. Exit polls predicted big wins for BJP on the back of rebuilding Ram temple and Hindutva agenda. Secular nature of the nation was under threat. Religion was seeping into politics slowly but strongly. People like Yogi Adityanath were gaining popularity. But BJP got drubbed in the state where he is the chief minister. Mind you it is the most populous state in India with the most number of members of parliament. If the secular forces are still strong in UP and if that is the reason for SP victory it might be a good thing. But who knows? Yogi might even have gotten more powerful because of BJP failure. He will and can capitalize on it by projecting it as Modis failure.
Thank you Lord for the beautiful temple
But if you consider the purpose of democracy as to bring people together to build public good, Indian democracy is a huge failure. Militancy in Kashmir is still active, Punjabi Khalistan movement is rearing its head again. Manipur is still burning. Assam troubles have not gone away. People still vote based on caste and religion, Muslims against Hindus, Rao against Reddy, Iyer against Nair, North against South, Yadavs and Rajputs and divisions galore. It is as if India can never find lasting solutions. When the problem simmers, pour a little cold water on it and wait for it to simmer again. What is more, during the swearing in ceremony the opposition MPs were not invited. 😱
How to create, enhance and maintain public services in an equitable manner is still not in discussion. What is to be taxed and how to tax is not in discussion. Minority rights or opinion is not a concern while making laws. Winning parties enact rules unilaterally. A change in agriculture rules ignited the Khalistan separatist movement again. Banning cow slaughter creates resentment in a large section of the minority community. It is all about what the other party did wrong, Not just the current leaders but those who passed away long ago. Ideas and arguments to confuse or convince the illiterate and uneducated are now propagated by the most educated. IIT and IIM educated Hindutva propaganda personalities are very popular on social media. People with PhD in science are promoting superstition and astrology. There is a constant effort to discredit the contributions of Gandhiji, Nehru and Periyar. The good news is that the social media popularity is not reflected in the election results. Secular forces are still strong. Hope when more educated young voters enter, things can get better. 😇
Who has the power?
Threat of theocracy
India is supposed to be or aiming to be a secular socialist democracy. It shed it's socialist outfit a while back. Now it seems it is in the process of shedding its secular outfit. Theocracy is a real threat. Religion plays a major role in government now. Instead of separation of church and state, temple building becomes a political agenda. There are authoritarian and unilateral laws enacted based on religious beliefs. Even the educated think that banning cow slaughter is a good thing. They can’t foresee the economic consequences or financial troubles it can bring to the people who make living by meat processing. Stray street cows have become a problem where the ban is imposed. Yogi Adityanath has instituted a pension plan for cows. He distributes money for those who take care of cows. Governments are building crematoriums for cows. There are places to do last rights for cows just like humans. There are death certificates issued when a cow dies to make sure that it is not slaughtered. Unproductive cows increase, government burden increases, society suffers and even the cows suffer from old age diseases and hunger. Even the learned economists seem to be ignorant of the issues.
In Kerala, where most able bodies are working abroad there is a problem in taking care of parents and grandparents. The money which Keralites send to take care of their parents are taken by Modi and given to Yogi and he in turn spends on taking care of old cows. What an irony?
Clicking on the link will take you to the news items
Cattle shed for men and castle for cows
When Andhra elected NTR and Tamil Nadu elected MGR Keralites laughed at them. Now they have elected a movie Star of their own not as a chief minister but as an MP. What are the chances of a movie celebrity winning the chief ministership in Kerala, I wonder? I don't even recognize many of the names of current day Indian politicians. Out of the few I know, Shashi Tharoor won in Trivandrum, which is good. The Vadakara Shailaja teacher lost her election. She was the able public face of the government during Covid days. That is really bad. The person who defeated her, Shafi Parambil is from Palakkad which is good. I wonder why he can’t contest from his own constituency. The person who contested from Alathur was from Kozhikode. Why can't we have a residency rule to force someone from their own constituency with connections with the people who he or she is representing get elected. How can someone with outside residency do justice to the constituents when they get elected from elsewhere. 🤔
Kerala will not represented well in the national cabinet for a foreseeable future. BJP still has very little presence there. Apart from two small minister of state positions Kerala does not have a good representation. Tamil Nādu is no different. But there are couple of Tamilians with big cabinet roles, foreign ministry and finance. But neither Jayashankar or Seetharaman can win from there. Jaishankar has proven that he is an able minister. Everyone knows that Nirmala Seetharaman’s husband is a qualified economist. 😉
Elephant God as the chief minister of Kerala and Mohanlal & Mammootty as siddhi and Vrddhi or is that Suresh Gopi and Mukesh?
Future of Democracy
Historically power was concentrated on a few who were rich. These war lords fought and killed and died constantly. Then came the kings and the emperors and the sultans where the power was inherited from one generation to the next. Wars reduced but the ferocity and intensity increased. The solution was democracy where people choose their rulers. Strangely, in India all the three systems are in place at the same time. Though it is world's largest democracy politicians inherit their power. But the real power is concentrated on a few rich families. Is this even democracy?
Who has the power?
The spirit of democracy is in decline everywhere. In the US people wonder whether there will be a peaceful transfer of power after the election in November. Today was also the election in the EU. Like in India and US right wing parties are gaining there too. Discussions feel similar. In the name of unity more divisions are created. Immigration and minority appeasement are big topics. Can the right be right? Democracy is supposed to work better when the electorate is educated. As the saying goes, Democracy in India is imperfect because of its illiterate masses. They care more about silly leisure than politics or economy we are told. In fact they care more about inflation and interest rates affect them more. Moreover, democracy doesn’t seem to work anywhere even in some of the most educated countries. There are many in the US wishing for a trump monarchy. Idiotic majority still seem to punish Socrates for his noble thoughts and force him to drink poison for teaching the right lessons. That was the end of Greek Democracy and beginning of Roman empire. May be it is time for monarchies again.
Savory sambar and garam masala's blend,
Carnatic and Hindustani raagas never end.
But beware, your house is engulfed in a blaze,
Get up, take action, end this fiery craze!
Hereditary politics, boy kings and king makers
മലയാളം പതിപ്പ്
Footnote: I wrote these myself but the cartoons were generated using dall-e
1 comment:
Very nice article
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