Things to expect from the Government in the next 5 years

             

The 2019 Indian elections was historic and also came out as a big surprise. Inspite of what the media pundits predicted, using religion, caste and area, that it would be a disintegrated mandate, even some predicted a hung-Parliament; but, the people thought of giving Mr. Modi and the BJP another chance, and thus, BJP won with a thumping 300+ seats in Lok Sabha. Also, it's very less probable that a similar verdict will be decided in 2024; so the next 5 years are going to be very important for the country. So, let's have a look at what better can be expected from the NDA or BJP Govt. to be precise, in the next 5 years.

A transparent Govt.

Although a transparent Govt. was promised to us in the 2014 general elections, it was not delivered to us. The Government was even more opaque than the previous governments, with important datas being hidden from the public. For instance, the data of farmer suicides has not been released since 2016; the figures of employment have been hidden. When the figures of employment was recently leaked by a website from the NSC(National Statistical Commission), it showed terrifying results: the employment is at an all time low, in the last 40 years. But then, ironically, the Govt. rejected the data from its own source.
Earlier, in January, this year, two prominent members of the NSC, resigned, due to the Govt.'s denial to release employment figures. Even other crucial datas were hidden in the last 5 years. When, even the media is bound on praising the Govt., instead of questioning them; the people need to be alert, and don't believe in WhatsApp forwards, or news from unknown sources. The people should demand that proper data on all things should be released, and this Govt. should be as transparent as possible, because they had been elected on promise that they would deliver a corruption-free Govt.; but, when one doesn't have any data, it's really hard to tell whether scams and corruptions are taking place, or if it is 'clean', as is said by the ministers and the supporters.

A strong media

One thing which has completely gone down since last few years, is the media.India dropped down from 138 to 140 in the World Press Freedom Index. Indian media was never the best, but before few years, it was in a good state. Remember that epic Arnab Goswami debate with Rahul Gandhi, which was a final nail in the coffin, for the Congress, during the 2014 elections? Also the big scams that took place during the UPA-2 were exposed and critically commented upon by every media houses. And that time, media personalities were respected a lot, unlike now. It has become very common now-a-days to use cuss words and other disgusting terms to address journalists, especially who question the Government. Bootlicker, Anti-national, Communist, leftist, are some of the most used terms used to address some of the most dynamic media personalities. Not only common people, but even some journalists refer to others by these names. Indian media is in complete ruin at this time. Maximum journalists keep on praising Mr. Modi especially, without any context or reason. Also, in the last 3-4 years, Indian media houses have gone to much lower levels to gain TRPs. No media house seems either to care or to protest, when Mr. Modi doesn't hold a press conference; some even find it the best, telling that he's not liable to answer any questions. And also, they feel 'honoured' to hold an one on one interview with Mr. Modi, where he is asked less important and simple questions, and is subjected to praises by the interviewers. The 'non-political' interview was broadcasted in almost all Media channels, with constant praises for the Prime Minister. The Prime Time debates have become worse, with debates on silly topics, ranging from pseudo-nationalism to even 'Should Nathuram Godse be declared as a patriot?' Prominent public figures have been called names in these debates, without any objections from the anchor or the host. Important topics are sidelined and dominated by less important stuffs. Sometimes even fake news are being spread by the media houses.

In the next 5 years, the media is the first thing that needs to distance itself from this autocracy. The journalists should pressurize the PM to hold a press conference at least once a month, and answer all their questions, instead of themselves asking questions to the Govt. Secondly, they shouldn't refer to politicians as someone  who are above them, but consider them as their equals; they also shouldn't let themselves be termed as Bhakts, liberals, boot-lickers and such cuss words. They should strike back harder, so that no one, not even politicians, would dare to speak any words against them. Else, journalism as a profession will lose its dignity, with journalists being seen either as 'bhakts' or boot-lickers.

Independent institutions and organizations:

Another thing which saw severe damage in the last 5 years were the independence of major organizations and institutions. Major organizations like the CBI, the Supreme Court of India, and even the ECI, came under question for their actions in the past few years. The midnight CBI 'drama', where the additional director Alok Verma, was stripped off his power, and the second-in-command, Rakesh Asthana, was also suspended. Before this incident, there were charges of corruption against Rakesh Asthana. And, Rakesh Asthana is known to be close to the Prime Minister and Amit Shah, and given the way intrusion is being made into private organizations, let's not get to how Asthana got away almost cleanly, and why a midnight panel was needed to strip the director of his power. This clearly raised a question in the minds of the citizens, as to how much can the CBI be trusted now? There's really something fishy going on there.

In a surprising and sudden press conference, on 18th January,2018, the top judges of the Supreme Court gave the statement that, 'Democracy was at stake", and until some steps are taken to preserve the sanctity of the topmost court, 'Democracy would not survive.' They also said that, from the past few months the institution didn't function as it should do, and also that 'many things have happened' in the recent past. This made the people more confused, as they thought whether they could trust the highest court in the country or not.

Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code is the Sedition Law, which was incorporated into the IPC in 1870, as the authorities feared the possibility of an uprising against them. The law is much outdated now and needs to be revised.(the Sedition Law needs a whole article) The previous NDA Government seemed to be a big fan of this law, as it used it extensively. The most famous case is of the JNU, where some students were arrested for allegedly raising 'anti-national' slogans. It has become common since then; the law is used for suspending and silencing students who criticize the Government policies, removing demuring teachers from their posts, and replacing the top posts with 'friendly people', those who will sing praises of the Government, and not allow any criticism of any Government acts. Universities are made to educate children, to intrigue them to ask questions, and not to silence them. So, the students should hold protests, if things like these occur in their institutions, and they should  also go out and question the Government policies, if they feel it's not right, without any fear.

As to the CBI, and the Supreme Court, detailed investigation is needed to be done, and there should be less Government hindrance at least there. Autonomous should prevail in these institutions, and also in the colleges and universities. That way, democracy will be in continuous check, and people will be free to express their thoughts freely.

Pseudo-nationalism:
"Desh khatre mein hai", is what we have been made to believe in the last 5 years. There's a common narrative in the country now, or if I quote Tejashwi Surya, "If you are anti-Modi, you are anti-Indian." Maybe the most important issue of 2019 was the issue of national security. The BJP promised to provide proper security, and, even the PM asked for votes, by using the CRPF soldiers who were matyred in Pulwama attacks, while the ECI was sleeping. Nationalism has even found its way in movies too. Haven't got a good storyline? Your last movies were flop? Don't you worry; even if you love other countries, and plan to settle there after retirement, people will love you, if you make a movie on nationalism; it will be superhit, the patriotic songs of the movie will be played in Republic and Independence day, even the PM will quote lines from the movie. And you will also be branded as an anti-national if you don't like the movie.
Now patriotism means the art of showing off. The more you show off, your 'love for the nation', the more patriot you are. Like let's say there's a rally of Swachh Bharat; lots of politicians participated in it, clicked pictures with brooms, and while 'sweeping' the area; but after the rally is over, the whole place would be filled with dump, and no one seems to care about those garbages. Patriotism also means the art of hating and trolling Pakistan,  and in some cases, even the minorities, for no reasons at all. If you question extreme actions of so-called Hindutva forces, you will be branded as an anti-national.

If you are contesting the election on factor of national security, you ought to answer the questions regarding the security of the military. How did a van filled with RDX enter a highly sensitive area, that too in the middle of the day, also when security convoys were passing through that area? It's obviously a big matter of concern. But the Govt. didn't answer these questions, and what it did instead was, diverted the entire issue to the hatred of Pakistan, and the issue of nationalism, because that's the easiest way to dodge people's questions, as well as create a good vote bank. Even when some journalists tried questioning the ministers, they diverted the question to nationalism, commenting that how someone can question the  'national' military? What we need to understand is that the people were not questioning the national military, but the safety of the national security. From when has asking questions on security become anti-national? If someone really has even a bit of nationalism left inside him, the first concern that will come to his mind is not that of abusing Pakistan and its people online, but questioning how such a big security breach occured; if such things can happen in highly sensitive areas, with tight security checks, think of what can happen in normal areas.

Terrorism was another key factor for this election, especially after the Pulwama attacks. The PM promised to fight against terrorism; Yogi Adityanath even went forward and branded the Indian Army, as "Modiji ki Sena", which maybe meant that either Modi was India or the army acted according to Modi's will. On the other hand, the main accused in the Malegaon blast case, Shadvi Pragya Thakur was made the candidate for BJP from Bhopal. And astonishingly she won the election; even after winning, she and her supporters shouted "Nathuram Godse zindabad" in front of the counting booth. I won't be surprised to find the statues of Nathuram Godse in the next few years at different places. Making Pragya the candidate for election shows another aspect of pseudo-nationalism; how can you fight terrorism, with terror accused making laws in the Parliament?
Patriotism is not something you do for publicity, but what you do in your private life. Don't get carried away by the hype of pseudo-nationalism, be a true nationalism, and do things that truly matters for the safety of the country. If things go the way they are going on, then indeed the country is in danger.

Trolls:

One of the rare things that saw a massive rise since 2014, are the trolls undoubtedly. Try writing something on even your WhatsApp status criticizing some actions of the Government, and wait for trolls to attack you. You will be called as a part of the 'Tukde-Tukde gang' , a 'Commie' and what not. And all these terms have a controversial back story, which would take a whole article if one goes on to write. So yeah, starting from WhatsApp status to even YouTube comments, trolls are everywhere, cussing and abusing persons from every sphere. The most favourite persons of the trolls are the journalists who question the Govt. over even the meargest of issues. You must be aware of terms like liberals, pseudo-intellectuals, boot-licker, Congress-agent, Rubbish Kumar, and the recent addition, "Khan Market Gang".

I'm sure most of you have seen the movie 'Fan', starring Shahrukh Khan, which was about an over-obsessive fan, and what happens when you consider an ordinary human as a God. Trolls are like Gaurav Chanda now; maybe, they will realize the reality later. Trolls are also those persons who think that the country will be saved only if every person believes their 'God' blindly. Actually there are two types of trolls, the first ones being the people described above. The second type of trolls, are those, who gave very less knowledge, political or whatsoever, but still, they try and force their views on every situation. Basically, the second type of trolls are the ones who like to follow the popular narrative. They even don't try and find out the reality of any matter before sharing things or giving their views on anything. They too use the common troll words, but without knowing the meaning of most of those terms.

So, the question for someone criticizing the Govt. or not in favour of the Govt. are these: Should they continue to do what they are doing, or should they give in to trolls and change their views? If they shouldn't give in to trolls, what should they do? In 2019, trolls are in abundance everywhere; I'm also sure that some trolls will abuse me, after reading this article. So, actually what can be done to put a stop to this? Firstly, don't just ignore the trolls, respond them back, with logic. Sometimes, when faced with reality, some trolls realize things and give up their blind views. If this doesn't work, then as a last resort, report and block the person, whoever it may be. The more you ignore the trolls, the more power they derive and the more they think that try dominate over you.

Sadly, our PM is silent when it comes to trolls; ironically, he even follows some trolls on Twitter. Major BJP and Congress leaders are seen retweeting some trolls' memes and other stuffs. If you see someone doing so, just unfollow the leader, and if possible report the leader too. Thus, he/she will realize where he/she had flawed and try and rectify it next time. And if possible, boycott the leader's events too. That's the only way left to deal with these. The PM and the major leaders need to speak up on the trolls, and how harmful they are for the country, and they should take some steps to stop these; until, they do so, we should play our role in being a true patriot.

On the other hand, we also don't need 'movements' like "Chowkidar chor hai"; it is a very disgusting tactic, which spoils the sanctity of the Indian democracy as well as degrades its image before the world. This time the Opposition should raise proper questions instead of such stupid movements.
Censorship in India is an ancient job. Due to our great Indian culture (no pun intended), we need to see only those things which suit our faith. Now-a-days, a new type of censorship has rose its ugly head: censorship of noise. The censorship of noise is more harmful than the censorship of silence, as, here, you will be silenced and laughed upon, when you try and put forward your views. For India to become a great country, we need to eliminate this thing first, by putting reason in their minds. And, it's not the most impossible of tasks to achieve. There is a considerable difference between criticism and trolling. What, particularly the Youths of India enjoy is trolling, not criticism. They should learn the difference between both and act so.

I would like to conclude this, by quoting Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
"सत्ता का खेल तो चलेगा, सरकार आएगी..जायेगी…पार्टिया बनेगी..बिगड़ेगी… मगर ये देश रहना चाहिए, इस देश का लोकतंत्र अमर रहना चाहिए।"

In Democracy, winning or losing elections, parties will come and go. But our nation must remain united, our democracy must remain eternal. We should promise that we will not let our country to fall into evil hands; come let's make India great again.