Two Years of Modi Government: Mirage of ‘Development’, ‘Change’ in the Direction of Communal Fascism

Narendra Modi was propelled to power after an elaborate media-crafted image-building exercise that claimed a larger-than-life image for Modi and his magic wand of ‘development’. After two years in power, the Modi Government is having to resort to the same tactics of corporate-funded eyewash and propaganda in order to cover up the reality of its dismal failure to deliver on its tall promises, and the menacing moves in the direction of a Hindu Rashtra.

In his 2014 election campaign Modi had promised an end to inflation. The reality is that inflation continues to soar and prices of essentials like pulses (dal) went up by more than 30 per cent. Modi promised two crore jobs every year. In fact, India has seen the lowest job growth since 2009, and there has been a decline of 20,000 jobs across 8 labour intensive sectors. Central Government spending on MNREGA has also fallen, and even MNREGA payments were made only after Supreme Court intervention. With the Government slashing University Grants Commission funds by 55%, the UGC has announced a new policy that amounts to massive cuts in university teaching jobs and increased burdens on existing teaching staff. This will not only affect the job prospects of young scholars, it will adversely affect the quality of higher education in the country.

Farmers suicides continue unabated. While the Modi Government does nothing to alleviate the agrarian crisis, farmers’ distress and severe drought conditions, his Ministers and BJP leaders vie with each other to make statements that insult and humiliate farmers. Forest Rights laws have been systematically undermined to facilitate corporate grab of tribals’ land.

The BJP President admitted that Modi’s promise of bringing back black money to the country was a ‘jumla’ (empty phrase-mongering). In truth, the Modi Government can be described as ‘government of jumlas.’ The ‘Jan Dhan Yojana,’ launched with much fanfare, is a non-starter, with 27% zero balance accounts and 33% duplicate accounts. ‘Make in India’ has failed to attract much investment; but it has been a ploy to dismantle and weaken labour and environment laws and depress wages in the name of ‘ease of doing business.’

All the Modi Government is able to plead in its defence is that it is as yet untainted by big-ticket corruption. But its Ministers are implicated in helping the scamster Lalit Modi as well as the bank defaulter Vijay Mallya flee the country. Its Government has deferred bank loan repayments for one of the worst defaulters, Gautam Adani, known to be close to the Prime Minister.

The Gujarat Model itself – Modi’s biggest election plank in 2014 – has unravelled and proved to be a story of jobless growth and dangerous work conditions. The Gujarat Government was recently reprimanded by the Supreme Court and directed to pay compensation to families of tribal migrant workers who died due to silicosis. Authorities recently admitted that the Gujarat Government under Modi “did nothing” for construction workers’ welfare, compensating only 7 out of 731 workplace deaths.

The Modi Government slogan ‘Desh Badal Raha Hai’ (The Country Is Changing) is rather like the Vajpayee Government’s ‘India Shining’ slogan that was seen by voters in 2004 as a mockery of the abject conditions of their life. But in certain sinister ways, India is indeed changing. Under Modi, the country has changed to the extent that people are being killed on allegations of having ‘eaten beef’ or ‘killed cows’; University-going women are being called ‘shameless’ by ruling party leaders, and being beaten and molested by ABVP men from Jadavpur to Banaras; autonomy and democracy in Universities and higher education institutions across the country are under an assault by the Central Government; inter-faith marriages are described as ‘love jehad’ and attacked by Hndutva groups; the Government has distinguished itself by offering justifications for communal and caste atrocities ranging from the institutional murder of Rohith Vemula to the Dadri lynching to Dalit children being burnt alive. Hindutva groups accused of terrorism are being acquitted; these groups have indulged in murders of rationalists; and are openly holding armed ‘training camps’ that systematically prepare for communal violence. Syllabi in schools are being changed in tune with Hindutva ideology – that seeks to impart both irrationality and bigotry to young children.

Under Modi, India is indeed being taken down the road of corporate-communal fascism. In his speech at his two-year extravaganza, Modi described this dangerous direction of ‘change’ as ‘Vikas-vaad’ (developmentalism) and dubbed resistance to it as ‘Virodh-vaad’ (opposition-ism or nay-saying). By branding the resistance to his pro-corporate and pro-communal policies as ‘Virodh-vaad’, Modi has let slip how threatened he feels by people’s movements. His attempt to pass a law to facilitate corporate land grab was defeated by peasants’ resistance; his policy of fund cuts and meddling in Universities has been met with determined and inspiring struggles by students and teachers; workers protests all over the country (most recently by garment workers in Bengaluru) are fighting back against anti-worker moves by the Government. The Modi Government’s self-congratulatory propaganda cannot silence the determined dissent and resistance by the people of the country.

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