July Ank 2017 Curve

Editorial :- Modi Government’s Anti-People Face Exposed in Three Years Mahi Pal Singh Narendra Modi led National Democratic Yuva Vahini, the outfit erected by the now Chief Alliance (NDA) government completed its three Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath, named Jitendra years in power in May 2017. Out of the total Sharma, Pankaj Pathak and Avinash alias Anshu tenure of five years for which the Lok Sabha barge into the house of a 28 year old woman in was elected and handed over Prime-ministership Bareilly and gang rape her and fearlessly assault to Mr. Modi, three years is a long enough period the sub-inspector Mayank Arora of Subhash to judge in which direction the government is Nagar police station when called for heading and taking the country along with it. investigation later. Pehlu Khan and five others were brutally thrashed in Rajasthan when they It was clear even at the time of his assuming were returning to their homes in Haryana along office as the Prime Minister of the country in with some cows which they wanted to keep for 2014 that, looking back at his background as milk for their families and also for sale which the RSS pracharak and a strong votary of the was their sole source of income. Pehlu Khan Hindutva, he would pursue the agenda of turning later died of fatal injuries. the country into a Hindu Rashtra, dividing the country on communal lines, pushing the Minorities have been targeted politically minorities further onto the margins; making life through communal riots initiated at the instance even more hellish for the Scheduled Castes and of the leaders of the ruling BJP and Scheduled Tribes by snatching means of their economically through moves like ban on sale of livelihoods; depriving the youths of whatever animals in the name of saving them from being employment they possessed; making survival for butchered. Muslims and Dalits have been the farmers so difficult that they would be forced attacked and killed mercilessly in all BJP ruled to commit suicides, and following blatantly pro states by gangs of goons belonging to the capitalist policies making the lives of the toiling Hindutva folds masquerading as (illegal) ‘Gau masses even more miserable than before. Rakshaks’ calling the victims ‘beef eaters’. The experience of the last three years has Recently 16 year old Junaid Khan was killed in proved all our worst apprehensions come true. Ballabhgarh in Haryana. Similar incidents of All the claims of development and ‘sabka saath, lynching have taken place in Alwar in Rajasthan, sabka vikas’ have proved to be mere poll slogans Jharkhand and Dadri in UP which have rattled like the ‘election jumla’ of putting Rs. 15 lakhs the conscience even of Hindus. In most of such of the (to be) recovered black money into every attacks, the police have either remained mute individual’s bank account. Most of the cadres spectators or booked and arrested the victims of the Hindutva fold have become so fearless and let the hooligans go scot-free. This has of the law and order machinery that they commit obviously happened in all cases with the tacit all kinds of illegal acts without the fear of being support of the ruling dispensation. It is more than caught. Someone is found dealing in narcotics, clear, and the message is loud and clear to its another one running a prostitution racket while cadres that they can beat up and lynch people some others hurl abuses and threaten even a from the minority community at will to show to lady IPS officer. Three activists of the Hindu them that they are not equal citizens of this THE RADICAL HUMANIST 3 otherwise known as a secular country, because hunger because whatever he has produced after the Ministry of Home Affairs has decided not a hard toil and a lot of loan money is not being even to invite a report on such incidents from sold for a gainful price. Out of desperation he is the state governments of Rajasthan and committing suicide and such incidents are being Chhatisgarh, two of the states ruled by the BJP. reported on everyday basis. Some states have And of course there is no question of asking for declared a loan waiver scheme of upto 50,000 such a report from the UP government led by or one and a half lakh Rupees after a lot of an RSS stalwart who himself has been making pressure from the farmers but even that is hardly the most horrible hate-speeches against the providing any relief. A very senior Union minority community. Minister, Venkaiah Naidu, made a condemnable The people bore the extreme hardships of remark that seeking loan waiver has become a cash crunch resulting from the unplanned and fashion now, adding it is not the final solution misconceived demonetisation move, undertaken and should be considered in extreme situations. by Mr. Modi, with fortitude without complaining Even today, the 23rd of June, PTI has reported: against hunger, illness, death and loss of ‘’Govt apathy compels more farmers to end life. employment in the hope that ‘acche din’ (good While three farmers committed suicide in MP, times) as promised by the Prime Minister would taking the toll to 20 in a fortnight, another farmer come, but even after seven months of the took his life in Kerala. 12 Thane cops hurt in demonetisation on 8th November, 2016, their farmers’ protest.’’ Are they not extreme condition and the condition of the country has situations? It is true that loan waiver is not the only deteriorated. No new jobs have been final solution. The final solution is the promised created and the ones they had have, on the MSP as per Swaminathan Committee report. contrary, been snatched. Their purchasing Why does he not advise his own government to power is down and in the absence of increased implement its own promise on the MSP? He demand, production is also down which is and his government do not see anything wrong reflected in the country’s GDP growth for the in it when lakhs and lakhs of crores of tax last quarter of 2016-2017 financial year which waivers are provided to the big industrialists like is officially pegged at 6.1%, a huge fall from the Adanis and the Ambanis and the likes of the 7.8% claimed for the previous year. No black Vijay Mallya, Subrat Roy Sahara and scores of money has been recovered; only the economy them who contrive to take loans from banks for has suffered heavily. The hopes of ‘acche din’, their own luxuries without the intention of which the aam aadmi had been made to peg on returning that loan to the banks but when it the demonetisation exercise by the Prime comes to waiving off the loans of farmers whose Minister, have been belied. crops get destroyed or when their produce does not fetch even their investment, these politicians The farmers had been promised a gainful develop excruciating belly ache. Minimum Support Price (MSP) of at least 1.5 times of their total production cost for their On the front of human rights the record of produce also feel cheated. Farmers of one state the BJP led government is worse than that of after another – beginning with the Tamil Nadu the Congress. Nobody is safe on the roads. You farmers to the Maharashtra and then the remember the human shield controversy, in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been which Farooq Dar, an innocent and helpless forced to resort to agitation because the bread Kashmiri, was tied to the bonnet of a jeep by an producer and his family everywhere is dying of army Major, showing utter disregard and 4 July 2017 disrespect to the dignity of human person and of their lands, forests and livelihoods, you can the army general and the Home Minister praised be labeled a Maoist or anti-national and either the Major for the act instead of denouncing it jailed or killed in a fake encounter. You can even and taking action against him for going beyond be arrested on the charge of sedition, which his duties and in contravention of the Constitution invites imprisonment for life, if you happen to of India. Such acts only result in further be a fan of a foreign cricket team, or even an alienating the youth of Kashmir where the appreciator of good game irrespective of which situation is worse than what it used to be a few country the player belongs to and celebrate the years ago. Worse cases of human rights violation victory of that team over the Indian team, never get reported because either the media has particularly if that team happens to be the cricket no reach there or does not care. In fact, it has team of Pakistan, and this will be done not by a voluntarily surrendered its freedom on the feet vigilante group but by the police which is directly of Modi and the RSS, and those who have not under the government. You can be fired at and done so have to face the ire of the rulers at the killed if you are a farmer and protesting for hands of the government agencies like the CBI, gainful MSP or the emergent measure of a loan the ED and the Income Tax department etc. as waiver as happened recently in Madhya happened in the case of promoters of the NDTV. Pradesh, the state ruled by the BJP. The message from the government is loud and The BJP forgets that in West Bengal the three clear – either you surrender and start singing decades old rule of the Left Front government songs in our praise or get ready to be butchered was thrown into the dustbin by the people there – something not different from what happened when their own cadres fought against the during the emergency rule imposed by the then farmers, who were merely protesting against Prime Minister, Mrs.

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