I am not aware whether Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Lewis Carrol ever collaborated on a book or not, but had they wanted to, the India of today would have been the perfect subject for them. For it contains elements of the sinister, the malevolent and the ridiculous that would have fascinated them. It contains both, Orwell's nightmare of oppression imposed from the outside and Huxley's fear that we would succumb to our own prejudices and egoism. The pain of one and the smugness of the other have both combined to create a nation just as grotesque as the one Lewis Carrol had imagined.
Naya Bharat is a topsy-turvy world of illogical behaviour and cracked mirrors where appearances can be deceptive- and dangerous. It can be best described in the words of Alice in THE LOOKING GLASS: "If I had a world of my own everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it is. You see?" You don't? That's because you're looking in the wrong mirror; take a peek into Alice's looking glass and you'll see how contorted and grotesque is the reality of today's India where nothing is what it should be and nothing is what it appears to be. Bear with me, dear reader, while I guide you through this hall of mirrors where the illusion IS the truth and confusion is the leitmotif. Substance has been replaced with symbolism and reality with make-believe.
Just consider some of the contradictions, the lies that masquerade as the truth. A tribal President is tomtommed as proof of the government's concern for the under privileged Adivasis, even as thousands of tribals are evicted from their lands every year and rendered destitute to enable projects that will make a few billionaires even richer. Even as I write this the tribal populations of Hardeo Anand ( Chattisgarh), Dehang Patkai (Assam), and Saranda ( Jharkhand) forests face eviction and destitution to make way for coal mines and hydel projects. An amendment to the Forest Conservation Act and Forest Rights Act is being pushed through that will deny them any say in the diversion of their lands for projects. Can one incumbent in Rashtrapati Bhavan compensate for this exploitation ? Where does the truth lie?
Take our higher judiciary, especially the Supreme Court. We have, says the Law Minister, the most independent and powerful judiciary in the world. That would certainly be true if we go by our Constitution, perhaps the most enlightened and progressive in the world. But the facts on the ground are very different, as pointed out by Kapil Sibal and Prashant Bhushan just last week. The latter goes so far as to say that the judiciary has become the biggest threat to human rights in India. Sibal says we can no longer expect justice from the Supreme Court. And both may just be right, if the last few years are anything to go by, notwithstanding the pious sermons of mylords at public functions and exhortations post their retirement.
We thought, before 2014, that ADM JABALPUR was an aberration; it now turns out that it was just a trailer, what film magazines call a "teaser", except that a teaser is not half as dangerous as the full movie that is playing out every day these days. The judiciary is expected to protect us from the excesses of the state, to fearlessly ensure that we are not deprived of our constitutional rights. In practice, however, the BJP's 2024 promises to be a sequel to Orwell's 1984. Because our "independent" Supreme Court has held that if you pursue justice for 20 long years you are a conspirator and should be sent to jail, if you seek accountablity for the deaths of 27 tribals in a dubious police encounter you shall pay a fine of Rupees Five lakhs (which will go the government headed by a tribal President, don't forget). It has held (under certain Acts) that a court HAS to believe the police version and therefore cannot give bail to an accused, no matter how flimsy the "evidence" against him or her; that you will be presumed to be guilty until you can prove your innocence; that an ED (Enforcement Directorate) official is not a police officer even though he can grill you for 57 hours, arrest you and deprive you of your liberty, can attach all your properties and keep you in jail indefinitely. It has held that even though there is no proof that a temple existed at the site of a mosque, and that the mosque was razed illegally, the disputed site belongs to those who demolished the mosque. It takes "evidence" from the government in sealed covers, refuses to either divulge it or share it with the other parties or petitioners, and then pronounces judgement based on this secret information. And to top it all, it will not decide on cases where the government is clearly on weak ground- the Electoral bonds, Article 370, the reconstitution of Kashmir, sedition laws, Citizenship Amendment Act, to mention just a few. But the world is told that the rule of law prevails in India , and we are supposed to believe it. Meanwhile, democracy withers on the vine and the judges move on to cushy sinecures.
The Prime Minister tells an international audience that Indian federalism has never been stronger and that it should be a model for the world. This, barely 40 days after his government and party brought down the seventh elected government in the country in the last eight years! During that period a state has been denotified and carved out into two Union territories, something which has never even been contemplated in the past. Central police and regulatory agencies are pitted against state police on an almost daily basis, cases being investigated by state police are arbitrarily transferred to central agencies to avoid any embarrassment to Delhi, the Chief Minister of Delhi has been effectively defenestrated with the Supreme Court's blessings, the All India Services are slowly being converted into a Central Service, states are regularly denied their financial dues by an unapologetic Union Finance Ministry, there is no consultation with state Chief Ministers on important legislative matters, Article 293(3) of the Constitution is being misused to fetter the right of the states to raise borrowings even as the Center itself merrily pushes the country into the abyss of debt. But federalism is flourishing in India, we are told by the Prime Minister, and surely he is an honourable man.
Moving away from the world of polity into the world of letters and the arts, the mirror tells us India has always (quite rightly) occupied the heights of creativity- in literature, mathematics, science, economics, philosophy, painting, architecture. We have produced some of the greatest epics, schools of thought, drama and poetry. India has given the world three of its greatest religions, 12 Nobel laureates, 4 Booker Prize winners, the world's oldest university in Nalanda. Modern India publishes 144000 newspapers and periodicals and 90000 books every year, apart from 1.7 million self-published works. It is the world's largest producer of films- between 1700 and 2000 every year. A legacy that should make us proud.
But the looking glass tells us an entirely different story. Every creative work is today tested on the touchstone of religion and bigotry, not art. And so this year's Booker Prize winner, Geetanjali Shree, is ignored by the government, her massive achievement not even acknowledged; instead she has an F.I.R. registered against her in Kanpur for " offending" some troglodyte's religious feelings in the book, the WEEK periodical is booked for an image of the Goddess Kali which offended some other dinosaur, a comedian is jailed for a month for a joke he never cracked, films are regularly " boycotted" if their leading actors belong to the minority community or if they attempt to interpret history in a way that does not suit the majority community. Creative writing has become a risky venture in Naya Bharat, for if the police don't get you, the bhakts will. Which is the correct mirror ?
The contradictions and masquerading, the difference between appearances and reality, never seem to end. "Dharm Sansads" or religious gatherings are used to exhort violence against minority community members; judges proclaim that "bail is the rule" but refuse to release the likes of Omar Khalid or the dozen Elgar Parishad accused; a court in Uttarakhand rules that no meat shop can be allowed within 500 meters of the Ganga river because of the sentiments of Hindus attached to it, ignoring the fact that the same river is used for discharging sewage in the millions of liters and dumping human carcasses in the thousands; the Prime Minister says we should focus on educating the girl child, even as he remains silent when thousands of girls are not allowed to attend schools and colleges because they are wearing "hijabs"; the government never tires of applauding its economic performance and the arrival of the "acche din", even as one million HNI (High Net Worth) citizens have fled the country in the last five years; it talks ceaselessly of how it has controlled black money, even as the deposits by Indians in Swiss banks have reached record highs! How can one not agree with the Walrus when he moans: " My desire to be well informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane."
If the horrors of today were not so malevolent and dangerous in their implications, I would say we are living in a make- believe world. That the spell would be broken any moment and Alice's looking glass would be replaced by the mirror again. But I'm afraid that would be deluding myself, for the curse is here to stay. In the words of Alfred Lord Tennyson:
The mirror crack'd from side to side,
" The curse has come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shallot.
Camelot remains out of reach.
Mr Shukla, yet again holds up the mirror to reflect with incisive brilliance our transformation into monstrosity that an increasing institutional and individual number collude to bring about by our collective silence or simply refusing to look at the mirror knowing that the condition showing on our face is too horrifying to even glance at, leave alone contemplate. Like Ghalib, we insist that mirror must be dusty.
ReplyDeleteWell brought out Avay. What you have highlighted is the reality today and yet the government ignores it and spins a web of progress. The pity is that the polity has begun to believe that it actually is so. It is all due to the prevailing fear psychosis; the dilution of all instruments brought up earlier; inordinately large centralised policies; no accountability, heavily biased or rather captive media, and the Bhagats whose numbers are going up daily!
ReplyDeleteAs one views through the looking glass and looks deeper behind the turmoil that Avay Shukla has vividly narrated, there appears to be a pattern over time, akin to a pendulum's oscillation. The pendulum has swung as it inevitably must. It has yet to complete its oscillatory round, and is therefore likely to show us at least another cycle of this regime’s rule after 2024.
ReplyDeleteTo bemoan what is reflected by the looking glass, however distasteful, is a realisation from hindsight of all that we as a polity have brought upon ourselves. From the time of the Babri demolition, which was probably the start of the oscillation backwards, we failed to recognise the cracks scuffed into our democratic mortar. That the governance was shared through coalition only aided the forces of uniformism to get a foot in. In 2014 what we elected as a majority to represent us was actually a bigoted, deceptive majoritarian engine. This was the pendulum reaching its peak energy and we are now latched onto it, careening along its swing as the looking glass displays sight after sight of dismay and demolition that Avay Shukla narrates.
We have to ride out till this arrogant juggernaut runs out of steam. As it will eventually, similar to the earlier regime completing its run. That will perhaps be the maturing of us as an electorate, for we will then have experienced both facets of governance. And may be presented with a better choice of Parliamentarians to administer the country, because they are also thrown up from within us.
Till then the looking glass will continue to exhibit and we shall remain distraught.
It is all so hopeless and graceless. We are rolling downhill to disaster, and none of us can do a thing about it.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, we are letting ourselves be deluded: first it was demonetization; only a man with a 56" chest we were told could do this and enrich each of us by a princely sum of 15 lakhs. Where are those 15 lakhs? Well! He was being figurative we were told.
Next was the brutal lockdown, but it was absolutely needed we were told; what about all the poor people who were deprived of their livelihoods and had to trek back long distances to their even more impoverished homes? Well! You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs we were told. Clap your hands, all of you, and the virus will tremble away we were told, and like the very intelligent people that we are, we did. All of you switch off your lights and light a lamp to drive the virus away we were told. This time, we had vigilantes going round and ordering us to switch off our lights. The virus of course was made of sterner stuff.
Now comes the crowning glory: a flag for every home; a flag it is, not the proverbial rabbit for every oven. Smart as we are, we will lap it up again.
We live in a horrible make-believe world. With a daily dose of a cliché being rammed down our throats by a 56” egotistical megalomanic and the legions of his brain-dead hatchet men. One which, those who view the world through saffron tinted glasses, actually believe! “India is the world’s greatest democracy”.
ReplyDeleteToday on the cusp of the nations 75th birthday those of us who have had the sense to not throw away our brains along with the bath water can only walk around with our heads hanging in shame.
Our venerable institutions – what ever became of them? The judiciary? The Election Commission? The bureaucracy? The media? The list could go on and on. The question which begs an answer is how could ALL of them en-masse turn into becoming spineless worms groveling at the feet of the self-proclaimed emperor?
As optimistically stated by Vishwas Patankar, I and millions like me are waiting for the pendulum to swing the other way. That it eventually will being a certainty, the question really is that just how much more pain would the nation need to endure before we see the dawn?
There is no doubt that this article brings out the ills that India is facing today. But the problem is that 99 % of India's people cannot comprehend the deep meaning in Alice in Wonderland and Orwell etc. And because the 1% intellectual elite are unable to connect with them, they look at these pieces as 'Angrezi' which is being used by vain people to destroy their esteem and thus force them into submission the same way the British did. No wonder that these 99% are starting to shun Indian critical thinking writers/ journalists and their books, no matter how much the world may appreciate them. After all, constantly bringing out faults doesnt automatically provide the solution.
ReplyDeleteThe 99% need hope, some minimum self-esteem and trust in their intellectuals to move forward. Hence, writers like Chetan Bhagat who may not be very erudite especially in Western literature, but more astute to the needs of the people are probably more effective in bringing change for the better?
Maybe we need a multi-lingual movement to take the Indian people through simple steps of kind questioning and rediscovering and building from the basic upwards? Using an optimal mix of good Indian and Western ones, even Oriental ones to take them forward? And maybe we should start with the few perceptive and astute ground leaders with untapped intellectual potential who these 99% will look up to? Not just the civil servants whose loyalty seems to lie more with pleasing their superiors for promotions and better placements? Than with the people of India? No offence intended.
On post 1947 reflections, the GoIs ve at all times been riddled with contradictions।. The sacred Constitution, copied in earnest by a group of intellectuals (almost with same haste as the Partition decision involving MKG, Jinnah JLN, Vallabhi Patel and others.)- shows its ineffectiveness. How? If Ministers of Maha or Waste Bangal are arrested with crores of money, they can simply go on saying "it's not mine"; " dunno where it came from"...and remain 'feee' of accusations for life. E g. Lallu, now Shiv Sena Raut, WB former Edu Min (111 kgs weight, gas not bathed by himself for years, cannot tie his own shoelaces). Justice delayed is never justice denied in our aa red nation।
ReplyDeleteSo Modi never began all this but yes, in his own way, added to the mayhem as much as the National Herald issues the Gandhi's are wriggling out of ...Modi is not the villain of P. We all are!
What happens with all these dakus and dayens at helm of affairs is what Avay is looking glass into as Alice did. Or did she at all? Could she brace the shocks as we are, differently from NEWS angles?
I find some very insightful views in the comments here. Including the counter and middle one. Which all help in us getting the better picture. I do agree that in some way we all are responsible for this state of affairs. By our disinterest, our fatalist attitude in waiting for the pendulum to swing the other way ( and go through the terrible journey that China has ), our defeatist unhopeful attitude, our silence, our disinclination to connect and deeply understand what the People of India (non elites) are going through and reluctance to do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI have started a discussion forum on this at The Kind Questioner on Substack. Do try reading these short 3 min pieces in sequence and contribute to improving the situation of our India by your questions, views and counter views.
I am sharing the link here : https://kevinadesouza.substack.com/p/why-should-we-be-kind-questioners?r=128igk&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
IS OUR INDIA TRULY INDEPENDENT?
ReplyDeleteBy Aires Rodrigues
Today on 15th August we are observing 75 years of India’s Independence. But truly there is nothing to celebrate or cheer about. There is a lot to ponder and worry about while our nation is ebbing away from Democracy. We are far from being truly free, and we may never be, unless we are unchained from this current failing and faltering political system that is corroded.
The basic fundamentals of our Constitution are being fiddled with and even our fundamental rights are sought to be trampled on. We have a lot to reflect on what has been going wrong with the very guiding principles being flouted with impunity. On 26 November 1949, the Constituent Assembly adopted our Constitution which was drafted by a committee headed by Babasaheb Ambedkar who played a pivotal role in its drafting.
Perhaps the founding fathers never visualized or anticipated that Money and Muscle Power would one day rule the roost in our country’s political arena with persons lacking morals and ethics assuming Power. So now there is need of urgent amendments to our Constitution to safeguard those fundamentals while leaving no grey areas for manipulation and towards this the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary must look within.
The Election Commission, Reserve Bank and some other vital institutions whose autonomy also stands blatantly ruptured and sadly compromised is a matter of concern. The CBI, Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Authorities are functioning under political duress. With the exception of a few conscientious officials who care for the Rule of law, the bureaucracy having lost all its independence and having become very partisan and slanted, the future remains bleak. The world’s largest democracy is at crossroads while we are witnessing an undeclared state of emergency where the basic tenets of our Constitution of India lie in absolute peril. And more importantly there are attempts to even compromise the very vital Independence of the Judiciary. Let us all sincerely commit to protect and ensure that the doctrine of our Constitution is strictly adhered to in letter and spirit with no room for fudging or fraud. Only then will there be something to rejoice and celebrate on Independence Day.
Let us work dedicatedly towards unitedly and untiringly ensuring a truly Independent and democratic India. This was the hope and aspiration of our founding fathers who had painstakingly drafted the Constitution of India which is now sadly being breached with impunity.
One correction, Swiss Bank is not alone, there r 40 plus other tax havens in the world. And Bhakts thing toppling all these state governments was done transferring money by RTGS.
ReplyDeletePen is no more mightier than the sword. The 'turbanite' man has dwarfed institutions which were supposed to take care. Now we live in phantasmic world. Someday spiderman will come with 'dollar' garment and save us. Till then carry on Gandhi and godse together.
ReplyDelete