Too many problems, too few solutions
The euphoria that erupted following the victory of BJP in the recent Indian general elections and the appointment of Narendra Modi as the prime minister seems to be abating. The defeat of BJP in the Kashmir valley elections is a potent indicator that BJP could suffer similar setbacks in the time to come.
The monumental backlash that has been witnessed from the Muslims and moderate Hindus alike on the move of forcibly converting Muslims and the Christians to Hinduism is yet another devastating stunner that can whip up a gigantic upheaval to debase Modi and his party.
Narendra Modi is a Hindu nationalist and a member of the Rashtriya Swayyamsevak Sangh (RSS). Since his election, the right wing hard-line group Sangh Parivar (an umbrella of organisations), is aggressively championing the concept of Hindutva.
The Sangh Parivar comprises organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayyamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and others. These right-wing extremist groups have become overly active and are openly calling for the transformation of India into a Hindu nation state or Hindutva through conversions by force or enticements.
Modi remained the chief minister of Gujarat from October 2001 to May 2014. He should be given credit for various far reaching reforms that greatly streamlined governance and markedly improved quality of life in that state. However, the Gujarat riots of 2002 blemished Modi and his party BJP for mass killings of Muslims.
Despite India’s democratic and secular credentials, patently, she has the image of a Hindu state. Lately, a junior minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti told a public rally in New Delhi that those who did not follow the Hindu god Ram were “bastards”. Ever since the ascension of BJP to power, several conversions have taken place forcing the Christians and the Muslims to Hinduism.
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, 30 Christians were converted to Hinduism. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, around 100 Muslims converted to Hinduism. This forcible conversion of minority population continues by the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Dal and the members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council.
India suffers from a host of endemic problems that cannot be fixed soon, not even by Prime Minister Modi, attributed to be an economic maverick. The most outstanding of these problems are galloping population, high rate of corruption, poor and woefully inadequate and ramshackle socio-civic infrastructure. Other bottlenecks hampering rapid or sustained advancement of India are religious, racial and caste based deep and unbridgeable prejudices and discords.
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, 30 Christians were converted to Hinduism. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, around 100 Muslims converted to Hinduism. This forcible conversion of minority population continues by the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Dal and the members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council
There are other grave issue that by any measure cannot be fruitfully and expeditiously addressed by Modi in his term if office. Some of these are inadequate education facilities, environmental degradation, grinding poverty, woeful health conditions and the burgeoning crimes like rape, dowry deaths, and flurry of suicides, sexism and domestic violence.
The main reason behind the rampant poverty is the mushrooming population that of late stands at 1.27 billion. The pace of social and economic development remains far behind and out of sync with the scale at which the population is growing. Some 456 million people live below the international poverty line. Around 236 million make less than a paltry amount of Rs 20 per day.
According to available statistics, the sanitation and public health are even worse in India than many of the African countries. It is reported that barring 31 percent of population utilising reasonable sanitation facilities, the rest of the population, more-often-than-not, defecates in public or in rivers. It has been further estimated that one in every ten deaths in India is linked to poor sanitation.
One of the odious curses in India is the debt bondage mostly practiced in the agricultural areas. The farmers take small loans from the rich cartels and individuals and keep paying interest on the loans that even exceeds 100 percent of the loan per year.
The economy of India cannot be adjudged as healthy or robust because India has one of the largest budget deficits in the developing world. Excluding subsidies it amounts to nearly eight percent of its GDP.
India deems China as the real contender or a matching rival or model for economic development. China is now emerging as number one economy for its miraculous economic achievements even beating United States. But India, by any stretch of imagination, cannot reach even half way the economic miracle of China for very cogent reasons.
China has a one-party system and the decisions made cannot be challenged by rival political parties. The decisions are implemented within the stipulated time. Moreover, China doesn’t have the level of corruption that one can see in developing nations like India and Pakistan. The projects and plans are completed in the given time frame under strict conditions of quality and durability.
India is possessed by a deep seated culture of corruption, poor infrastructure, paucity of funds; abominable caste culture, bureaucratic tangles and political bickering cannot attain the dizzying heights scaled by the Peoples’ Republic of China in economic, military social, health, education and other domains of human and social development.
In India another daunting problem that keeps wrecking the atmosphere of internal social peace for a rapid and sustained multi-dimensional progress and rapid uplift is scores of domestic insurgencies, either for separation from the federation or attainment of autonomy. There are roughly 30 to 40 insurgencies that pose a constant threat to the unity of the federation of India. These cause human casualties on both sides and there seems to be no let up in their anti India activities.
Besides internal insurgencies India has territorial disputes with all its neighbours ie China, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Over the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, there have been three wars between India and Pakistan
The mighty Indian army remains busy in combating these insurgencies, posing dire challenges to the territorial integrity of India at a huge cost of money and the hassle of deployments. Let us take stock of the three main insurgencies and how these are operating.
For one, the Naxalite Maoist insurgency apace now for decades has entrenched itself into the rural terrain of Central Asia. In 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the Naxalite insurgency as the “single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country”. There is no respite in the casualties between the Indian army and Naxalite rebels. The Naxalites operate in 60 districts in India with epicentre in Chhattisgarh. It claims to be supported by the poorest of the rural population.
“The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency gained international media attention after the 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha Valley resulted in the deaths of around 24 Indian National Congress leaders, including the former state minister Mahendra Karma and the Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel ”(Wikipedia).
In the part of Jammu and Kashmir valley under her control, India has kept a large chunk of army for decades now. The Indian controlled Kashmir erupts in periodic agitations and protests marches for liberation and against the grave human rights violations perpetrated by the Indian security forces to suppress Kashmiris.
Reportedly, since 1989 in Indian occupied Kashmir more than 68,000 Kashmiris have been killed, maimed and abducted. The Indian army also gets its share of casualties at the hands of the rebels. A non-binding United Nations Security Council resolution, adopted on April 21, 1948, calls for a plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir that India has been thwarting.
Similarly, Sikhs may not forget the 1984 massacre in Golden Temple and then another one after the murder of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi the same year. The Sikh separation movements such as Akali Dal may have gone dormant after the huge crackdown that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Nevertheless, the demand for Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs, is still alive.
Besides internal insurgencies India has territorial disputes with all its neighbours ie China, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Over the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, there have been three wars between India and Pakistan. Apart from Kashmir, both India and Pakistan have contentious claims over Sir Creek, Siachen Glacier and Kargil.
With China, India fought a brief war in 1962. “The cause of the war was a dispute over the sovereignty of the widely separated Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh border regions. In February this year, Modi warned China to drop its “territorial mindset” and said his “country’s weakness had encouraged China’s army to enter Indian territory last year”.
The fundamental question is, that in the face of these colossal internal and external threats, would it be possible for Prime Minister Modi to move a magic wand and take India out of the quagmire of poverty, hunger, civic mess, poor quality of life and usher her into the fold of developed nations? It seems improbable during his five years term in office. He may not even return to power in the next elections.
It is amusing to read about the doom and gloom report card on Mr. Modi, six months after his becoming a Prime Minister, by a person who is from a country that has nothing to show for (other than a vigorous terrorism industry) 67 years after its independence!
Pakistan may be plagued by terrorism, but India is lead by a person who is an internationally known terrorist/oppressor from his track record of killing 2,000 innocent muslims. And that is a FACT! So don't be a hypocrite.
C h o o t I y e, Teri maa ka b h o s d a..
Well He didn't kill anyone and he has been let of the hook and on top of that he is more known for his excellent show in the state of gujarat, Unfortunately, you mullahs try your antics everywhere. In mullah majority areas extremists are allowed to kill innocents but when your bretheren try it in no jihadi dominated places like the burning of the train full of Hindu pilgrims, there is huge retaliation on your terrorist breeding religion. The FACT is that muslims are a curse everywhere in the world be it in the west, China, India, myanmmar , philippines etc apart from the middle east and you should change your religion if you want any hope for your successors.
Sir, you don't get it – the communal violence which flares up within India is India's concern, same as the daily killing within Pakistan by other Pakistanis is purely your internal business. When it is so horrible like the massacre of children in Peshawar, the whole world, including India, felt (and still feel) your pain and loss.
When you export terrorism beyond your borders to India, Afghanistan, Iran and now, China, it becomes all these countries' problem.
If you have the will and desire to keep your terrorists within your boundaries, believe me, the whole world would quickly forget that Pakistan even exists and happily go about their business.
really.I think you was there so see.Stop thinking of indian muslim friend and what about pakistan. Muslim killing muslim in thousands.Think about your own problems and try to find solution to your problem.You people will not catch to india anytime in future.Just because of hatred for india.
a_writer you have clearly reflected a lack of reflection on true reality, I guess you need to study the evidence and i mean actual objective evidence that exists surrounding the crimes committed by Modi and his associates.
Radicalisation exists in every society and requires challenging through attaining knowledge and separating yourself from deeprooted prejudices.
You just need to look at it statistically, how many people are considered below the poverty line in India?
Radicalisation is shown by the muslims and it is not a new phenomenon but was initiated by the deeds and teachings of your mohammed. Todays world also sees only muslims being radicals, be it the pak army or the jihadi they shelter or jinnah or the countless other actions in the muslim world in general. What radicalisation you are talking about which is seen in myanmmar, sri lanka or to some extent in India is not radicalisation but retaliation to the intolerance and violence brought by muslims to their countries. For eg. If someone comes to your home and starts beating you, you are not going to just lie back but start beating him back. Why is it that only muslims face hardships in the world if every other society is demented like muslims. Muslims are initiator, the rest of the world are just retaliators.
India has poverty but it is reducing and even the poor people in India are not recruited by terrorist organizations like pak or the muslim world as there are none. Infact, it is some wayward muslims in India who buy the looney propaganda by the terrorist organizations and are recruited by them. All the bomb blasts and terrorist acts are either done by muslims or maoists. Maoists also only attack the forces unlike muslims who kill fellow muslim children amongst others.
Please, quote some crimes commited by Modi and his associates. Muslims being the aggressors are known to potray themselves as victims. Modi and his associates have been let off charge not during BJP rule but during congress rule. Read some legitimate news instead of the crap pedalled by illiterate mullahs in your local madrassas
Mr. Saeed Quereshi I am from India and neutral one what you mentioned about India is absolutely correct. No doubt about that. It is well researched and reflects true condition about India. But the problem is even worse. As grand master insight on China, USA and world Lee Kuan Yew said the main indicator of a powerful nation is GDP. India GDP stands at 2 trillion and 70% of the wealth in this country lies in the hand of 10-20 industrialist Ambani, Adani, Tata, Wipro, Bajaj, politicians and some construction companies.
Every year India produces 1 crore graduates which are ready to enter in job market. Only 5-7 lakhs are able to enter job market. You can even verify with job portals like naukri.com which always has 1 lakhs jobs posted, most of them are repetitive by different consultants in comparison to Singapore which has job posting of 50,000 jobs on portal.
This is just an example. The real India is even more dark. Having said that it has few positives. Secular constitution, less militancy, no sectarian group, no chances of economy take over my army no feudalism which exists in Pakistan, socially tolerant crowd which do not fight like sunni and shia or ahmedis, good reputation in world compare to Pakistanis which are most cursed in entire world, better platform and machinery for growth if governance is improved. If you ask me personally since I have lived with both Pakistanis and Indians, Indians are little more cohesive than divided Pakistanis groups who pick fights on smallest of things. I admire Singapore, Japan and Asian tigers, not India, but India is not as bad as Pakistan which you pictured in the article
You can say what you like the real test of Modi's success or failure will be in the field of economics. If India continues to show progress in this field Modi and his Hindutva will continue to celebrate
LOL! Ive seen alot of posts giving doomsday scenarios of INDIA on this PAKI site. Heights of desparation by a failed state. Don't worry, We are not pak and never will be. Its a known fact that pak is a 'Shithole' that even your officials cannot hear the truth. India is a growing economic and military power and is compared with the likes of Chins, Russia and Brazil while pak is compared with North Korea and is pet state of China like NK. Make delusional assessments, It doesnt change the truth.
Good work of fiction. May pakistan continue to live in delusions and made up statistics. More good days ahead for pakistan
The writer is brother of Praveen Swami and Barkha dutt and writes similar to them.
The writer has enlisted long list of negatives and problems which face India. Well that is fine but can Pakistan in any way influence it.
“Modi cannot fix India” you wish!!!!
Then again it should be a good news for Pakistan if he fails.
He is not going to lose any election near time soon. So hopefully you would keep entertaining us with your “Fantasy writings”.
Modi will take some time to fix India… but it seems he is quickly fixing Pakistan… which is drastically reducing its acts of badmashi
Ok. Mr. scientist.
Here’s the deal. Even if india were to stop growing today. It’s economy is 2047 bn $ vs 225 bn pak.Trade @ 750 bn $ vs $45 bn pak.3rd largest gdp by ppp and 9th largest nominal vs 45 of pak. Better growth rate , lower illiteracy, higher per capita income than pakistan. You see even if india stops pak won’t catch up in 30 years. So next time when you have the temptation to write such a long bulls hit. Hold yourself and think for a while
india is still furious on the Mumbai attack and the subsequent foot dragging by pak establishment.
Pakistan's creditability has steadily gone down the world over, with most countries aware of Pak establisments terror credentials. the very terrorists pak has trained/armed, are bitting the hand that fed them.
Mr.you don’t worry about Mr. Modi can he fix India or not but he definetly fix Pakistan
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