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Combating India’s Population Problem

UP To Bring Back Migrant Workers From Other States In Phases: Top 10

A national lockdown has brought to the forefront the immense neglect and sorrow lives that those at the bottom of the societal strata have to live. With several horrific tales of hunger, accidental deaths and a near partition-era exodus doing the rounds, it is natural to feel upset by the overwhelming stench of unimaginable hardships on countless men and women. On closer introspection, I realised that the root of the immediate crisis lies not only on the draconian lockdown alone but also on years of an exponential expansion of the population. The virus of population growth is as potent a threat as the present pandemic that has afflicted the world; if left unattended, this seemingly benign sore will metamorphose into a malignant one.

India’s unchecked population surge has come to be a source of concern for many. With a landholding of only 2.41% and home to nearly 18% of humankind, India is beginning to reel from the severe stress its population exerts on it. While a youthful population is generally looked upon favourably, an excess of such a feature also carries with itself an array of perils. With increasing unemployment, inequality, starvation and a faltering economy amidst a host of other depressing issues, it is evident that India cannot afford to expand in terms of its demographic size any further. It is time to undo the vices of the past and implement family planning norms on a war footing, thereby paving the way for sustainable national development and growth in the decades to come.

While the rest of the world is ageing, India has managed to retain its youth bulge. A youth bulge essentially points out that the young disproportionately outnumber the elderly in our country. The higher the figure, the better the productivity and national output rates. Much of the developed world order is progressively poised to morph into ticking time-bombs, with their workforce shrinking at a greater pace than those entering it. Europe is a classic case-in-point, with North America tailing behind. India, which has nascently entered a stage where it can reap the benefits of such demographic dividend, is hardly in a state today to encash on the bonus. The reasons are aplenty.

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Our woes are on many fronts. Widening inequality has condemned the poor to remain fixated in poverty, while the rich have become more affluent. Joseph Stiglitz, in his book ‘People, Power and Profits’ wrote that those born in poverty, often find it difficult to escape the vicious debt trap in their life span. Add to that a growing rural-urban gap, with massive influxes of migrant workers towards metropolitan and tier-one cities every year. Such trends have consequentially led to the establishment of migrant colonies clustered in unsanitary living conditions called slums. Mumbai’s Dharavi is one such example. A combination of unfortunate factors has also pushed the average day-worker on the brink of starvation. The 2019 Global Hunger Index ranked India 102 out of 117 countries, which were evaluated on a three-indicator basis. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that malnutrition is equally rampant among the deprived. 37.9% of children below five suffered from stunted growth, while 14.5% of the population was undernourished, the report concluded. 

Education and healthcare are like the two wheels of the chariot of sustainable growth. A humongous population count relegates education and skill-building onto secondary positions, as most are compelled to lend a helping hand to their family incomes at early ages due to ensuing poverty. In 2015, the school dropout rate was nearly 17%. In the age of Industry 4.0, only a handful are skilled enough to make careers out of their capabilities. The world’s most prosperous countries have made a successful transition towards being knowledge economies, rather than being content with the tag of an assembler nation. The 2016 ASER report publicised much of the glaring loopholes of primary education across India. Hence, apart from bolstering investments made in the field of education in the short run, the long term idea should be to stabilise population growth and build intensively on the human capital we have then. This notion can also be extended onto healthcare; modern medical care is beyond reach for the deprived in India. Equitability in healthcare can only be brought about when population growth is considerably low and benefits of advancement can reach those who require it the most. It has been observed that the trickle-down economic theory- the idea which professes that a rising tide (read, development) shall lift all boats- does not hold good in populous countries.

On the policy front, the importance of family planning was realised even before independence was attained. In fact, in 1951, India became the first developing country to implement a state-sponsored family planning programme. The Radha Kamal Mukherjee Committee (1940) was one such pioneering venture, which was commissioned by the Indian National Congress to evaluate the chapter of population control. It was followed by the Bhore Committee (1943) and post-independence, was looked into by the Five-Year Plans prepared by the now-defunct Planning Commission. Yet, all of these committees and plans emphasised on self-control to curb further growth. As governments became increasingly concerned about the outcomes of such rapid spurts, in 1976, the National Population Policy was constituted. The NPP (1976) was radically distinctive from its precursors and advised incentivisation as the way forward to control the population. It noted, “… to wait for education and economic development to bring out a drop in fertility is not a practical solution. The time factor is so pressing, and the population growth so formidable, that we have to get out of the vicious circle through a direct assault upon this problem as a national commitment.” Such a radical measure also led to experimental legislation on compulsory sterilisation, enforced during the emergency era, which ultimately ended in a fiasco and was rolled back. However, the viciousness with which the Union government combated the issue brought with it a fair share of the limelight.

A Statistical Overview

The above plot, sourced from Census estimates in 2011, clearly shows a negative relationship between population (independent test variable) and literacy (dependent variable). As population increases, a degradation in literacy rates is observed. Most of India’s northeastern states have fared excellently well on literacy counts, and have significantly controlled their population growths. We can further expand upon this idea, if we take a look at Human Development Index (HDI) figures for Indian states (2018 UNDP data).

A polynomial-order decreasing trend line relationship was observed between Population and HDI. Theoretically, an HDI score of 1 indicates all-round development. HDI scores are based on the standard of living, literacy, and healthcare access. It is no surprise, again, to observe states with high HDI scores having a comparatively lesser population than those who fare poorly on their HDI scores. It is evident from the graphical visualisation that Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal are clear laggards when it comes to development and population control. Kerala and Goa serve as model states, with high HDI indices as well as a low population count. The final chart would attempt to illustrate the Total Fertility Rate (TFR)’s relationship with the Crude Birth Rate (CBR, per 1000 people) over the decades.

The above plot brings out the positive side of our efforts against combating the population menace. Over the decades, we have been successful in continually curbing the TFR and consequentially bringing down the CBR at the same time. It is in alignment with the vision of the National Population Policy (2000), which aimed to bring down the fertility rate to 2.1 by 2045.

A Way Forward

Clearly, not all is lost. The battle to reign in our population count has begun to be taken seriously at all levels in recent times. It was heartening to see Prime Minister Modi bring to spotlight the grave threat, labelling ‘population explosion’ as a challenge for the upcoming generations. He equated efficient family planning with patriotism, and openly called for state governments and the central government to act together over a long-term solution. However, it is not only an urge for chauvinism that should drive forward the momentum to bring in immediate reforms, but also economic profits. Ashoka Mody and Shekhar Aiyar’s work at the IMF estimated the demographic dividend for India (the additional growth in per capita income due to demographic factors alone) for the next few decades, assuming optimal conditions to reap the benefits:

A two-child policy is also the need of the hour, apart from usual awareness drives initiated by the government. Assam was the first state to implement coercive disincentive tactic to solve the pestering problem, by denying government jobs to those with more than two children. The Union government may also adopt such a policy, but any such order should not be retrospective in nature. Simply put, any such disincentive should be applicable only for future applicants after a minimum period of nine months, so that prospective employees should make a concerted effort towards the governmental objective. Family planning measures are also heavily impacted by the standard of living. As more migration takes place from rural hinterlands onto urban metropolises, people will automatically regulate themselves to having a bare minimum number of children so as to meet the rising costs. Monetary incentivisation, in the form of tax benefits and other compensatory reliefs, shall go a long way to combat this vice in India.

We have no control over the world we inherit, but we have complete control over the world we leave behind. However, credits where due: the present dispensation does seem to actively view this as an immediate concern to be worked upon. Effective family planning measures, especially in a country as diverse and broad as India, shall offer our progeny a fair chance at living a life of dignity and bridge the inequality. Humankind will be on the slippery slope to hell unless we take stock of the birth rate on an urgent basis.

Machiavelli’s words ring true today, exactly as he had prognosticated:

“When every province of the world so teems with inhabitants that they can neither subsist where they are nor remove themselves elsewhere… the world will purge itself in one or another of these three ways (floods, plague and famine).”

Niccolo Machiavelli

Debating Development Indices: A Closer Look

An unilateral thrust on the growth perspective (based on GDP figures alone) being central to the measure of human progress had led to a severely skewed society by the end of the 1980s. This was a phase where rapid de-industrialisation was met with hurried globalisation in the West; firms were growing ever larger; and markets were precipitously moving towards monopolistic tendencies. Economic disparities between the rich and the poor richocheted; and it was evidently clear that the ‘real wealth’ of a nation lay not in its present ascendancy, but in the development and building of the ‘human capital’, or intellectual resources. Amartya Sen, recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, was rewarded for having pioneered the concept of the Human Development Index. What was so very remarkable about Sen’s work then, that changed the worldview on the idea of human development and societal progress by panoramic proportions?

A LOOK AT THE INDICES

The answer to the question requires a multi-pronged analysis into the factors that determine mankind’s advancement over a period of time. The Human Development Index (HDI), a score between 0 and 1, looks into the input variables of life expectancy, education and standard of living as determinants of the HDI score. A higher HDI index is reflective of a country that is substantially ‘developed’, in other words, a nation with a HDI score 1 indicates a highly sophisticated society that has a reasonably high average lifespan, good education standards and a fairly decent standard of living. The arrival of the HDI as a parameter helped governments around the world to engineer a transition from a singular focus on GDP-oriented growth policies earlier to the brand of welfare economics. The UNDP’s HDI Report 2018 ranks India with a score of 0.64 at the 130th position, which classifies it as ‘medium human development’.

HDI sensitised nations about the diminishing importance of income alone to adjudge the progress made by a country, yet, it was not enough to provide an exact idea of the scale of deprivation faced by the population. While most countries maintained some form of a record of poverty levels, these statistics did not signify much other than an income handicap. In 2010, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) collaborated with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) to launch the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)- a three dimensional overview into various factors resulting in true poverty. The MPI scale focuses on establishing trends of quantifiable deprivation amongst people across the world. The MPI also uses in broad sense, the same set of parameters that goes for calculating the HDI score- but it is more exhaustive in nature. While HDI calculation involves a single indicator for each dimension, the MPI calculation deals with respecting data from multiple sources from each applicable dimension. This is one cause for the MPI index being available for just over 100 countries, while the HDI index is almost accessible for every country today. While both the HDI and the MPI serve as fantastic indicators for societal development, critics have often slammed the indices for not taking into account the “moral, emotional, and spiritual” dimensions of poverty. The Global Happiness Index, conceptualised of late, is an attempt to correct that anomaly.

The World Bank in 2018 released a new report, titled the ‘Human Capital Index’. It expands on the idea that for sustainable long run growth in the future, nations must ensure considerable funds for the advancement in sciences and technology. Paul Romer, who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Economics, based his theory on economic growth with ‘endogenous technological change’- more is the number of people working in the knowledge sector, greater is the probability that the country is on the road towards prosperity. Incentivization of innovation, along with a increase in public spending on higher education and healthcare results in a workforce that is not only skilled, but also maintains higher productivity over the long run due to access to better healthcare facilities. In the inaugural report launched by the World Bank, India is ranked at the 115th position out of a total of 159 countries that were evaluated.

THE WAY FORWARD

The triad of development indices, namely the HDI, MPI and the HCI, have enabled policymakers to frame legislation that can over time, change the dynamics of an economy. These parameters are also a great aid for a nation to align itself with the UNDP’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). India, despite having the advantage of its demographic dividend (average age in India is only 29, with 65% below the age of 35), has mostly been ranked lowly in all the three indices. India’s mediocre performance on the rankings may look astonishing on first glance, but it is not impossible to dissect why. A nation teeming with almost 1.3 billion people will have a natural strain on its resources. The 2018 Oxfam report also brought to light how India’s top 1% possessed 73% of the national wealth- while the basal rung saw their fortunes rise by only 1% for the same year. In his book ‘People, Power and Profits’, Joseph Stiglitz argues that a person born under the curse of poverty has a very low prospect of escaping the poverty trap- indicative of the dampening consequences of widening inequality. The same is true for India. Rise of inequality, coupled with poor grassroot-level implementation of developmental programmes, have reared their ugly head as a draconian duo- a true malaise for an otherwise aspirational population.

The glaring fault-line lies in the fact that despite heavy investments being laid out for the infrastructure sector, very little ground has been covered when it comes to providing education to our children. While universal access to education has been mostly achieved, the concern about the quality of education is very much valid. The Annual Status of Education Report (2016) highlights several of these loopholes. It brings to light how the proportion of children in fifth grade, who can read a book of second standard, has declined to 47.8% in 2016 from 48.1% in 2014, amongst several other mostly depressing statistics.

Similarly, despite a renewed vigour to improve on our medical infrastructure, our healthcare system remains in a deplorable state. Ayushman Bharat, a mega-healthcare insurance system on the lines of America’s famed ‘Obamacare’, was driven to the hush primarily because despite having established government hospitals all over India, the quality of services rendered in such hospitals were nowhere in comparison to those doled out by speciality private sector medical institutions. Positive mends are being made only of late, with induction of more seats in medical colleges for doctors an encouraging move.

For India to establish itself as a world leader in sustainable growth, it must start investing heavily to promote its research and development institutions. India’s current spending in R&D, as a proportion of its GDP, is a meagre 0.85%. Most advanced economies have ensured R&D spending as high as 4% (South Korea spends around 4.3% of its GDP on R&D operations per year). The recent move to expand the scope of CSR into funding academic studies is very much commendable. Thus, to facilitate the jump from the hoard of assembler economies to the exclusive bandwagon of knowledge economies, quality education must be made a priority sector to focus on. The irony about investing in education is that the effects are not immediately realized; but when they are, they have the potent to shape a ride to fortunes.  

The benefits of such heavy investment may present themselves as unwarranted expenditures to the right-wing, but it is to be remembered that a nation can only go as far as its people can. It is thereby without doubt, in the greater interests to sanction funds that help solidify the dream of a secure future, not only for us- but also for generations ahead.

Why Bengal is a ticking time-bomb, and what needs to be done

West Bengal has had for long a volatile political history. With several instances of mass-scale rebellions and violent uprisings against the administration throughout expansive swathes of time, the state has certainly enough potent to be labeled tempestuous. After a spate of gross misuse of power and unabated killings (Sainbari murders, Marichjhapi massacres, Nandigram) for a period of thirty-four years, Mamata ascended to the center-stage of West Bengal politics as the Chief Minister in 2011. Her party, the Trinamool Congress, had ridden to power through the catchphrase, ‘Maa Mati Manush’– promising people development (‘unnayan‘), and an immediate end to administrative high-handedness.

Almost eight years later, the ground reality looks immensely far-fetched from the poll planks of 2011, and murders have once again reclaimed their spot as a political weapon.

Venomous Roots

Mamata has always been a mile away from the bhadralok-zamindar politics of the state; her repute as a militant street-fighter battling for the oppressed and destitute propelled her popularity among the masses. After assuming office, it only metamorphosed into a brand of politics that encapsulated populism, outreach efforts, and loyalty-garnering initiatives. There is no denying that in terms of social ventures, Banerjee has outdone most other politicians of her era; providing opportunities for the girl child (Kanyashree), and offering artisans, craftsman, and folk singers appreciable remunerations for their services. These activities have helped generate an army of party loyalists- being the beneficiaries to the government’s social schemes, these men had a call of obligation. Her party’s base continued to grow naturally until it hit the saturation point. And that is precisely when the trouble started.

With growing support and politicisation of the bureaucracy (much like her Communist predecessors), complacency had begun to sow its seeds among the party ranks. Thus, when the base growth stalled and became evident, workers tried to brute force their way to gain the vote of those in ideological contrast to that of the TMC. Fiery leaders like Anubrata Mondal, TMC’s Birbhum district president, flaunted veiled threats as tools of intimidation. Infighting had already commenced, thus eroding away the electorate’s confidence in the ruling disposition. Brazen remarks made by several high-ranking party members (read, Tapas Pal) had left little to prove that the party functioning was completely arbitrary.

Political greed, coupled with the onset of deplorable complacency, also opened the floodgates for corruption. The Narada sting operation revealed how 11 of her ministers accepted bribes in exchange of unofficial favors for a fake consultancy firm floated by the whistleblower himself. The Saradha scam mired her repute as a leader who takes on corruption- and suicide figures for those who lost all in the ponzi scam reached double digits. Despite such brutal revelations, she miserably failed to take any definite action against the accused, and went on to harbour such men in order to extract political reaps owing to their unprecedented influence.

Appeasement Politics and Support Banks

Prior to Independence, the Muslim population in Bengal was estimated at 29.5%. Post partition, however, that figure dropped to 19.85%. However, after the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and establishment of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), the percentage again ricocheted to 20.46%. When Banerjee came to don the hat as a Chief Minister, the demographics resembled a 27% share of the Muslim population, and a 70% share of the majority Hindus.

Sensing an opportunity to lap up the Muslim vote (an electorally significant 27%), the TMC supremo went all guns blazing to provide Muslims with benefits unparalleled. Her brand of appeasement politics is nowhere near subtle; her extravaganza in terms of playing the religion card is downright offensive. Calcuttans have got used to the sight of Mamata draped in a white scarf over her head offering namaz prayers during prominent Muslim festivities. The Dinajpur-Maldah-Murshidabad-Birbhum region has seen specific religion targeted efforts to win over the vote bank. However, such concerted effort towards minority appeasement has weaned off many. In 2016, Firhad Hakim, one of Mamata’s many trusted lieutenants, reportedly described Garden Reach as “mini-Pakistan”. A feature report by THG highlights how in the Falta block of South 24 Parganas, the alleged ‘monstrosity’ of TMC leader Zahangir Khan has accentuated the TMC’s rootless politics. This year, she increased the Eid bonus for all Muslim State employees to Rs. 4000, a 11% hike from last year.

Mamata has one trick up her sleeve that yields her big results: fielding celebrities! It seems to serve two objectives at once: while the stars bring along their own fan following to the advantage of the party, it also helps push party factionalism under the carpet. To take on the BJP’s Asansol candidate, Babul Supriyo, Banerjee placed yesteryear actress Moon Moon Sen as a contestant for the seat. Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, two eminent actresses from Bengal’s film industry, also found a place amongst the 42 prospective MP candidates, contesting the elections from Basirhat and Jadavpur, respectively. Tollywood star Dev Adhikari, one of the industry’s leading figures today (how pathetic!) is also in the fray this time around, from Ghatal. While the strategy is a complete winner in the short term, applying band-aid fixes to rifts within the party ultimately produces defectors, or worse, moles.

For residents of Kolkata and its suburban areas, the anarchy of auto-wallahs is beyond grasp. The auto drivers and toto (e-rickshaw) operators have pacts with local leaders in exchange of uninterrupted ‘do-what-you-may’ regime. Cases of road rage against such people are shelved by the police; in short, their supremacy on the roads remain unchallenged under the patronage of their political masters. Hawker encroachment, also allegedly under the patronage of local leaders, has rendered the wide majority of pavements inaccessible to pedestrians, exposing them to the perils of walking on busy roads at peak hours. These pacts are nothing but purely based out of monetary and vote considerations. As police action is de-facto forbidden, they continue their reign of pandemonium unfettered- and drop the votes alongside.

Industry Aversion and Syndicate Raj

Banerjee’s breakthrough moment in Bengal’s tense political environment was when she single-handedly spearheaded a campaign to drive out the TATA Group from Singur, alleging forced encroachment of farmer’s lands by the CPI(M) government. Her relentless protest ultimately ensured that the Nano project withdrew from Singur, marking a thumping win for her against adversities. Co-incidentally, as fate would have it, a marked decline in industrialization has been the jinx in her term as the Chief Minister.

In her first stint (2011-2016), the contribution of industry in West Bengal’s GSDP shrank from 19.1% in 2012 to 18.8% in 2013. Manufacturing also witnessed a progressive decline from 56% in 2012 to 55.3% in 2013. A report by the Business Standard in 2013 also highlighted a 97% decline in industries since 2010, and an 85% fall when compared to 2011. Since then, efforts were made to salvage Bengal’s flailing economy. The Global Bengal Summit was conceptualized in 2014 and has since been instrumental in attracting investment proposals into the state. In fact, in 2019 itself, the 5th Global Bengal Summit generated investment proposals worth Rs. 2.84 trillion. However, when it comes to implementation, the statistics are no longer rosy as they were on paper: growth and industry expansion is happening at an extremely tardy pace. Bengal has also squandered the opportunity of riding the demographic dividend, i.e. to cash in on the productivity of the working age population, a report from the UNFPA suggests.

The problem is multi-pronged and poses as a conundrum to the political dispensation. If the INTTUC (the party’s trade union arm) is to be strengthened, it will help bolster party recruits and drive support for the party. However, a strong trade union would also ride roughshod over the managerial decisions, and any complications would keep further investor interest at bay. So far, the Trinamool Congress has not been able to find a viable solution to this stumbling block on the road to development.

The Kolkata flyover collapse, allegedly linked to the Syndicate providing inferior-grade materials for the construction

In cities, however, the problem assumes a radically different dynamic. Construction land, building materials, and sand are all controlled by a group of people who remain politically affiliated to the ruling party- termed as syndicates. Extortionism is common, and any buyer who seeks legitimate means of transactions would be compelled to ‘give in, or give up’. Often, these syndicates provide an inferior quality of construction materials at a higher price, widening their pockets with profits. This has inadvertent effects. Repair work done by the State’s Public Works Department turns out to be temporary and inadequate. In 2016, a flyover collapsed over Girish Park- a crowded locality in Kolkata, with later inspections revealing the supply of inferior-grade materials as one of the chief reasons for structural instability.

Rise of the Right Wing

Amidst an atmosphere of uncertainty, the biggest gainer has undoubtedly been the Bharatiya Janata Party. Drawing from its proven formula of polarisation of voters along religious lines, the party primarily projected itself as a binary alternative to Mamata’s Muslim-first policies. It had all the positives in the world to begin its journey with:

  • The party effectively relied on Modi’s mass appeal, particularly among the youth of the state- promising ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas‘ (inclusive development for all).
  • The Left, which was completely routed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, had its entire vote base transferred to the BJP, and,
  • The theme of national security and an unprecedented influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants into Bengal were repeatedly underscored to rake up jingoistic sentiments.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which had no significance in Bengal’s poll map, has made a surprising wildcard entry to play an integral role in the complex workings of the State’s politics. It will be interesting to observe how the right-wing, which focuses on the base of Hindutva, fares in a state where Muslims form a significant chunk of the population. Furthermore, the electorate expects the BJP to make the paradigm shift and ensure policy changes, to facilitate rapid industrialization of the state. While Modi’s Gujarat model is easy to sell as an ideal model, Bengal is not Gujarat: the state arm of the BJP will face tough challenges in its quest for acche din.

The Way Forward

Bengal’s explosive mix of greedy politics, minority appeasement and populism is certainly a disaster waiting to happen. Political violence is on the consistent rise. The Panchayat polls in 2018 were one of the bloodiest in Bengal’s history, with 25 people being slain as part of political rivalry. Post-poll violence after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is so bad that an imposition of President’s Rule is being pondered over as an option to tackle the absolute lawlessness that Bengal is reeling from today.

The fantastic irony lies in the fact that a leader who comes from a background of fighting against heavy-handed establishments, has herself succumbed to the vagaries of electoral rapacity! Under Mamata’s regime, ‘red fascism’ of the Left has merely been replaced by secular fascism, and the Trinamool Congress is essentially old wine served in a new bottle.

To begin with, Mamata must have a hard look at her own policies- often crafted with vested interests- and alter them at the earliest. Second, she must look to fill bureaucracy with competent officers, and not puppets: it will ensure that she gets sound advice on critical issues pertaining to efficient governance. Third, she must reign in lumpen elements operating from within the party, as a party with leaders who are mutually out of sync damages both the party as well as good governance. Fourth, she must make a dedicated effort to stop the syndicate raj and illegal sand mining that rot the State machinery, as her silence only fuels such activities. While her party stands to lose significant amounts of donation amounts coming from such illegal syndicates, she would be free of the moral guilt, and more importantly, the taint of giving a free hand to such elements. Fifth, and most importantly, it is time that she introspects the demographic damage that minority appeasement is doing to West Bengal’s cultural lineage. State security, as well as an irreparable cultural heritage, should never be toyed with in a bid to polish vote banks.

At this hour of desperation, Mamata needs not only an image makeover but also an administrative rejig, to make things work for the TMC. I can only keep fingers crossed, and hope that sense prevails soon. It would be apt to recall Ellen Glasgow, the famed American novelist, who had prognosticated that “… all change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.” If only the Trinamool Congress could draw some lessons.



On the NRC, and beyond

Representational image: People at an NRC enrollment center.

The ongoing hullabaloo over the Government of India’s National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam is very much understandable. The final NRC draft, published very recently on 30th July, 2018,  left out a staggering 40,07,707 people from a pool of thirty two million plus claimants to the prized status of Indian citizenship. To completely comprehend the behemoth scale of this one of a kind exercise undertaken by the government, it is imperative to know why and how the NRC is being implemented with such vigour today.

Assam, one of the leading states from the seven sisters of the North East, has had an almost perennial problem of illegal immigration. Ever since colonial times, administrators from the British Raj maintained a lax perspective towards unrecorded influx of people. People from Bengal travelled all the way to Assam in search of fertile lands. This influx gathered momentum after the treaty of Yandabo was enforced by the colonialists. Post partition, this problem was magnified on panoramic proportions. Official estimates from 1948  pegged the number of illegal immigrants at around 150,000 people, although unofficial estimates claim as high as 500,000. The government of India, under pressure, decided to enact Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950. Henceforth, the NRC was conceptualized and implemented for the very first time in 1951- coupled together with the official census for the year.

However, there existed several challenges in the implementation of the NRC. Bureaucratic red tape, along with political factors at play delayed the act of detection and expulsion of these illegal residents- until the Students Agitation of 1979 forced the sleeping  government to wake up and take notice, finally culminating in the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 by the-then Prime Minister, Shri. Rajiv Gandhi. It formulated a three point Standard Operating Procedure to drive out these illegal entrants. As expected, however, the plan remained caged to the papers and never saw the light of the day in its totality.

After a span of several  decades, the issue of preparation of an exhaustive NRC was reinvigorated in 2014, when the apex court directed the Union Government and the Govt. of Assam to immediately formulate such a list in accordance with the Citizenship Act of 1955 and the Citizenship Rules, 2003.  This gargantuan task was  undertaken with full gusto by a 55,000 strong workforce. Now that their results are out in the open, it is probably worth introspecting if indeed the NRC  is a practicable idea, and if so, the reasons behind it.

Reading the fine print

As had been discussed earlier, the final draft list of the NRC left out a sizeable chunk of the population, creating an  uncomfortable ambience of anxiety and worry. The process was conducted in extreme haste, owing to the  tight deadlines by the Supreme Court bench. While the popular reception in Assam has been very positive, its implementation has clearly not been  celebrated. The BJP came to  power in the State with the focal agenda of driving out the Bangladeshi  immigrants- and so far, they seem successful.

The National Register of Citizens brings with it obvious benefits. It reduces the strain on the  economy by a great extent, ensuring only natural citizens of India are entitled to the privileges of a permanent  national identity and economic independence. Secondly, it would help prevent a wide-scale demographic and cultural transcend– retaining the native traditions and lifestyle as they are supposed to be. Third, and most importantly perhaps for the political parties, it would impede any attempt to undermine the political map of the region– thus ensuring a more open and fair legislature in the true sense of the term. Taking into consideration all of the above factors, there have been several proposals, especially by  other North Eastern bodies, to have NRC registers in their respective states. The big question is, will it be worth the hassle?

The  implementation of the NRC  in Assam offers several takeaways. Even  after two revisions to the draft list, there have been  notable omissions- including those of a serving and former legislator. This only  goes on to highlight the inherent flaws of the NRC, and the scale of subjective bias in the entire process. More importantly, it (the  NRC) is a very potent tool to foment communal trouble.  The State government has boasted in open light that the NRC once implemented, would help segregate and ostracize the illegal Mohammedan populace from their rightful Hindu counterparts. This is a near-perfect alibi for playing the religious card- and it has the potential to wreak much havoc if toyed around with. The change of objective from creating a State of legal residents from a mix has now lamentably degraded itself into a division between the Hindu and the Muslim community- transpiring the clear idea of divisiveness between the lines of a wide-scale implementation. India suffers from a problem of loopholes everywhere, and any proposal that apparently seems infallible and outrageously correct would always have a grey side to it. In addition, the NRC exercise is never a cheap option to digest- the entire implementation in Assam costed the government an approximate of a twelve hundred crores- a significant financial burden. It is thereby probably safe to conclude that extending the idea of NRC to other states would only be an assignment in vain, and undoubtedly open the much loathed metaphorical can of worms.

The Last Say

At  present, the State of Assam owes a patient hearing to the plight of the four million people excluded from the drafts of the NRC. People who have lived here for a long time, or those who know no home, must not be left stranded in any eventuality. How India addresses the fate of those left out, will ascertain whether its democracy can lay claim to being humane or not. My opinion, as far as the proposals to  extend the NRC to other states is concerned, is to adopt a policy of wait and watch. If the Assam model indeed works out, it would probably be  worth it to replicate, and if it fails, it would be wise to abstain and abort from any more hurried execution of such expansive citizenship enrollment schemes.

Thorn in the Rose: Tackling the Kashmiri Crisis

A young student involves in stone-pelting activities (REUTERS File photo)

Kashmir has for long been the prickly point of Indo-Pakistani relations. Both parties want the heavenly paradise of Kashmir; this has been the contentious issue for decades. Situations have only volleyed towards the worse- tumultuous relations and widening cracks being projected on the upfront by separatist activities. What is more concerning is the fact that Islami propaganda that features the demand of an Azad Kashmir is gaining momentum; it has clearly secured vital traction with the youth masses. This is a perennial conflict, and no amount of international intervention can resolve the matter, at least for the next few decades to come.

Welcome to Kashmir 2.0, the Land of Revolution and Violence.

On July 8th, 2016, the “Che Guevara” of the Kashmir revolution- Burhan Wani- was shot dead by the Indian Armed Forces. Within minutes, social media was abuzz with the news of his death, spreading like wildfire in a forest of dry leaves. The youth of Kashmir seemed to overflow with emotions of contempt over such an action by the forces, and separatist parties called for an unparalleled showdown in the Valley. And since then, the revolution has taken a course of its own: Over the last couple of years, a lot has been said on the national media about Kashmir and its multifarious flaws. The mess is a precarious mix of frustration, coupled with a loss of identity and dishonour of the Kashmiri pride. The more one tries to play the escapist card, the deeper they fall in the trenches of an ever-broadening political conundrum.

As the April 2017 elections approached, separatist organisations, including the umbrella organisation, the All Party Hurriyat Conference, called for a unilateral boycott. This was nothing new, and on previous occasions, most Kashmiris ignored the instructions and turned out to the polls in substantial numbers. This time, however, even the capital city, Srinagar, saw a precipitous decline in voter turnout. A mere 7.14 percent of the eligible electorate turned up to the polls during the first week of April—the worst showing in three decades. Violence was so widespread in the other constituency, Anantnag, that one of the candidates asked the election commission to postpone the election until late May, which it did. As a part of the research work that precedes any article, I came across a quote from an IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt:

Why is there such a furore, such an uprising? Why are the Kashmiri people incensed, and why are pseudo-nationalists digging so deep into matters they have only a superficial idea of? Is Kashmir a lost case, or is Kashmir the paradise that always belonged to India? While answers to all the questions are relative (as is everything in the world of political science), they are all inter-linked. The root of the conflict between the Kashmiri insurgents and the Indian Government is tied to a dispute over local autonomy. Politics Now will break down the labyrinthine situation in Kashmir for you to digest and understand.

Armed Forces and Human Rights

Protests that erupt periodically in Kashmir have often overwhelmed Indian police for decades. So much so, that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)- a special unit designed to undertake counterterrorism operations- has to be involved in law enforcement duties. The involvement of the CRPF marks a definite failure of the Jammu and Kashmir Police to maintain adept law and order in the State, and more importantly, reflects a lack of will on part of the State leadership to provide necessary training to bring the State cadre to a bare minimum level of institutional credibility. The CRPF is known for using crowd-control methods that are at best controversial, including pepper sprays, pellet guns, and even live ammunition.

International human rights groups have condemned such ruthless use of brute force on ordinary civilians on the mere basis of suspicion. Concrete evidence is not required in the valley to sanction the use of such force; ground situations vary and the magnitude of repressive measure deployed depends on the decision made there. These unorthodox weapons of crowd-control have caused serious injuries and have deprived hundreds of proper vision. Moreover, manufacturing standards themselves state that accuracy in such guns cannot be cent per cent: in all, such blatant statements clearly give us an imprint of the number of casualties caused due to such misfired ammunition. Several litigations were filed in the State High Court to review the use of such non-powder ballistic guns. In a landmark ruling in mid-September, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court denied an explicit ban on the use of pellet guns, but made it clear that it must be employed only in “rarest of rare cases”. The trouble is, “rarest of rare” in Constitutional terms is ambiguous.

Many Kashmiri men have endured routine harassment, been subjected to degrading interrogation, and been detained without trial for indefinite periods of time – Sumit Ganguly, Foreign Affairs

Such incidents as stray bullets killing civilians are bound to have chain reaction effects. The ramifications are perilous: families of victims would perceive the death of civilians as an attempt by the Government to suppress their voices of dissent. Perhaps, they too wish and dream of a Kashmir wherein the State is just another part of the country. Perhaps, they too wish to serve in Government offices. Perhaps, they too have academic ambitions as high as any other societal cream would. However, their aspirations are crushed by the reality of the gory present- and hence the cycle of depression, destruction and death continues.

The Pakistani Factor

Islamabad’s glee is evidently visible as the violence in mainstream Kashmir worsens. Pakistan has always viewed Kashmir as a land to be annexed. Right after partition, it had sent in Pashtun tribesmen from the North-Western Frontier Provinces (NWFP) to destabilise the State under the then Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh. The last public attempt at annexing Kashmir was made back in late 1998. The Inter-Services Intelligence Agency was covertly training insurgent groups to infiltrate the LOC and cross over to Indian-Occupied Kashmir. As reports followed, Pakistan denied any involvement, but subsequent confirmations from operating chiefs and substantial evidence found from operatives captured alive showed direct involvement of the Pakistani establishment. On international pressure from diplomatic circles, Pakistan finally had to withdraw in mid-1999, and with that, the Kargil War was declared over.

However, the taste of humiliation has not gone down well enough for Pakistan- and it is burning to take revenge on its border rival, India. The problem with Pakistan is that it maintains an observable reluctance in prosecuting terrorists operating from its own soil. Of course, in politics, the word “terrorist” has no meaning- Masood Azhar to Pakistan is a hero, while in India we castigate and lambaste the person as a perpetrator of consequential attacks. Pakistan seeks Kashmir for more reasons than religious demographics- the control of water resources is a powerful option that it would like to keep in its hands.

Such covert support in fanning extremist propaganda to the other side of the border seems to be working well for Pakistan. Kashmir, already boiling with the domestic turmoil due to perceived oppression from the Armed Forces, has received a catalyst in the form of separatist leaders who have no other agenda but to spread their own prejudiced ideas. Let us all take a moment and speak the language the common man speaks: If all they want is azadi, why on earth are they staying here? A close look at the resume of the sons and daughters of these reveals the narrow-mindedness of their goal. Their families stay in safe havens across the globe. Hypocrisy gets a brand new definition when these people incite incensed Kashmiris to take up the gun against the State.

Hands tied up

The Kashmir dispute is nothing new, it has existed since the dawn of independence. As such, drastic actions cannot be quickly contemplated and enforced due to a stringent set of guidelines that govern the functioning of the State machinery in Jammu and Kashmir.

Upon independence, princely states within the Dominion of India had to voice their assent to be integrated into the Indian Union. To be a part of the Indian Union, the precondition was that the Indian Constitution had to adopted in the State over the Constitution of the Princely State. If Kashmir was yet another princely state in India, why did the Government enact the Article 370, which provided the State with incredulous amounts of autonomy? The answer lies in the history textbooks: On ascension to the Indian Union, Jammu and Kashmir refused to enact the Constitution of India. Such an obstinate move left New Delhi manoeuvring new tactics to keep the State integrated. Dr BR Ambedkar, the principal drafter of the Indian Constitution, had outrightly rejected such an attempt to assign Jammu and Kashmir a special status. However, the task was taken up by Gopalaswami Ayyangar, on the insistence of Nehru. It was meant to be a temporal measure, an act which would help facilitate the smooth transfer of the State from an autocracy to a democracy under New Delhi’s control.

Article 370, coupled with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that has for long been enforced in the State, make a draconian duo. While Article 370 restricts the Parliament from altering demographical characteristics and redrawing of border lines, AFSPA permits the army to have a free run in the State. The army can search and arrest any person without issuing a warrant and can open fire without major consequences. This deadly combination of repressive acts have for long been the source of discontentment in the State circles. However, the political brass defers any reference made and/or call to abdicate AFSPA from Kashmir, since it is a delicate issue and the Army would best know how to deal with it (or so do they believe).

The Way Forward

After the heinous Pulwama attack recently on a convoy of the CRPF that left 40  of its jawans dead, the entire nation has united in mourn and grief for the aggrieved families. Contributions have poured in from every level of the society. But the problem is long from solved: While the Army has successfully eliminated the top brass of the JeM from the State, a lot many militants will expectedly spring up soon. How do we deal with the militancy problem?

At present, the ground reality looks grim. I doubt how far such a strategy of repression might work out. The government has been staunch on its stand to use brute force in case of any objection to using of any of the aforementioned methods of combating terrorism by cross-border elements.  The third world countries in the postmodern world cannot afford any such dramatic climax that leads to a standoff between two nuclear-capable countries. Before writing the article, I went through a treacherous number of videos posted by Kashmiri militants, in order to gauge the perspectives on both sides. The fact remains thus that the militants have increased, which is in keeping with the proportion of sentiments of avenging deaths of close ones. As an independent researcher, I have found facts contrary to what the national media airs: the police force has also crossed limits on a good number of occasions. Disappointment and public exasperation due to such instances of the police mercilessly beating up innocent civilians have also contributed largely to the spark in violence.

The government must, therefore, devise a different strategy. The primary step to advancement is to outlaw the Hurriyat. Till date, every government has tolerated the Hurriyat so as to show that India values the fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and speech. However, these nefarious agents are the ones who are involved in anti-India activities. In one of my previous articles on illusory nationalism, I had regretted the fact that the volley of sedition cases being slapped indiscriminately was hardly justifiable- if calling for pelting stones at the Army to stop the government is not sedition, I do not know what the government considers as sedition. The Kashmir Valley is reeling from a brutal onslaught of terrorism and suspension of democratic logistics. Curfews have curbed all freedoms, and every person of Kashmiri origin has been compelled to shame and suspicion. The State also has to ensure that educational institutions are not affected as a part of Valley shutdowns- because closing the gates of such institutions would only exacerbate the situation for the worse. A week before the article was written, schools had shut down due to fear of clashes between the police and the civilians. Such acts would create doubts in the minds of children who would question the intentions of the State and would feel insecure being a part of India. Thus, places of educational interest must be kept open under any circumstances, a fact that the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has repeatedly argued for. Also, although difficult, constant efforts must be made to provide reasonable employment opportunities- a Directive Principle of the State policy- to all citizens residing within its territorial lines. Employment would reduce the problem of militancy as it would cut off active support bases from being harnessed again for illicit purposes.

I keep my fingers crossed in the hope that one day, high-running tensions of today would return to the normalcy of yore. Some day, Kashmir would be trouble-free, a heaven for tourists, an asset for India. Some day, when Kashmiris would no longer be discriminated upon and Kashmiri arts such as carpets and blankets would flourish again. I keep my fingers crossed, to realise Amir Khusrau’s words again, someday:

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.

(If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this)

Digital India and Indian Railways

Representative image.

One of the flagship projects of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government has been a marked shift onto the route of digitalisation. The Indian Railways is the single-largest State-owned commercial entity in the entire world, and adaptability is pivotal to its survival in contemporary times. Over the past couple of years, a number of schemes have been initiated, all of which take a step forward to riding the Digital Wave. It is indeed commendable to witness the progress that the Indian Railways has made over the course of the yesteryears, mutating from issuing manual tickets to being a pioneer in the era of paperless tickets, from having the quintessential pantry cars in the long-haul trains to e-catering services seeing the light of the day, a plethora of such success stories have cropped up. An effective analysis of how Indian Railways has transfigured itself as per the changing demands of the passing years is surprisingly remarkable.

To fully comprehend the present, knowing the past is of vital significance. The stride to the journey towards modernisation of the Railways transpired in the early eighties, when in 1982, the railways set up a central organisation named COFOIS (Central Organisation for Freight Operations Information System), to look after the increasing volume of freight operations. Till 1985, all tickets were issued manually. This led to the process being cumbersome and time-consuming, leaving behind a probable scope for errors to creep in. Stand Alone Computerized Ticketing and Reservation System was then rolled out, albeit phase-wise, starting in 1985 as a pilot project in New Delhi and concluding in 1989 with computerized ticketing system being initiated in Secunderabad. Fast forward to today, and there be no more manual tickets in sight.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary arm of the Indian Railways, has under the present government taken on itself the primary responsibility of ensuring the process of digitalisation of the Railways- a far cry ahead from the days of mere computerization of reservation systems. Today, one can sit back in the comfort of his home and yet reserve tickets from the IRCTC portal. While travelling in train and en-route to some destination, a passenger may opt to purchase meals from the next station halt, via the process of e-catering that has been recently facilitated by the IRCTC. From its inception in 2002, the IRCTC has come a long way ahead: from twenty nine tickets booked in a day to thirteen lakh tickets booked in a single day. In 2016, tickets worth rupees 24,022 crores were purchased via the online platform. All these amenities have been made possible due to the untiring efforts of the Railway Board and the Ministry of Railways, which has continually strived to provide the best-in-class service to the passengers that, in all respects, remain unparalleled.

This razzmatazz around the keyword of digitalisation has proven useful on many counts. Industry major Google, in a bid to tap into the millions who commute by the Railways on a daily basis, had partnered with RailTel to provide free Wi-Fi services at a targeted four hundred stations. Such collaborations have given the Digital India campaign a solid momentum and have been a model example to further the Public-Private partnerships that are equitable for both parties involved. At present, this partnership has materialised brilliantly, with over a hundred stations being connected to the network. This joint effort has been christened the title “Project Nilgiri”. As per latest statistics made available by Google, over ten million Indians now have access to high-speed internet, with an average estimate of around fifteen thousand people connecting to the free networks for the first time every day. Internet penetration in India has thus been effectively catalysed by the Indian Railways, providing the platform for private ventures to provide internet access to millions of Indians.

One significant domain where the Railways have latched onto, is harnessing the power of social media. The Railways have developed an in-house analytics tool that processes complaints and suggestions on a real-time basis. The Indian Railways receives seven thousand tweets on a daily basis, out of which around a thousand are actionable. Through Facebook, it is said to receive around two hundred complaints per day. Former Railway Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu, had highlighted the fact that the response time to complaints of actionable nature had been reduced to thirty minutes. Such prompt responses to suggestions, and/or feedback by the passengers, have ensured a substantial and appreciable increase in passenger satisfaction. In a recent survey that was launched by the government to let the people rate the services rendered by the government, the results of quick response and follow-up on individual complaints was understandably evident: the Railways had secured the highest possible five-star rating from 74% (seventy-four percent) of the people who participated in the survey.

To build on the noble initiative of Digital India, the Railways have not left any chord untouched. Continuous innovations and development, fuelled by imagination and an acute understanding of the demands of the day, have propelled the Indian Railways into bringing out several applications and services that can be accessed by having a phone. At the forefront comes the Railway’s autonomous IT cell, popularly christened ‘CRIS’- Centre for Railway Information Services. This is the organisation that has made possible the launch of the widely popular PNR Status enquiry online, or the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) that can be used to track the live running status of a train. The launch of the UTS App- Unreserved Ticketing System has been a formidable success. On 10th of February, 2016, Shri Suresh Prabhu launched hand-held terminals for Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs), which relays information from a running train to the next immediate station. A facility for online booking of disposable linens on trains has also been established.

This expedition towards digitalisation has an inherent positive effect on the finances and economy of the Indian Railways. Digitalisation of essential services would reduce manual operational costs, and thus help to bring down the total expenses. Moreover, facilities such as online booking of tickets and related services have convenience surcharges attached to them that helps bring in additional revenue. Revenue earned through service charges doubled from Rs. 256.34 crore to Rs. 551.49 crore in fiscal 2016. This forms one-third of the entire revenue generated by the IRCTC, as per reports published by the Economic Times. Another matchless example of the unending benefits of digitalisation for the Railways was made clear during the e-auction of scrap materials. More than fifteen thousand wagons, twelve hundred coaches, and around a hundred locomotives are auctioned by the Railway every year. The mandatory e-auction helped to generate around Rs. 3000 crores in 2014-2015. In more ways than one, liberalisation of the Railway finances to accommodate online services will eventually help the Railway resuscitate from its financial woes at present.

This paradigm shift in adopting the digital and cashless as the preferred mode of transactions and services has improved transparency and accountability on the part of the Railways. This has, in turn, has had a chain effect on the common man’s image of the Railways. If passenger satisfaction is ensured, it would immediately convert into rising revenues and better service reviews, with fewer complaints and Grievance Redressal Workload.
As the largest commercial organisation in India, the Railways shoulder colossal social responsibilities. It is indeed heartening to learn that under the able guidance of the Minister of Railways, Shri Suresh Prabhu and the Railway Board, the gargantuan organisation is striving to its last breath to ensure the common man takes the jump towards digitalisation. The Railways is one of the pioneers of change; it wonderfully metamorphoses itself to acclimatise to the dynamic requirements. In this era of globalisation and technological advancement, the Digital Indian campaign has only reinforced the roots of this sesquicentennial organisation: making it better, secure, and ready for the leap towards greater heights of success in the upcoming years.

Illusory Nationalism and its woes

The year 2016 has almost neared its grave, with just a month left to start afresh another new year, bringing in new hopes and possibilities. Politics though would remain as taut as ever: the dynamics of change hardly affect its routine rhetoric. If there is anything that defined the sphere of Indian politics this year, it would undeniably and unquestionably be the contentious issue of patriotism and nationalism.

When ministers from India’s saffron brigade extort money from producers for casting Pakistani actors, it can be branded an act of pretentious nationalism. When innocent Muslims and people from oppressed classes become victims of merciless torture in the name of religion and Bharat Mata, that is deceptive nationalism. When politicians hail the Security Forces on the border for doing a commendable job but engage in nefarious activities behind the public eye, that is pseudo-nationalism. The question is, why should I (and the common man) spare a second for terms that sound intellectual from the very start? The answer is unambiguous and straightforward: the menace of playing with jingoistic sentiments have started producing evident cracks in the societal fabric, and this is serious enough a matter that we need to take up on an individual level.

When Modi was elected in the 2014 General Elections, a ripple of patriotic fervour ran across the length and breadth of the nation. Popularly termed the “Modi wave”, it had its own charisma. Modi was the perfect ambassador of nationalism, blending it with the diktats of the Rashtriya Syamsevak Sangh: strong, firm, intimidating and unrelenting. Right in the first year of his office, the PMO was challenged with the task of responding to inter-religion conflicts that spiralled exponentially everywhere in India. There even were incidents of violence against the Christians, when the holy altars were vandalised in churches, and the PM had to explicitly voice his cajoling message to the community to reassure them. In the wake of the Dadri lynching, Manohar Lal Khattar, a senior BJP member and the Haryana CM, remarked that Muslims would have to give up beef if they were to remain in India. Despite promises, not much has been achieved, and such happenings are becoming even more common by the day.

The government has found an effective weapon in the form of the archaic and demonic sedition law that still finds a mention in the Constitution of the world’s largest democracy. During the Raj, the sedition law was used to bring to book any person suspected of having links with revolutionary movements. Under Modi, section 124(A) of the Indian Penal Code breathes its life once again. It bluntly states:

Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government estab­lished by law in 103 [India], shall be punished with 104 [im­prisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with impris­onment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

Sedition charges are now being slapped at will without due consideration of the serious nature it beholds. People get labelled with a sedition charge for supporting a rival cricket team, inadvertently liking Facebook posts, and sketching cartoons. The very malice that our founding fathers tried to do away with has struck chords with the government. This provision has now metamorphosed into a tool of vendetta politics more than anything else. Sedition law is one such draconian law from the past that needs to be crushed into the garbage bin of legal archives.

The Supreme Court is considered the apex judicial body for more reasons than one. Over the course of years, it has earned the trust and acclaim of the general populace: some of its judgements have drastically changed India. From granting a clean chit to Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat communal riots to formalising the entry of NOTA (None of the Above) in electoral machines, decisions made by the Supreme Court have mostly been revered. With all due respect to the Supreme Court, I express my sincerest concerns over an order passed by the SC bench yesterday that is outright unjustifiable and appears irrational: a mandatory fifty-two seconds worth of national anthem needs to be played before a movie starts in the theatres. I wonder why all of the “anti-nationals” and alleged traitors from the JNU campus were not subject to such devices of instilling patriotism before? Although I have my highest admiration reserved for the Supreme Court, this is something I cannot comprehend, or rather believe, to be coming from the highest Court of the land. How much of chauvinistic passions can we embed in a person by making him mandatorily sing the National Anthem? Pardon me for this sardonic contrast, but I cannot resist myself from asking how odd it would be to sing the National Anthem moments before a film like Mastizaade or Grand Masti, cheap as they are, starts playing.

Why is Bharat Mata Ki Jai such an important catchphrase for all right-wing elements in the nation? It can be easily deduced that this phrase gives the fustian, pompous ‘nationalistic’ people yet another excuse to justify their otherwise illogical arguments and actions. People who believe themselves as crusaders of “Indian-ness” need to re-evaluate their beliefs. India is an independent entity of 1.2 billion people, diversified by languages, culture, and practices, but united by a common identity of citizenship. The success recipe to great democracies lies in participatory politics and not repressive ones, engaging the masses and walking towards a common goal. There will always be disagreements, but that is a part and parcel of administration work.

To all those people who believe themselves to be agents of propagation of Indian culture and traditionalism, I play your card on your face: We have our security forces manning the borders, defending India with their zeal and vigour. We do not need you to define nationalism for us.