“Unka Sankalp, Vipareet Bharat”
“Sab ka Naash, Sab ka Vinaash”
By Aravind Bhatikar
EVENTS that we may think are impossible remain so until they become possible. The question frequently asked on social media nowadays is whether the Modi-Shah duo will end up the Sheikh Hasina way?
While there are many similarities between the situations in Bangladesh and in India, the dissimilarities are such that the Modi-Shah duo may not be ousted and forced to flee the country, unlike in the case of Sheikh Hasina.
The students movement in Bangladesh which originally started as a protest against the blatant misuse of the quota system for government jobs, eventually turned into a rebellion against Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League. The job reservations for the Childrens/grandchildrens of Freedom Fighters was allegedly widely misused by Sheikh Hasina’s government in favor of members of the ruling Awami League party.
By the time the Supreme Court of Bangladesh gave a ruling upholding the demands of the student community, it was too late and consequent violence became so widespread that the Army had to advise Sheikh Hasina to leave the country to save her life. Incidentally, the interim government jointly installed by the army and civil Society includes two Hindu leaders who give a loud and clear message that the anti-Hasina rebellion is purely secular.
MODI-SHAH POLICIES
UNEMPLOYMENT in India too is now the highest ever in the last 45 years. Worse still, Modi-Shah’s pro-corporate policies have aggravated the unemployment problem and increased inequality to unprecedented levels. Added to this is the failure of the National Testing Agency to prevent paper leakages in the NEET and NET examinations, fanning greater anger and frustration among the educated youth in the country.
There have been frequent student protests in various states against the failure of the BJP government to address the unemployment problem. The ill-advised plans of the Modi-Shah duo of “changing” the Indian Constitution by winning more than 400 seats in Lok Sabha was unwittingly revealed by some BJP candidates while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition parties effectively used the Constitution issue to their advantage and claim to have prevented the Modi-Shah duo from doing away with the reservation system, an essential feature of the Constitution drafted by the committee under the chairmanship of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, and adopted by the Constituent Assembly on Novbember 26, 1949 and implemented from January 26, 1950.
While the misuse of quota policy by Sheikh Hasina triggered her ouster and escape from Bangladesh, the sabotage by the Opposition parties in India of BJP’s alleged plans to abolish reservations by “changing” the Constitution, has served as an escape valve for the frustration and anger of Indian voters, unwittingly preventing the Modi-Shah ouster.
The wrath of Indian voters across the country have found an escape valve in the Lok Sabha election and helped the Modi-Shah duo to hold on to power temporarily with crutches provided by Telugu Desam Party of Andhra Pradesh and Janata Dal United of Bihar. But the writing on the wall is there for all to see.
While there was no ostensible misuse of the reservation system in India by the BJP government, the ubiquitous appointment of individuals allegedly with RSS background in government and semi-government institutions all over the country, has caused widespread resentment in Indian academia.
Sheikh Hasina labelled agitating students in her country as “Razakars.” That added fuel to the raging fires of rebellion. The Modi-Shah duo called the Indian farmers “terrorists.”
WIDESPREAD ATROCITIES
SHEIKH Hasina’s government had reportedly committed widespread atrocities against student leaders. In India Opposition politicians are in jail without trail courtesy government agencies, ostensibly without any proof of illegal doings. For the first time in India, two chief ministers (sitting chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren) have been jailed, with false and unproven cases filed against them.
The Modi-Shah duo has earned a reprieve which may not last long. It is up to WE, THE PEOPLE, to ensure that India doesn’t choose the Bangladesh option and ensure an orderly transition of power to a democratic secular government sooner than later.
