Above: Not all the talismans in the world, not all the superstitious threads on the wrist, will keep the sinking Rupee afloat.
Daily Fix
Three Indicia
On India's State of the Union
On August 15, 2013
T. SHER SINGH
On the 66th anniversary of its existence, India is strewn with clear indicators that point to the state of its union today.
Gone are the heady days when all trip-ups and slip-ups, all failures and debacles, could be chalked off to the ‘great experiment’ or to the youth of a new-born nation, to its abject poverty and the legacy of centuries of foreign occupation.
Today, the country boasts an affluent economy which allows it to flaunt its platoon of upstart billionaires who do little more than feather their own nests … which happen to be skyscraper residences which add to the shadows that darken the world of the country’s all-pervasive slums.
On August 15, 2013 -- touted vacuously as the nation’s Independence Day -- I glanced through the country’s media and found, as one can on any given day picked at random, indicia of where the country is at today … and where it’s headed.
Here are but three of those news stories taken from August 15, 2013.
INDIA’S TRUE DEFENCE CAPABILITIES
Even as the spit was drying on the lips of India’s spin-doctors telling us about its latest addition to its navy -- a purportedly ‘indigenously built’ aircraft carrier -- another news-story stole the limelight and the thunder.
The Indian navy’s prize possession, a submarine named INS Sindhurakshak (literally, 'Protector of India'), suddenly exploded, was engulfed in a fire-ball, and then unceremoniously sank, taking down with it its entire crew of ‘highly-trained’ sailors.
Was it in combat? Or in a confrontation with one of its many arch enemies/neighbours?
Not really.
The submarine self-destructed while parked safely in a highly guarded and secure Mumbai naval base, while the country was busy singing ’jana-gana-mana.” No war. No conflict. No enemy. Not even terrorists.
And before anyone says that this was only an isolated incident -- as if that would make it acceptable -- let me remind you that it was this very submarine that had a ’self-inflicted’ explosion only three years ago -- in 2010!
And it was recently refurbished at the cost of billions. True, billions of rupees were spent … but apparently didn’t make it into the submarine.
The explosion conveniently allows the country’s politicians and defence machinery to avoid having to account for the money spent!
“India doesn’t need enemies,” is the buzz in the world’s capitals, “it already has a billion Indians.”
Indian authorities claim only 18 sailors have died this time around.
You do the arithmetic. A leading Indian journalist once told me: you take the figure given by the Indian government, double it, then multiply it by four … and that’ll give you the correct figure.
So, figure out for yourself how many of India’s brilliant defenders actually died … while doing lord knows what.
True … in India, who needs enemies? Who even needs a war?
* * * * *
THE SINKING RUPEE
To celebrate August 15, 2013, the Indian rupee took another bungee jump the other day and hit its lowest point in its history. It’s now close to being worth about Rs 62 to each US Dollar.
Just to give you something to compare with, when I left India more than four decades ago, the UD Dollar was worth about Rs 12. Now that India claims it is a world-power, its currency is worth about ONE-FIFTH of that! [Not my fault, this one, I assure you!]
There’s panic amongst those around the world who’ve been foolish enough to sink money into India recently. The short-term forecast is a Rs 65 - US Dollar. The longer short-term pundits are already looking at Rs 70, and even the possibility of a nose dive in the foreseeable future.
If you are an investor, it’s time -- analysts are saying in London, New York and Tokyo -- to jump overboard and swim for firm ground.
* * * * *
SHADES OF 1984
India’s so-called independence day brought the following breaking news:
“Tensions have erupted in the Tilak Vihar area of New Delhi,” goes the news report, “as residents of 80 Gaj Colony attacked the Sikh community. Police in heavy numbers were deployed to the scene to disperse the violence.
“Reports state that Delhi Police opened fire on the Sikhs congregated following an altercation where members of the Dalit Community abused and attacked a Sikh student outside a Delhi Police Post ...
“The “Widow Colony” of Sikh women and their families from the 1984 Sikh Genocide is situated in Tilak Nagar of New Delhi. Latest reports are that twenty-two people have been injured and eight have sustained shooting injuries.”
In this incident, the local police station is at the centre of the ruckus. As perpetrators, not protectors. It’s the same police station which assisted the murderous mobs in Tilak Vihar during the 1984 pogrom.
The latest update lists three citizens killed. The shooting was done by the police. At least two of the dead are Sikhs: Mohar Singh and Sunny Singh.
At least 25 are reported injured.
Again, you do the arithmetic …
But here’s the punch line.
The Indian media has mostly ignored the story by not even reporting it. Those who have made casual or passing references to the conflagration -- in India’s capital, on August 15, for heaven’s sake! -- have put their own unabashed spin on the story, blaming it on anyone but the real culprits.
“India Today”, which is now openly a Narendra Modi mouthpiece, describes the incident in a minimal story as a fight between two “warring factions”; the police are painted as victims.
“ … someone had opened fire …”, reports India Today.
“… and the bullets hit three persons …”
The police in the India Today story deny doing the ‘firing’. But claim that many of the injured victims are policemen.
In stark contrast to the Indian media's spin, eye-witnesses describe how the police once again -- as in 1984 -- assisted the attackers of Sikhs, instead of stopping them.
India Today has, once again, dutifully steered away from details for fear of revealing the truth.
* * * * *
That is the state of the union -- on the 66th anniversary of the day India was created, replacing a foreign occupying army with a bunch of its own hooligans.
August 16, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Manjit Kaur (Frederick, Maryland, USA), August 16, 2013, 10:34 AM.
Three strikes and you are out!
2: Raj (Canada), August 16, 2013, 10:50 PM.
Just out: Indian Government is thinking of making onion, ganda, official currency of the country. India's economic think tank at Delhi University thinks it will do better again US greenback than the Indian Rupee. I think that's a great idea, then they should change the country's name to 'Banana Republic'.
3: Gurdev Bir (Columbus, Ohio, USA), August 22, 2013, 12:06 PM.
Just seen this article on CNN. The morally devoid society of a so called "largest" democracy. The plunderers keep doing what they feel is right and shame on the people there. here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/world/american-student-india-sexual-harassment-irpt/index.html
4: N Singh (Canada), August 23, 2013, 2:28 AM.
And this is what happens if someone tries to stand up to it all http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-23776406 ... Guru Nanak lead the way for us Sikhs out of the wilderness. So, we have an option. But is there any hope for these desis? They are destined for another 1,000 years of darkness. How tragic that our leaders decided to align themselves to these desis, they have taken us all down with them.