It is an article of faith among BJP supporters that their government and their supreme leader have ushered in a New India. They attribute all the nation’s woes to past governments’ misrule. This ‘new era’ that ostensibly dawned in 2014 thrives on headline-grabbing grandiose schemes, giant statues and propaganda blitzkrieg by the digital army. The project of turning India into a republic of one religion, one language and one political party seems attractive to the affluent and influential Indians. Dissenting voices get drowned in the pro-establishment din.
One such dissenting, defiant voice is that of Parakala Prabhakar, a widely-respected political economist, writer and social commentator. A PhD from the London School of Economics, Prabhakar is married to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. In The Crooked Timber Of New India: Essays On A Republic In Crisis, he critically examines the Narendra Modi government’s handling of the economy, as well as current political and social issues.
The essays, written between 2020 and 2022, help the reader gain a comprehensive understanding of how this ‘new India’ is being shaped. He scrutinises facts and data and analyses events and public statements to show why he fears for the future of our democracy.
Speaking truth to power
The emaciation of the Parliament, opaque electoral bonds scheme, the Modi cult, subservience of media to the powers that be, misuse of the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax departments to intimidate and silence political opponents, attacks on universities and public institutions, BJP’s population politics, farm laws, the release of Bilkis Bano case convicts and Lakhimpur Kheri are among the topics covered.
“My task is simple, limited, and focused. It is to point out when our government, our public institutions and our leaders depart from the ideals of our Republic and deviate from their stated objectives and promises to the people. It is a simple effort to speak truth to power,” says Prabhakar. Substantiating arguments with facts, he digs deeper, noting that, for the first time since the 1990s, the number of people who are below the poverty line in India has increased. The country added 75 million to the world’s poor in 2021 alone. Unemployment among youth is over 20 per cent, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate rose to 8.3 per cent and the labour market shed 2.1 million jobs. “Between two to three crore farmers quit unsustainable agriculture. Food inflation is high and the rural distress continues unabated,” Prabhakar argues. The bitter truth: “The poorest Indian states have infant mortality rates higher than those in sub-Saharan Africa, and India accounts for 17 per cent of global maternal deaths and 21 per cent of deaths among children below five years.” Above all, India is one of the most unequal countries in the world.
Voodoo economists
Terming the BJP government’s handling of the economy as dismal due to the lack of a coherent economic policy, Prabhakar says ‘New India’ fell prey to voodoo economists who could easily convince the government to take disastrous measures like demonetisation. Worse, authorities don’t publish credible data and suppress inconvenient figures. The government does not share information with Parliament on farmers’ suicides, the death of migrant labourers during the pandemic, the brutal lockdown of 2020, the loss of jobs due to the pandemic and the loss of lives due to lack of access to hospital beds and oxygen cylinders or the level of unemployment. “Today, India’s statistical integrity is questioned across the world.”
He recalls that in 2014, Modi had asked for votes promising a corruption-free government and development. Modi’s performance did not match the promise, he says. Development was used like a Trojan horse to let Hindutva loose on an unsuspecting nation. The section ‘A Pandemic Log Book 2021’ gives chilling facts and figures and shows the moral culpability of the government and how it glosses over its failures. At every step, populist, propagandist gestures sought to cover up the fiasco. Yet, Modi had no hesitation to indulge in self-congratulatory talk. The dominant narrative centring on ‘identity’ and ‘othering’ has been in the making for decades. He writes: “Beating up Muslims in the streets and forcing them to sing Jai Shri Ram, or calls for the genocide of Muslims — none of these are arbitrary anymore.’’ An electoral win alone can’t blunt the majoritarian and communal narrative. It will be a long-drawn war involving a large section of civil society for years, the author feels. Prabhakar attributes Modi’s popularity to his ability to mobilise people and appeal to their baser instincts. The build-up for a larger-than-life image of Modi has been on for years. He cites how a comic book written in 2014 painted Bal Narendra fighting crocodiles.
The volume is a hard-hitting critique by an unabashed critic of the current state of the nation and the performance of the Modi government. A valuable read for anyone concerned about the future of the Republic.