Editor,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet again, with the decision to demonetize high currency notes, taken a bold step and set the national narrative. Forty-five days later, demonetization still occupies the mind space of the nation — be it the media, political circles, restaurants almost everywhere.
A move like this, no matter how well thought out, is bound to encounter all sorts of implementation issues and hurdles. The inconvenience in the form of long ATM queues, inadequate supply of new-denomination currency has become a major political weapon in the hands of the Opposition.
But before we dig deep into it, let us examine the record of the anti-demonetization champions currently led by the Congress party. Apart from 40-odd years of uninterrupted rule, and then two consecutive terms, the party had ample time, opportunity and people’s trust to implement even a fraction of what the Modi government is currently attempting. But despite the 2014 electoral drubbing, it continues to do more of the same – wasting taxpayer money both within and outside the Parliament. The party and many of its eminent leaders have exhibited time and again that the only thing they care about is bringing down Modi at any cost.
The other parties, most prominent among them the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, DMK — have joined the Congress in criticizing the government’s move. However, both UPA-I and II had ample of time to do everything that they preach today and has little right to condemn a government which has taken strict steps and introduced bold reforms to curb black money, corruption & improve the country’s global standing.
The demonetization naysayers also point to the fact that the corrupt have still managed to find flaws within the system by converting their dirty money to new currency as numerous raids over the past month have revealed. But on a positive note, these raids have only exposed the pervasive extent of the rot that has corroded the system. From top officials of reputed and “safe” banks like Axis Bank to employees of the RBI, it appears that the pestilence of corruption has become incurable.
Also astonishing is how the mainstream media has turned a complete blind eye to the fact that demonetization has also severely dented terror financing, effectively checked the use of fake currency and brought the trafficking of women and girls for sex work, a multi-trillion rupees industry, almost to a grinding halt. On the contrary, their singular focus has been on the inconvenience of ATM queues, as if that was the only impact of this audacious exercise. Yes, people have been impacted, no doubt, more in the big and metro cities than the smaller ones. However, with due respect let’s put it straight that some of the urbanites take for granted certain comforts and not standing in queues is one of them. Anything that upsets their permanent & routine comforts, finds no takers.
Evidently post 45 days of demonetization, the general view that is emanating is that the PM has undertaken this exercise for the good of the country. There’ll be criticism coming in from many quarters because the impact on black-money hoarders hasn’t been anything less than catastrophic. Ever since the country became independent, not one political party/leader has had the spunk to take such a strong decision. We, therefore, should stand united in this fight against corruption & black money and back the government to bring in more reforms and not get distracted by the pandemonium created by the opposition that has abandoned the ethos of constructive opposition. Yes, it could’ve been planned and executed in a better way. But when you take such a revolutionary step, errors are bound to emerge and in such situations what matters most is the intent. Also, let’s not forget that demonetization is just one, but a hugely significant part of the prime minister’s larger game plan. Keep up the good work PM!!!!
Yours etc.,
Subhasish Das,
Via email
The true meaning of Christmas
Editor,
Love, as we understand it, is the road to happiness. It is a panacea for a plethora of problems in a nostalgic society. Come Christmas and our capacity for feeling love and demonstrating it is manifested in myriad ways. The exchange of cards and greetings, the air saturated with sensual pleasures such as music, and the feasts, and the shopping malls, and our philanthropic heart is at its best. We also go all out to force people to eat those cakes, pork and what not in order to prove our love. Yes each one of us has this profound desire to prove our love and our virtues. Our natural zest for love is at its height this season. However, the pattern one observes is akin to that of a person who wishes to prove his virtuosity only during festivals such as Christmas. Hence we feel the urge to give this and that to the less privileged, the orphans, etc. But post Christmas this virtuosity disappears like dewdrops with the morning sun. So one can’t help but wonder if this interest we have in others during the Christmas season is genuine? Or is our interest a mere simulated one for the magnifying our own ego? Forgive me but genuine interest wouldn’t fade so swiftly into oblivion post the Christmas season. It is sad to see that in a day or two or may be a week after Christmas we are quick to huddle in our own groups. We hurt but we never try to heal. I therefore cannot resist stating that this seasonal human love, with its disagreeable characteristic, is tragic and pathetic. Our seasonal display of hearts is akin to people going to health resorts in the summer, yet returning to the place they came from. Too bad for our faith in humanly love, as Byron Says, ‘there’s not a joy the world can give like that it takes away’.
An emotional outburst of love that we see during Christmas, like drunkenness, is an intoxicating feeling and is at any rate nothing more than a momentary cessation from unhappiness for the soul. We come to cultivate this seasonal feeling of love at the expense of the knowledge of the truth, the truth about Christmas. This is the tragedy of Christianity. Are our Christmas and our Christianity mapped on well to each other? Christmas brings forth the gift of love. It is a reminder of how much God loved us that He sent His only begotten son for us. The son of God enters our darkness for the sole purpose of dying for us to make us whole before God. Through Christmas, the son of God came to restore all that the devil has stolen from mankind following the fall of man .Through Christmas Jesus Christ, therefore, becomes a Gift and a Giver. It is impossible to accept the Gift of Christmas and reject the Giver, for the Christmas Gift and the Giver are one. The Christmas gifts of love, joy and peace can only come through the person of Jesus Christ. For a meaningful Christmas, we must be aware of this truth, not only with our minds, but with our blood and sinews. Without this knowledge of the truth, all the love, the joy and merriment of Christmas are but drunkenness. No wonder our effort for love and peace are only band-aid efforts. We always think we have a better way. We are perpetually toiling for peace yet nothing abides. We fight for love and peace but all we feel is pain. I therefore wish to persuade the reader that taking human love as a panacea for societal ills or as a religion for that matter is like putting the cart before the horse. We should understand that God’s love is the only force that could knit humanities together, as Colossian I:17 says, ‘… in Him all things hold together’. God reveals the amplitude of His magnificent love for us through Christmas. The knowledge of this truth is itself the greatest Christmas gift. Merry Christmas!
Yours etc.,
T Fightingstar L Mawlong,
Via email