How they'll use the power is encoded in their (political) DNA. The dream of the corporate houses that the BJP will provide a regime which will act in utterly authoritarian manner in case of labour-capital relationship, land acquisition for business, doing away with all environmental regulations impeding business etc., and pretty much liberal in all other spheres of public life is just an unrealisable chimera.
It's a package deal, complete in itself. Accept it in toto or reject in toto. They've just not accepted it but had opted to go in in for the most vigorous and egregious promotion, just unprecedented in Indian history. Now the result is out there. These timid attempts to regulate it are just not going to work. Not that they'll be overmuch bothered, at least initially, as long as their main expectations are met. 'Secularism or development: Making the right choice' was the caption of a recent Gurcharan Das write up. The caption itself says it all. Sukla On 16/05/2014, mohammad imran <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/lok-sabha-elections-2014/statewiseresults.cms?state=filter%20by%20state > > A well intentioned article. > Indiatimes|The Times of India|The Economic Times| > > Log In > > Blogs > > HomeBlogsCelebsCityEntertainmentEnvironmentIndiaLivingPoliticiansPoliticsScienceSportsTechWorld > Search for: > May 15, 2014, 9:47 PM IST Chetan Bhagat in The Underage Optimist | Politics > BJP could attain an all-time high of Hindu power, but it must use this > wisely > > Election results will be out today. Exit polls indicate that a BJP-led NDA > will be in power, riding on Narendra Modi's popularity. > It will be an unusual government, one of the rare times in our contemporary > history that a party will be in power despite a public, near boycott by the > Muslim community. In any case, a low percentage of Muslim population voted > for BJP historically. With Modi, they have gone public with their disdain. > Yet BJP has the upper hand. A large part of Modi's appeal comes from his > pro-development, pro-action and can-do image. However, make no mistake. The > verdict could spell an inflection point for Hindu-Muslim relations and an > all-time high of Hindu power in the country. > Is that a good thing? Or is it a terrible thing? Well, both choices are > available. The outcome of power, good or bad, depends on what the holders of > power do with it. A kitchen knife has power. Used positively, a knife is a > handy tool in the kitchen. Negatively, it can also be used to stab a > person. > The same applies here. What do BJP and the Indian majority do with this new > Hindu power? Do we use it to settle scores with Muslims? Do we use it to > establish a majoritarian, intolerant state where minorities are 'put in > their place'? Do we impose ourselves and say things like, 'India is the land > of Hindus'? Do we make laws more in line with Hindu religion? > Frankly, we may have the power to do some of these things now. It may even > appeal to sections of the population. How-ever, be warned. This would be an > awful and terrible use of this power. In the long term, such a thought > process will only turn us into a conservative, regressive, unsafe and poor > country where nobody would want to come for business. > Our neighbours like Pakistan and Bangladesh are prime examples of > majoritarian states that have messed it up. Make no mistake, if this rise of > Hindu power is not channelled properly, we risk turning into one of our > neighbours. Anybody want that? > So how should this Hindu power be used? Here are five areas towards which > the new government and Hindu citizens' efforts should be focussed. > First, get India its rightful place in the world. India has to be shoulder > to shoulder with the world's economic powers. We need to be a high growth > economy, with a stable business environment. The only risk a businessman, > Indian or foreign, should take is a business risk. > Political, regulatory or government uncertainty risk has to be minimal. > There have to be fair, pro-business policies, with no 'gotcha' regulations > like GAAR or retrospective taxes. Experts are available to tell us how to > grow the eco-nomy; the will is missing. Let's generate that will. Remember, > little money means little res-pect in this world for a country, religion or > community. > Second, go after corruption. It bothers Indians and needs to be fixed. > However, at present it also churns the wheels of our economic system. > Draconian measures or finger pointing will solve nothing. It might bring the > country to a halt. You don't solve a blood contamination disease by cutting > off the arteries of the heart. You make the blood pure again one pill, one > small transfusion at a time. > You don't want all IAS officers or cops to stop working. You don't want them > to be corrupt either. Hence incentive structures, laws, mindsets and > empowerment all need to be looked at. Indians don't want corruption solved > next week. They just want a leader with genuine intent to solve it. You have > your time, but fix it. > Third, win over the Muslims. Even though Muslims may not have voted for BJP, > it has to win them over and Hindus have to open their arms to them. This can > only happen with love and understanding on both sides, but the onus is on > us. BJP must care better than any imam ever did for Muslims. > Of course, this doesn't mean appeasement. It does mean making Muslims feel > secure. It also means never encourage, but rather come down heavily on > violent and fundamentalist acts or those that curb another's personal > liberty, irrespective of religion. > Fourth, redefine secular - one of the most abused words in Indian politics > today. No-body can define it clearly. The simplest description is letting > all religions coexist. But coexist how? Like oil and water? Or like milk and > sugar? We have to strive for the latter. We have to blend in as Indians. > Oil-and-water secular is not secular at all. It's just vote-bank politics. > Fifth, fix laws that keep us separate - no modern, liberal democracy has > separate personal laws based on religion. These laws keep us separate in the > 'oil and water' secular mode. Remove them. Same for Article 370 in Kashmir. > It's one country, one system. Apply for citizenship elsewhere if you don't > like the rules. > We are at an unprecedented crossroads in Indian history. On one side, we > have a chance to be one of the best in the world. On the other, we could > mess it up with brazen abuse of power. I am an optimist. I'd like to think > we shall all choose the former, and make India the great nation it deserves > to be. > DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Progressive interactions" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to > [email protected]. > Visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/progressive-interactions. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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