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 70^th 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, 22^nd 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.

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