By Barnes Mawrie
The world political scenario today seems a complete chaos. There are many emerging autocratic rulers who seem to threaten the very fabric of democracy. Russia for example appears to return to a sort of dictatorship under President Vladimir Putin. He is the new Czar of Russia and the most powerful man of 2016 according to Forbes’ ranking. Philippines is definitely being ruled by a quasi dictator Rodrigo Duterte. USA is experiencing the rise of a radical president in the person of Donald Trump who seems to nurture right wing political ideologies. Coming home to our country, the political scene is similar. The BJP led by PM Narendra Modi is definitely revealing signs of a dictatorial regime. There are many symptoms of this political mutation of which I cite the following:
With the enforcement of demonetization on 8th November 2016, Modi has set the wheel of political mutation in motion. Demonetization as we experience it today is a financial control of the government over the citizens. The fact that millions of innocent citizens have been made penniless and left begging for whatever cash they could get, is a clear sign that our freedom has been seriously infringed upon. We all know that one who controls money controls everything and this is what Modi has done. He is exercising a total control over all Indians by regulating their financial life. To dictate to citizens how much they should take and how much they should spend their own hard earned money, is nowhere heard of in the world. In the place of black money, “dark politics” has set in today which is gradually throttling the freedom of the citizens.
The way the media has been used to the advantage of the government since the days of the general election in 2014, is evident that there is a long-term plan to brainwash the citizens. Those who remember the 2014 election campaign, will realize that more than 80% of media election coverage was on BJP and very little of Congress campaign was covered. Since 2014 much of the media has been focused on Modi and his government. Those who critically analyze the on-going feedback on demonetization projected by the media, would realize that the picture presented is always positive. Just recently, the survey done in UP as projected by the media is over 70% positive. Persons with enough intelligence will surely know that this is a manipulated analysis. When so many poor people are suffering and left cashless and helpless; when so many have to spend hours and days waiting in queues, how could one expect them to say that demonetization is good. It is evident that survey was done on an arbitrarily selected sample, probably from among BJP supporters. Yet we know that the media today conditions the mind and behaviour of people and so the BJP has done well to have acquired a total dominance over the media.
It is a fact too that wherever a dictator has appeared, his primary target was always the media. The Communists in Russia did that years back, Saddam Hussein did it, the Chinese Communist Government is doing it now and so too many other dictators. They all know that the media is the most powerful means to brainwash the citizens and streamline their thought into their own ideology, while at the same time if left free, it could destroy or undo their evil plan. It is said that Communism in Poland collapsed because the media leakage brought tremendous embarrassment to the Communist Regime that finally they had to withdraw. What we witness in India today is something of great concern for the welfare of our nation. The picture of the opposition that has been painted by most of the media, is a very dismal one. National leaders like Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Mamata Banerjee and many other opposition leaders, are being ridiculed and what they say or do trivialized by the media. In fact the media has created a superman out of an ordinary Modi. I will not be surprised that one day he may be equaled to Gandhiji himself.
Another alarming development today is the arrogance displayed by the members of the BJP party and their allies. The way they justify their actions (wrong though they may be) betrays their sheer arrogance. Today they have come up with an easy way of silencing opposition voice. Anything said against their policies is considered anti-national and unpatriotic. When someone criticizes demonetization, he or she is branded as unpatriotic. So it looks like no one can make any negative remark or question the policies of Mr. Modi or his government without being called a traitor. The BJP is all out to win the UP state assembly elections and if they do so, then India may probably slip into a “saffronized autocracy.” The BJP is already a majority in the Lok Sabha and if ever they gain majority in the Rajya Sabha, then they may even amend parts of the Constitutions to suit their own political agenda.
It is strange that during the rule of the Congress government, any little political miscalculation was met with a strong opposition and an outright condemnation. Today with the BJP however, even a gross political mistake is unreasonably justified and no voice of dissent is entertained. Unfulfilled election promises like the swach bharat, jan dhan, recuperation of black money from abroad etc, do not draw any criticism against the government. This would not happen if the Congress had been in power. So it is evident that we are presently living in a sort of “quasi dictatorship” which if not opposed strongly by all fellow citizens, may finally end up in a total dictatorship.