Its extraordinary economic and political crises have been seen. Covid exposed only glaring gaps

Emperor Ashoka turned from conqueror to champion of justice after the devastation of the Battle of Kalinga opened his eyes to the futility of territorial expansion at the cost of people’s lives. Will the extraordinary human suffering we witness during our battle with Corona prompt Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prioritize the healing of human lives and the repair of the economy?

A year ago, he won his second successive victory, building on the perception of decisive leadership on the issue of national security. Modi mistakenly interpreted the mandate as an endorsement of the controversial Sangh Parivar ideology.

He quickly eliminated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, placed it in extended receivership and detained pro-Indian political leaders. He passed the triple talaq bill to bring the law closer to a uniform civil code by criminalizing a feature that allowed Muslim men to get a divorce quickly. Regarding the third ideological priority, the Supreme Court decided that a Ram temple would be built in Ayodhya.

Then the Citizenship (Amendment) Law. Its ostensible goal was to help non-Muslim minorities flee persecution in neighboring countries, but Interior Minister Amit Shah clarified the timeline: CAA would be followed by update to the national registry of citizens . Subsequently, non-Muslims without proper proof of citizenship would obtain Indian citizenship through the CAA. The remaining millions are said to be infiltrated and housed indefinitely in detention camps.

The unconstitutional introduction of a religious criterion for citizenship and the suspicion that it was a decision to decitilize the Muslim Indians sparked sustained and spontaneous protests across India. In February, communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi. Several videos have surfaced showing how the Delhi police (under the control of the central government) failed to take action against the rioters, sometimes encouraged the criminals and failed to act against the inflammatory speeches of BJP leaders. While northeast Delhi burned down, Lutyens Delhi Modi partied with President Donald Trump.

Two weeks before Namaste Trump, Rahul Gandhi warned that urgent measures were needed to prevent the coronavirus from spreading to India, but the government chose to ignore his warning. A month later, in the Rajya Sabha, I urged the government to adjourn Parliament early, but I received a reply that members of parliament must show courage in working on the Covid-19 threat.

A few days later, once the BJP overthrew the Congressional government in Madhya Pradesh, it gave up the bravado and adjourned Parliament abruptly. After a workout, the government imposed a national lockdown with four hours notice. The economy suddenly stopped. Millions of migrant workers have started their long march, braving nature, official apathy and police brutality. Unfortunately, some died along the way due to accidents or exhaustion.

The padayatra of the poor has brought to center stage the misery hitherto hidden from the masses. He revealed that the reality of rural India was that his able-bodied people would migrate in search of any chance of insecurity, or even exploitation, to earn enough to survive and send something home for the family. They had somehow missed Modis ‘assurance that he would soon double farmers’ incomes and that India was on the way to becoming a $ 5 trillion economy.

These embarrassing facts about the economy were a surprise as the government made sure there was no data to decipher. When periodic labor surveys revealed an increase in unemployment, the government suppressed them. When the National Sample Survey warned of worsening poverty and malnutrition because rural Indians were even cutting back on food, the government simply killed the survey, citing technical details.

The first year of Modi 2.0 also highlighted the constant erosion of a separation between the executive and the judiciary. The appointment of former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha a few days after his retirement raised concerns about the institutional capture. Indeed, the judiciary has somehow not found the time to intervene on crucial executive actions, including the suspension of fundamental rights.

The manifest lack of empathy of governments for migrants entering their home contrasts with his previous manic obsession with infiltrators who were to be eliminated through the NRC. Obviously, if he had rather focused on understanding why Indians were moving and under what conditions, he would have been able to create a support structure for migrant workers and have saved them hundreds of thousands of thousands of people from the pain and indignity they suffered during isolation.

On the economy as a whole, if the government were prepared to face the facts, it would have seen evidence of a drop in demand even before Covid-19 blocked India. Investments, electricity consumption, non-food credit, GDP growth, everything fell steadily. Unfortunately, he still refuses to understand that without stimulating demand through substantial tax measures, all of the credit measures he announced in the Rs 20 lakh crore crore stimulus package beating the world will have little effect.

As India battles a global pandemic coupled with an economic crisis that has its roots in the Modi 1.0 government, it is clear that the coming months will shape the future of the country. At this critical time, all Indians must participate in a collective recovery-oriented effort. Even diverting the energy of a single person towards an ideological program will help condemn the country to a lamentable fate.

India is at a crossroads. Modi can change course to bring India back to its proper and inclusive growth path by focusing on repairing the economy, healing the pain of the poor and abandoning shared agendas. Or he may misinterpret the mandate as that of divisive leadership (community tensions even reaffirmed during the Covid-19 crisis).

History offers different models. Anyone who wants to leave their mark in history can make their choices. For the love of India, I hope he chooses wisely.