In the run-up to the recent general election, Indians were hit by a tidal wave of propaganda hammering home the message that prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata party had, in five short years, transformed their country into a prosperous, powerful nation.
The shortlived “NaMo” television channel broadcast Mr Modi’s speeches and infomercials talking up his achievements. BJP call centres contacted more than 200m recipients of new gas cylinders, toilets and other benefits to remind them of the premier’s munificence. Viral WhatsApp videos exulted in the dubious claim that Indian missiles killed 300 Pakistani terrorists in February — avenging the earlier deaths of 44 Indian paramilitaries in a suicide bombing.
Then there was a catchy rap video targeting first-time voters, in which dancers in trendy western clothes celebrated India’s ostensible metamorphosis. Mr Modi, the dancers rapped, was “the one: one-and-only one who’s got everything done”.
But as the euphoria has receded since Mr Modi’s re-election last month, Indians have been waking up to hard realities of the severe economic, social and ecological challenges confronting their country. The sudden shift in public mood feels much like a severe hangover, after a giddy celebration the night before.
Mr Modi’s supporters were still enjoying the afterglow of his landslide victory and swearing-in ceremony when they were hit with the news that the slowing economy grew 5.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, its lowest increase in five years, and a sharp deceleration from the 6.6 per cent gross domestic product growth in the last quarter of 2018.
New Delhi also finally released a long-awaited labour report showing that about 18 per cent of young men, aged 15-29, are unemployed. The grim findings were ready months earlier, but officials had tried to bury them. National Statistics Commission members resigned in protest at the delay, but, with the election over, the survey was finally made public.
That is not the only new information to emerge. As Indian and Pakistani planes engaged in aerial skirmishes on February 27 — a day after missiles struck Pakistan, an Indian air force helicopter crashed in the disputed northern state of Kashmir, killing six personnel on board. At the time, authorities claimed the crash was unrelated. But in recent weeks, local media has reported that the chopper was shot down by an Indian missile in a “friendly fire” incident, kept quiet so as not to embarrass the government.
In another reminder of India’s urgent need to upgrade its outdated military equipment, an Antonov AN-32 transport plane with 13 people on board went missing 30 minutes after take-off on June 3. It took eight days, and a massive military hunt, before the crash site was found.
But the biggest tragedy so far of Mr Modi’s fledgling second term has been the deaths of 150 children in the lychee-growing region of Bihar from acute encephalitis syndrome, known colloquially as brain fever.
Scientists have linked the regular outbreaks of this disease at the peak of the harvest to overconsumption of the fruit by highly malnourished children. They can then suffer hypoglycaemic shock, particularly if they do not eat other food before going to bed. Along with highlighting the chronic malnutrition still stalking rural areas, the deaths have shown up the dismal state of India’s public healthcare infrastructure, with its acute shortage of doctors, nurses, equipment and supplies.
Meanwhile in the south of the country, Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city with about 8.5m people, has run out of water. Its reservoirs are dry after several years of below-normal rainfall. Residents of this major business and industrial hub are queueing for hours for tiny quantities of water from tankers, at exorbitant prices.
All these are sobering developments for a nation seemingly intoxicated by the belief that it can muscle its way to the global high table, led by a powerful, self-confident strongman. Mr Modi is undoubtedly a master of manipulating the political narrative, who has persuaded hundreds of millions of people of his integrity, intent and achievements. But facts on the ground point to the vast work still to be done.
No comments:
Post a Comment