While the supporters of the Prime Minister are rejoicing, 2 weeks after the results were declared, there has been a nearly deathly silence from the opposition. Yes, you do hear some whining from the opposition, mainly from the WB chief minister, but other than that, nothing is being said nor heard! Licking their wounds? Possibly. I hate to say this but, something is brewing in their collective mind, given a majority of them will not be seen in the Lok Sabha. Probable reason maybe a huddle to decide who, among the elected, the Leader of The Opposition would be. I’m not going to attempt to read their minds; I don’t think they know what they need to do!
While that discussion is happening, the promises (tall ones?) made by the winning candidates, both from the BJP and the opposition, are still to be fulfilled. The winning party has made some promises that people, both in India and outside, hope will be completed. Unlike other times, this time the expectations are that these will be at the top of the agenda from Day One. There are some that the people, both within India and outside, expect, irrespective of whether or not these were said during poll time campaigning! One of the primary tasks, if you will, is to either remove the word secular from our constitution or remove any articles that have to do with appeasement! Some of the others are the building of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the removal of the articles 370 & 35a. Are these really important? After all, India has lived through 70+ years of post-independence with these articles, as well as without a temple! Nothing has happened since then so where’s the hurry?
The word secular, not used that often worldwide, implies the country treats ALL its people equally, regardless of their religious leaning! India, a majority of which is Hindu, has forever been secular, even before it gained “independence” from the British!! This is a country that has, forever, believed in “VasudaIva Kutumbakam”, and yet the constitution needed this word! So why underline it in the constitution? To then go about appeasing everybody, and their grandmother, except the Hindu is to go directly against the basic concepts of secularism!! India has to decide whether the country is secular and wants to continue with the horrific reservation policy!
370 and 35a have been in place since before I was born! That’s a long time ago! The basic tenet was to ensure that ONLY Kashmiris live in Kashmir and that no one else has the right to buy property in Kashmir. Contributing only 15% of the land mass, Kashmir was treated with kid gloves. The fact that Nehru, Indira Gandhi and all those that followed them were, to put it politely, unwilling to touch these articles, tells us this was political “suicide”, and yet we expect the current government to repeal this. The reason why is because Indians have now gotten savvy and smart about these articles. If a Kashmiri is allowed to buy or lease an apartment/flat/house in the rest of India, it stands to reason the rest of the country should be allowed the same privilege! Hence the urgency! How does a country, that doesn’t allow dual citizenship, make an exception to the state Of Kashmir? These are questions that need immediate answers.
Ram Mandir is not a sign of Hinduism! In fact, far from it, it is a sign of religious equality. Gone are the days when Hindus allowed themselves to be tread upon, they’re now asking for equal treatment! The disputed land was, per litigation documents, a part of the Hindu temple that existed prior to the demolition by Babar. For a man, who was born outside India, who died outside India and had lineage from outside India, a mosque built in his name! Shows you the appeasement that existed prior to Hindus actually growing a pair!!
There are many other such poll-time promises, made by local candidates, both winning and losing! I’ve heard of uninterrupted water supply in Karnataka and uninterrupted power supply in Bihar! Regardless of the location, it is important that people keep their elected representatives on their toes. It’s no time to be on a “honeymoon” period. The country needs their collective action to ensure the entire country is on par. Electricity has become a necessity, rather than a luxury, in the common person’s life. Be it the refrigerator or the fan ( not all can afford the air conditioner), people’s lives are defined by these devices. Much like the USA where a lack of heating is unheard off (in the north east, anyways), overhead lighting, ceiling fans and/or air conditioning in the hot parts of India are to be covered. The central government has to ensure these are brought up to par. The same goes with gold old water! Water is the nectar that the entire world lives on, and yet some areas of India seem to be deprived of this basic necessity. This has got to be rectified. While water is a must for the agriculture sector, it is more important that the above agricultural sector receive water to drink and cook!! Humanity 101, would you agree???
In the next part, I will be covering how the common person needs to track the poll time promises made by her/his representative.