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Change and India 

Meet the world's rising economic power, India. A country torn between groups that have growth rate of under two percent and over nine percent, both figures provided by the Indian Government. As India presented its annual economic document called the budget, it was clear that the middle classes-wooing establishment has left the majority agrarian country far behind, and has even given up hope of letting them catch up. 

The country is losing touch with all democratic movements, within and outside. After having joined the United States Global Democracy Initiative, and having contributed generously to the fund to promote democracy, New Delhi has decided to join hands with all those seeking to suppress the voice of the people, be it in the states within the country or in countries abroad. 

Look what's happening at home. Talk about mid-term polls and N-deal is happening in the same breath. New Delhi has decided to hear the voice of the few — the US, the big industry — disregarding the majority Parliament opinion and the voice from the street.  

The Government hopes that by managing the media and the corporates and the urban elite, it will be able to bury the issues concerning the poor, the farmers, the minorities, the faith communities, the Dalits, and will be able to drum up the votes. But propaganda cannot blind the poor from the reality of the growth statistics. 

Sikhs continuing to fight against attacks on their religion, against divesting them of their minority status, against the mysterious, almost secretive, black lists and unending police harassment, the farmers agitating for their rights, the minorities in turmoil over the global war against terror that has entered India at different levels, the Dalits still waiting for social justice and equity, Kashmir, the Northeast, the human rights violations, the missing persons, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the villagers being drawn into the Naxalite movement in the absence of a visible government — New Delhi has gone a long long distance away from all this and more. The focus here is on growth, on statistics, on money, on malls, on shares, on the stock market, on automobiles, on acquisitions.  

In Nepal, we share the fear of the Maoists with the US. And the dislike for India has penetrated the rank and file of Maoist cadres. India, while keeping lines of communication open with all concerned should have allowed the democratic aspirations of the people of Nepal to hold sway, and not tried to influence a course that is impossible given the virtual revolution in the Himalayan nation that led to the overthrow of an unpopular monarch. 

At the end of the day, peoples’ struggles and aspirations cannot be suppressed. Talk about minority welfare has no meaning if even basic steps for their security and development are not implemented.  

Governments can hide the truth, they can lie, and they can convince themselves that they can fool the people by paying little more lip service to their cause. But that does not work any more. Change is not only a word in the US Presidential campaign; it is also the wish of the struggling people everywhere as they deal with an oppressive powerful regime everyday. India, be warned. Growth rates are not the last truth.

5 March 2008
 

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