Some people ask why I don’t write much about Australian politics but instead focus on issues elsewhere in the world, especially in India. To them, I would like to clarify that I write as an author, and not as a politician, and focus proactively on the preservation of global democracy. India being the largest democracy on the planet, therefore, remains within my key focus area because what happens in India has the potential to affect the entire democratic world. India’s wellness and the health of its democracy is vital for the entire democratic world.
I don’t see any major (political) issues here in Australia and, unlike some deeply polarising politicians operating in other parts of the world, Australian politicians have not yet crossed the thresholds of decency, personal moral conduct, and political ethics across the political left-right divide. Most importantly, they don’t indulge in slander or personal attacks on one another. Yes, they do debate hard on issues related to the country – domestic and foreign, environment and security — both inside and outside the parliament — and put their views across the nation. They abide by Australian Constitution and proactively protect and uphold the integrity, autonomy, and authority of all vital institutions of democracy. Thankfully, Australian voters are informed. Voting is held by the traditional paper ballot, leaving no window for rigging the elections, and the election results are declared by the end of the Voting Day.
A person or a nation is known by the company it keeps. It is important, therefore, Australia chooses its friends carefully and sticks to those who share our democratic values, and, importantly, don’t infect our politics, as Coronavirus, with their authoritarian political practices that has the potential to undermine our democratic and humanistic values. Capitalism, if not managed carefully, can encourage authoritarianism.
It is important that India — a young, 77-year-old democracy, with over 1.43 billion people — unreservedly embraces a contrasting cultural and ethnical diversity across the nation, as well as comply with a progressive global world order, to march ahead. India’s politics in the last decade has deeply polarised the nation along dangerous, religious, regional and ethnical lines, despite the nation facing serious challenges in terms of youth employment, environmental degradation and effects of Climate Change, a fragile economy affected by a high-level corruption, questionable border security, and last, but not the least, the very sustainability of its democracy. Alarmingly, none of India’s neighbours is happy with it, mainly because of its undesired interference in their domestic socio-politics and an overarching, condescending big-brother attitude.
Vital Parameters
Over the past decade, amongst many other tangible parameters, India has been alarmingly sliding on the scales of democracy, freedom of expression and Hunger Index, with a widening gap between the rich and the poor, leaving a precariously struggling middle-class vulnerable to potentially rolling down the socio-economic ladder. Audaciously, however, the current regime in India calls itself Mother of Democracy.
While more than 810 million poor Indians receive 5 kgs of grains free every month, as they can’t afford it, India added 32 new billionaires in the past couple of years, and now stands third in the world, with 200 billionaires, behind the US and China. India may have emerged as world’s fifth largest economy, thanks to its population and a phenomenal growth of its crony capitalist billionaires, but figures amongst the list of poor countries in the world, ranked around 137th, in terms of GDP per capita (around USD $2,700).
The developing news about the manipulation of India’s share market — by a nexus of capitalists and the regulators (and perhaps politicians) — may explain how things work in India.
Capitalism is necessary for a country but only to the extent it can meet the country’s socialist policies on the ground, to lift the poorer sections of the community out of poverty. Money does not grow on trees; it must be generated through meticulous economic policies. For instance, Australia GDP per capita (about USD $63,000) is around 23 times than India’s but Australia has a decent mix of capitalistic and socialistic approach to its socio-economy, which narrows down the rich-poor divide and increases the happiness quotient across the community. Australia’s vibrant social security system, coupled with a free medicare, support the struggling families in the lower socioeconomic strata as well as unemployed individuals, which is only possible when the working class keeps paying a decent income tax, and the capitalists consistently generate employment.
In India, for economic sustainability and social equilibrium between the wealthy and the poor, India’s capitalists must part away at least 50-percent of their annual profit every year and help their government in rolling out and meeting the costs of socialist policies to economically lift the masses. India must invest heavily in the education of all socio-economic sections (and genders) of the community and, most importantly, boost its manufacturing sector. For that, the capitalists must do the hard lifting. If not, things will increasingly look bleak on the horizon.
National Integrity
India must stay together harmoniously in order to progress together. For reaping political dividends, however, using the tested ‘divide and rule’ policy, Indian politicians have divided India. Except perhaps within the realms of geography and topography, any division of India – religious or regional, is self-defeating. For instance, northern part of India comprises several states: UP, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Looking closely, UP and Bihar may look similar, but are not same in terms of their culture and history. Similar is the case with Haryana and Punjab. Interestingly, not much is common between Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, except their common political history since 1846. So, which state represents India? The answer is: ‘All states represent.’ Similar is the case with the southern states of India. In a nutshell, therefore, being a federal structure, each state of India represents India equally in terms of the Indian culture — language, traditions, food and spiritually – and, therefore, no state must claim superiority over the other, howsoever, large, populated or economically strong it may be.
India’s federal structure must be preserved to save the integrity of the country. India’s greatness lies in its cultural diversity, which must be acknowledged and respected. India can be likened to a beautiful bouquet of flowers of varied sizes, colours and shades and fragrances, which must be preserved.
Subject to the veracity of numerous reports, if this Indian government imposes a presidential rule in the proud and illustrious State of West Bengal, to dismiss a legitimate and a popular state government, for weird political reasons, or, in the extreme case, demotes its statehood to Union Territory, just as it did previously to the erstwhile proud State of Jammu and Kashmir, it may initiate a state of deep unrest in the country, with credible fears for the integrity of India’s constitutional federal structure. Also, the two states in the ruling coalition (Bihar and Andra Pradesh) will be seen as complicit in such an unwise act, acting against the interests of a fellow state. Hope such reports are wrong and nothing untoward happens to West Bengal. On the contrary, one must hope Jammu and Kashmir receives its statehood back sooner than later, ideally before the next state elections, to render any credibility to the elections.
The current regime is seen to be mistreating the gullible voters as if they were nothing more than primates who could be manipulated by conniving tricks, some ingenious and some time-tested. After this regime passes into history books, the books of political science and constitutional law will be review laboriously by experts around the world and rewritten so that democracy is not highjacked anywhere on the planet by a few individuals, and subverted bit by bit, setting an otherwise progressive community on a path of irreparable cultural regression.
A Cultural Regression
Following government’s bizarre advisory/directive to graduating medical students to wear the traditional Indian outfits, instead of the ceremonial regalia, should one expect Indian doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, soldiers, cops, firefighters, pilots, drivers, technicians, mechanics and all other workers being ordered to wear the traditional Indian ‘dhoti’ at work? How about the Indian cricketers (and other athletes), should they also wear the traditional ‘dhoti’ on the field?
A badmouthing actress-turned politician in India has emerged as an ugly blot on India’s political Atlas and a major embarrassment for the ruling party. It will be interesting to see how long her party will tolerate her immature, uncouth, shameless, uncivilised, and slandering statements. It is yet to be seen if the party annuls her membership before she becomes a political liability for it. If not, can she be taken to represent the actual character of the party?
Essence of India
India’s crony capitalism is not compatible with its traditional spirituality and the post-1947 socialistic foundations. The essence of India is defined by its spirituality, a resilient free spirit, and pursuit of knowledge, as displayed by Valmiki, Tulsi, Buddha, Ashoka, Adi Sankara, Ramanajum, Kabir, Rahim, Guru Nanak, Guru Teg Bahadur, Guru Gobind Rai, Mirabhai, Shivaji, Laxmibhai, Ghalib, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, genius mathematician Ramanujam, Tagore, Subash Chander Bose, Jagdish Chander Bose, Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Dr Radhakrishnan, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Vikram Sarabhai. Homi Jahangir Bhabha, Dyan Chand, Chandrashekhar, Sunil Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Lala and Mohinder Amarnath, Kapil Dev, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr Abdul Kalam, and now Rahul Gandhi. The list is too long to be included in this essay, so apologies to all those who are not included herein.
They all dared to walk their talk, fearlessly, for the benefit of mankind.
Elections in Jammu & Kashmir
Those who feel elated about the upcoming elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (herein called the ‘UT’) – an erstwhile proud state that also included Ladakh, which was separated from it 5 years ago in extremely bizarre and controversial circumstances, must not count their chicken before they are hatched.
It is too early to take the Indian government’s recent announcement seriously (about the elections in the UT), as there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, and anything can happen between now and then. One must understand and acknowledge the elections don’t truly fit within the agenda of the ruling party in the Centre.
Several pertinent questions arise:
What is the ruling party’s real intent and objectives behind the elections, which is scheduled to be held, if at all, after a gap of nearly one decade? Without reinstating the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, what is the validity of the elections? How and to what extent will the political power in the UT be required to be shared with the Centre? Will the elected Chief Minister function merely as a puppet, under the Centre’s direct control? Most importantly, will the people of Kashmir accept an ethnic (Hindu) person from Jammu as their Chief Minister, as desired by the ruling party? Conversely, will the people of Jammu accept an ethnic (Muslim) Kashmiri as their Chief Minister? Last, but not least, will (or not) the election be able to restore the pride and dignity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and bring a holistic wellness to the region? To conclude, the question arises: ‘What are the main aim and intent of the elections?’
Indian government’s sincerity and real intent will be tested soon, either before or after the elections. If the elections are held, as promised and during the scheduled period, the biggest question is how long will the elected UT government last, especially if it does not slavishly follow the diktats of New Delhi?
Role of the RSS
The RSS, which is the mother organisation of the ruling party, plays a crucial role in India’s politics. Assuming it really cares about India, it must transcend the political divide and sincerely introspect, without bias or discrimination, and then decide which current politicians and political parties are truly sincere to the people of India – all people – and committed to serve India’s core interests, and not just rule like megalomaniacs and sell the nation to crony capitalists. That is the only way the RSS will be able to truly serve the nation — by supporting genuine and honest leaders who have the intent and the capability to serve the nation.
Double Standards
Ukraine bleeds and the world watches insensitively — some preach ‘peace’ in the open but add fuel to the fire behind the curtain. It seems Ukraine has been betrayed. The daily death toll in Ukraine has risen alarmingly after Indian prime minister’s recent visit to Moscow and Kyiv. Other than ‘personal hugs’ and ‘photo opportunities for media’, what were these visits all about? Preaching ‘peace’ to Kyiv while buying Russian oil (only to help crony capitalists in India) is akin to applying ‘salt’ to Ukraine’s injuries.
That raises ugly questions about India poor foreign affairs, particularly, after India’s recent foreign affairs’ debacles in Bangladesh and Maldives, and an exorbitant cost associated with frequent ‘international visits’ of the Indian leadership.
Financial Times’ recent explosive report on a covert trade ‘secret’ affair between Russia and India — in defiance of the US sanctions and UN’s non-proliferation guidelines — must not come as a surprise to anyone. The West has known it all long. If not for its material interests in India, the West sees the ‘current’ India more in the Russia-China lobby (and a similar mould), given the current Indian leadership’s ‘authoritarian’ working style and an ‘insatiable’ political aspiration, which fail to fool the champions of democracy the world over. A news report in The Guardian, dated 2 April 2022, ‘Russia and India will find ways to trade despite sanctions, says Lavrov,’ had quoted the Russian Foreign Minister, Lavrov, predicting ‘Moscow and Delhi would find ways to circumvent “illegal” western sanctions and continue to trade’. What next? Nothing much is going to change, except that the current Indian leadership’s dual standards — verbally ‘preach’ peace but covertly ‘assist’ war’ – are exposed; however, it is not yet clear how the future world reacts!
Can a relatively poor country — ranking around 137th in terms of GDP per capita in the world — afford frequent taxpayer-funded overseas travels of its leader, when the country is gripped with several serious issues, including a series of jaw-dropping scams driven by a high-level corruption; embarrassing collapse of new infrastructure (bridges, airport terminals, statues); a burning Manipur; and a stateless Jammu and Kashmir?
Questions arise. On his overseas trips, what does the Indian leader achieve for his country, and its 1.4 billion people, other than personal hugs, photo opportunities for social media, and business deals for his capitalist friends? Does a common Indian gain anything other than meeting the costs of monarchical luxuries availed by their prime minister? In his defence, however, he does exactly what a good salesman does — travels often and keeps brokering lucrative business deals – for his corporate partners who have installed him on the seat of power in the first place. He is morally obliged to serve them. For their sake, he even hugs individuals of ‘other’ religions (unimaginable in his own country) and gleefully visits their places of worship. In a nutshell, he is a perfect capitalist, one who can go to any length and do anything imaginable, or even unimaginable, to nurture his capitalist friends and, in return, remain in power.
Lessons from Iran
After compromising millions of innocent lives in the Middle East, particularly those of Palestinians in the Gaza strip and now in the West Bank, the Islamic Republic of Iran (‘Iran’) is exposed as a spent force and a bluffer.
What can one expect from an oppressive regime that could not even protect its own president? This is a regime that has used religion as its weapon to subvert the present and the future of Iran itself, in all respects — economically, wellness and defence.
Ask any one of those millions of peaceful and progressive Iranians who have escaped from their country, which was not long ago the most powerful nation in Asia, and settled in western countries, and they will tell you how and to what extent this regime actively suppresses and oppresses a predominant section of population in Iran. Notably, however, these Iranians blame the West for replacing a progressive Shah Pahlavi with a regressive Ayatollah Khomeini 45 years ago.
Iran is a perfect example of how a regime can steal an intelligent and powerful country from people, by just using religious sentiments. India must watch out!
Bill K Koul [Perth, Western Australia, Australia (8 September 2024)]
© Bill K Koul