Republic Day: Time for honest soul searching again

Fundamentalism, growing intolerance, rise in prices, terrorism and naxalism, farm crisis, higher taxes etc make one wonder how one should feel on the 67th Republic Day – proud and crestfallen

How does one feel on the Republic Day, today? Rather how is one supposed to feel? Patriotic? About what? Pride? Forget it. Satisfied? Far from it. Joy? Sure, it’s a holiday. That, my dear, compatriot is what 26 January boils down to. Just another chutti to do your own thing. Nothing more nothing less. Sixty six years which embody the joy and tragedy of India!

Sharp questions arise at home and abroad about the health of the Republic. Let’s start with terror which has become an albatross around India’s neck. Forget Pakistan’s home grown terrorist brood of Laskar e Toiba, Hizbul Mujahindeen, Jaish e Mohammad et al today we are in the crossfire of the ISIS too.

Equally worrisome is the fact that 15 States are Naxalite-hit and there are 40 Naxalite groups active in India. Worse, they are running a state within a state with a parallel revenue income, while various State governments grapple in the dark on how to get the better of them. Alas, tribal life comes cheap.

Economically, the country is on the roll. There is international cacophony that India has arrived, with billions rolling in foreign direct investment. The stock market has never had it so good. IT-related business is booming. The demand for India “techies and neties” far outstrips the supply. Start-Up, Stand-Up India is the new buzzword.

Connectivity is the latest mantra. Infrastructure and development are fashionable. Malls and high rise buildings dot the landscape and cars clog the roads. Even rural India is improving. Internet cafes and beauty parlours, branded consumables et al can be found in the villages. Little consolation this.

Look at the dark side: The widening communal divide mirrors the deep crevices in our secular image, proof that our social polity is now gripped in its cancerous tentacles. From love jihad, beef ban, anti-Pakistan cultural-sports protests to killing of rationalists, Hyderabad University has earned the ignominy of being the new hot bed of hatred following the suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula which has set India aflame once again resulting in a political slugfest all trying to cash in on his death.

There is political disquiet over Modi’s failure to curb his rabid Hindutva brigands who stand accused of Rohit’s demise. His crime? Acerbic views on Hindutva and using Telugu’s equivalent of English swear word **** to denounce it, along-with protesting against the hanging of 1992 Mumbai blasts perpetrator Yakub Memon for which he paid with his life. Should this become litmus of one’s patriotism?’ How does merely criticizing a belief or thinking tantamount to spreading “hatred”?

Raising a moot point: Is India heading towards an era of political intolerance and Hindutva values thrust down our throats? In an era of political correctness and ethnic sensitivity, where fundamentalists march as patriots in uniform, a wry irreverence, or a tongue-in-cheek reference, becomes an act of “hatred”. Life is lived in the slim strip called the official.

This apart, another notable failure of the government is its inability to bring down prices. Worse, the NDA has increased taxes. Service tax has gone up from 12.3% to 14%. Add to this rising water and electricity bills which continue to give a tough time to the common man. More. The Finance Minister has imposed luxury tax of 2% on even daily necessities like getting a haircut. Realtors are crying foul.

A buyer of an Rs 25 lakh flat will have to shell out Rs 10,500 more. This is bound to lead to a slowdown instead of propelling growth. Any wonder, Modi is perceived as pro-rich. Sadly, beyond the financial might of overflowing tillers of Brand India, lies the squalor and the filth that is the reality of asli Bharat. The less said the better of the poor kisans.

Compounding matters, with over 65% of the population working in agriculture, instead of beefing up their lives the government’s Land Acquisition Bill has got caught in the government-opposition crosshairs of pro-anti farmer lobby. With none willing to take up cudgels for those who put food on our table. Simply, because kisans per se do not constitute a vote block, divided according to sub castes. All in all, Republic Day is a time for honest soul searching.