January 26 is commemorated as India’s Republic Day, the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950 replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India. Every year, this day is celebrated with pomp and splendour but this year, it has become the victim of a self-inflicted catastrophe. On August 5, 2019, India violated its own Constitution and abrogated Article 370 and 35A, rescinding the autonomy given to Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and annexing Kashmir and Ladakh into Union Territories. To stop the people of IOK from protesting, Jammu and Kashmir has been in a state of lockdown. Its people are incarcerated in their homes with no access to internet and communications, limited movement and orders to shoot on sight if any protest rallies are organized.
To make matters worse, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) were introduced. The NRC demanded the citizens to register themselves but the Muslims of Assam and elsewhere were barred from it so that they remain outside the reach of registration, deprived of their basic rights and if deemed necessary, forced to leave India.
The CAA, on the other hand, is an act, which has provided Non-Muslims, who entered India as refugees to become citizens, but the Muslims are being kept out of this fold. Throughout India, there have been massive rallies protesting the promulgation of both pieces of legislation, which were deemed as usurpation of human rights. Interestingly, it is not just Muslims, who are protesting the NRC and CAA but citizens of various faith including Hindus. The rallies have been led by the student community, who have been fired upon and a number of them have been killed.
Interestingly, it is not just Muslims, who are protesting the NRC and CAA but citizens of various faith including Hindus. The rallies have been led by the student community, who have been fired upon and a number of them have been killed
If that were not all, according to former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, the Central government is on the “brink of bankruptcy” due to the economic slowdown. He opined that the Indian economy was passing through its “worst-ever crisis” due to the “death of demand” in sectors. Sinha was speaking on the sidelines of his Gandhi Shanti Yatra against CAA and NRC. The veteran BJP leader reiterated that the new citizenship law was a ploy of Narendra Modi government to divert attention of people from important issues like the “failure of economy”.
A scathing Op-Ed titled: ‘Is India facing its worst crisis since independence?’, published in Gulf News, reveals that there is clear and present danger that the Indian economy is creeping towards a free-fall. Modi is regarded as the ‘Divider-in Chief’. A number of US journals have also published derisive articles. The Economist in its latest special report on India has published a series of pieces titled ‘The muddle Modi made’, ‘The two Modis’, and ‘All hat, no cattle’.
Economist also lays out the stark truth that “Narendra Modi is damaging India’s economy as well as its democracy: Growth fell from 8 per cent in the middle of last year to 5 per cent year-on-year in the most recent quarter. the slowdown looks less like a dip than a prolonged cold shower. Some banks and many other lenders are in crisis, with a $200 billion mountain of bad debts. In the six months ending in September 2019, the total flow of financing to businesses fell by 88 per cent. Budget deficit increases by 5.3 per cent, Consumer demand fell by 20 percent and Corporate confidence by 43 per cent. Five successive rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank, have failed to pull down commercial lending rates, and in any case, firms are not investing.”
The Wall Street Journal, in its opinion piece titled: ‘Inda’s Modi Faces New Challenge: A Slowing Economy’, predicts a calamity for India.
Narendra Modi recently expressed his vitriolic views regarding CAA in the Indian Parliament: “In India live like Indian Hindu. Any minority, from anywhere, if they want to live in India, to work and eat in India, they should speak an Indian language like Hindi, Gujrati, Punjabi, Bengali or any South Indian language and should respect the Indian laws. If they prefer Sharia Law and live the life of Muslims, then we advise them to go to those places where that’s the state law. India does not need Muslim minorities. Such a Minority needs India, and we will not grant them special privileges, or try to change our laws to fit their desires, no matter how loud they yell ‘discrimination’. We will not tolerate disrespect of our Vedic Hindu Sanatan culture. We better learn from the suicides of America, England, Holland, France, and the Kashmir – Jammu holocaust of Kashmiri Pundits, if we are to survive as a nation. The Muslims are taking over those countries and they will not take over any part of India. We have shared our land in 1947, creating West & East Pakistan. The Indian customs and traditions are not compatible with the lack of culture or the primitive ways of Sharia Law and Muslims.”
Ironically, two of Modi’s staunchest allies in the region, Hamid Karzai and Sheikh Hasina Wajed have also voiced serious concern over NRC and CAA. This Republic Day, Modi needs to take cognizance of the looming disaster.
The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China