The fact of the matter is while the Government could not come up to the expectation of the people, the poor and labourers, who constitute not less than 80 per cent of the population fought against the odds with sheer confidence and resilience. Modi and his government pit them against a mighty giant. They were supposed to fight but were not provided with the weapons.

In India except for Jawaharlal Nehru who wrote letters, which are more of the historical narrative nature, to his daughter Indira, no other politician is known to have penned letters, least to speak of the letters to the countrymen. Modi who is known for his theatrics and innovations, is the first politician to write such letter. But sad enough his letter could not be described as of historical nature.

His letter to the people mentions that people of the country through sheer confidence and resilience transformed the way the world looks at us. This is certainly a back handed complement which does not reflect the realities. The letter claims that the nation saw how the administrative apparatus broke itself free of the status quo and from the swamp of corruption as well as misgovernance. These are tall claims and do not conform to the ground reality. The claim of providing good governance was badly shattered while invoking lockdown.

Modi is fully aware that India is not a developed state and the poor and workers constitute the sizeable section of the work force. When we talk of governance, the most dominant feature that emerges is the role and condition of the productive forces. The poor and labourers are no doubt the vital productive force. But the manner in which their needs were tampered and smashed during the pandemic onslaught provides an insight into the minds of the BJP leadership and particularly of Modi. The dignity of the poor was trampled. Initially the government did not provide them with enough time to escape. Secondly, even after one month of the lockdown the government did not arrange for their shelter and food. The worst has been the government was unaware of the total number of labourers eking out their livelihood in the urban areas. The ministers simply read out the briefs prepared by the bureaucrats even without verifying the ground realities. This simply reflects on the most poor quality of governance.

The way the central and states governments were furnishing the figures of their achievements to gave the impression that more than serving the poor they were competing against each other. Past experiences simply enforces the belief that most of the money should have been siphoned off by the bureaucrats and the middlemen.

Modi’s claim that as a result of the policies and decisions of the government, the rural-urban gap is shrinking is not correct. This has become quite prominent and visible during pandemic. The functioning of the government and the manner in which handled the issue of providing trains for their transportation makes it clear that the government does not treat these people as the sons of India. They are unwanted beasts.

While the government took all pains to reach the rich and middle class to help them out in this period of crisis, it even did not bother for the poor labourers. The government claimed that crores of money was deposited in the accounts of the labourers, but it is a truth that 99 per cent of these ill-fated labourers do not have bank accounts. They earn daily and spend daily. They are immune to the idea of savings.

Surprisingly the letter talks about the economic growth and bright employment opportunities. The fact is both are in heading to a bind. Several market survey organisations had pointed even before emergence of corona that Indian economic was in mess and facing slowdown. Already the employment has been facing the worst crisis. The letter also claims of India having state-of-the-art healthcare systems. Fortunately enough corona has exploded this claim.

The fact is the leaders were caught speaking lies during the last 12 months on the issue of citizenship issue. India can only look back in distress as to how the nation has been brought to its knees in just 12 months. Yes of course the government achieved one goal; it managed to destroy the secular fabric of society and gag the voice of protest the basic index of a functional democracy. . It blatantly attacked the very foundations of the Constitution and destroyed the federal structure of the country. Political vengeance has become the rule of the governance. Each and every institution is being used to further the political purposes of the BJP rather than for nation-building.

The letter claims that lockdown has checked spread of corona. But the fact is otherwise. Yes lockdown was used by the saffron brigade to communalise the political establishment and spread communal hatred throughout the country. Along with the famous economists, the Congress too was demanding that the Modi government immediately release direct financial support and provide immediate assistance to migrant workers in distress till the MSME sector is back on its feet and can offer the dignity of jobs once again to this crucial workforce. But the government is least bothered.

Ironically the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its 2020 report has categorised India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). India had got this shameful tag once before after the 2002 Gujarat carnage. It monitors freedom of religion across the world except in the US. Of the nine commissioners, three are appointed by the US president, two by the leader of US president’s party and four by the leader of Opposition in the Congress. USCIRF reports are globally respected. What is most unfortunate is this has been said by a friend country, having the friend of Modi as its president. It is irony that intellectuals who express concerns about the atmosphere of hate created by TV anchors on behalf of selfish politicians and regressive rightist ideology are being harassed by the police and are also being ridiculed. (IPA Service)