Imagine you earn 1000 bucks in one year, but you have taken huge loans that you need to return soon. And your whole body needs medical attention. You suffer from terrible headaches, your eyesight is affected due to pollution, your left arm is wounded, so is your stomach and your liver is damaged and requires immediate medical intervention. Your kidneys are failing and as far your legs are concerned, they have their own share of sores.
So, what is your next step? Do you address the problems one by one?
No.
You tell your mind, aal is well, and dress up in great clothes with a few patches here and there ... and you go for a gold tooth that costs Rs. 1 or more, but hurts your right arm. And you expect everyone to pat your back and say, wow, a gold tooth! Clap, clap, clap!!!
Makes sense so far?
No?
Let's put this in perspective.
India's total GDP in 2017 was, as per Google, $2.6 lakh crores.
We owe the world about $529.7 billion, i.e. 52,970 crore.
We have internal defence issues in J&K, North East, Jharkhand etc.; our infrastructure needs major investment; our law and order is getting worse; our farmers are committing suicide (852 reported in Jan-April 2017); a huge state (Maharashtra) just declared drought in 151 talukas (nearly half of Maharashtra), just to mention a few issues.
And what are we doing?
We displace people in Gujarat (72 villages!) and build the tallest statue in the world of a man, who, if he were alive, would be embarrassed beyond words to have Rs. 3000 crore ($430 Million i.e. $43 crores) spent on his statue!
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel does not need the tallest statue for his tall stature. The "Iron Man of India" was the force behind the formation of our country and a guiding, uniting light against the forces of division. Someone, who, post 1931, having been elected as the President of the Congress Party, used his position to ensure that confiscated land was returned to the farmers, now has 72 villages protesting against his statue. On October 31, the day the statue was unveiled, these 72 villages affected by the confiscation of their lands, did not cook food in protest.
It’s time we asked some tough questions from those in power:
If we are expecting a rush of tourists owing to this statue, then we should not forget that India, despite being a subcontinent, attracts far less foreign visitors than Thailand or Malaysia. This is not due to there being a dearth of statues, or other tourist places. In fact, we, being an ancient civilisation, have them in abundance.
What we do not have is proper infrastructure and law and order everywhere. We do not have economic parity, our average standard of living is pathetic (a third of global poor now reside in India, as per the World Bank), our health services are insufficient, our unemployment is scaling new heights (31 million Indians are currently jobless!), our neonatal mortality is the highest in the world, our population ratio of males and females is skewed (943 females per 1000 males in 2011), the gender inequality at the 132nd place in the world...
What should then have been the priority of a supposedly popular government? The answer is obvious, but our government can't do the math and risks everything on the whims of a megalomaniac!
First demonetisation solved the issues of terrorism, black money and corruption and now the statue will solve the problems related to drought and farmer-suicides. Aal is well, aal is well!
So, what is your next step? Do you address the problems one by one?
No.
You tell your mind, aal is well, and dress up in great clothes with a few patches here and there ... and you go for a gold tooth that costs Rs. 1 or more, but hurts your right arm. And you expect everyone to pat your back and say, wow, a gold tooth! Clap, clap, clap!!!
Makes sense so far?
No?
Let's put this in perspective.
India's total GDP in 2017 was, as per Google, $2.6 lakh crores.
We owe the world about $529.7 billion, i.e. 52,970 crore.
We have internal defence issues in J&K, North East, Jharkhand etc.; our infrastructure needs major investment; our law and order is getting worse; our farmers are committing suicide (852 reported in Jan-April 2017); a huge state (Maharashtra) just declared drought in 151 talukas (nearly half of Maharashtra), just to mention a few issues.
And what are we doing?
We displace people in Gujarat (72 villages!) and build the tallest statue in the world of a man, who, if he were alive, would be embarrassed beyond words to have Rs. 3000 crore ($430 Million i.e. $43 crores) spent on his statue!
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel does not need the tallest statue for his tall stature. The "Iron Man of India" was the force behind the formation of our country and a guiding, uniting light against the forces of division. Someone, who, post 1931, having been elected as the President of the Congress Party, used his position to ensure that confiscated land was returned to the farmers, now has 72 villages protesting against his statue. On October 31, the day the statue was unveiled, these 72 villages affected by the confiscation of their lands, did not cook food in protest.
It’s time we asked some tough questions from those in power:
- Who benefits from the statue?
- Does it increase the stature of Sardar Patel?
- Does it unite the country or further divide it?
- Can we afford to spend 0.1% of our GDP on a controversial project that does nothing to solve the issues facing our country?
- Do we not have enough pressing problems that need immediate attention?
- Are we expecting tourism to pay for the statue in the coming years?
If we are expecting a rush of tourists owing to this statue, then we should not forget that India, despite being a subcontinent, attracts far less foreign visitors than Thailand or Malaysia. This is not due to there being a dearth of statues, or other tourist places. In fact, we, being an ancient civilisation, have them in abundance.
What we do not have is proper infrastructure and law and order everywhere. We do not have economic parity, our average standard of living is pathetic (a third of global poor now reside in India, as per the World Bank), our health services are insufficient, our unemployment is scaling new heights (31 million Indians are currently jobless!), our neonatal mortality is the highest in the world, our population ratio of males and females is skewed (943 females per 1000 males in 2011), the gender inequality at the 132nd place in the world...
What should then have been the priority of a supposedly popular government? The answer is obvious, but our government can't do the math and risks everything on the whims of a megalomaniac!
First demonetisation solved the issues of terrorism, black money and corruption and now the statue will solve the problems related to drought and farmer-suicides. Aal is well, aal is well!
scathing, scalding hot....😊
ReplyDeleteWell said! I don't know when we will grow out of our need of raising monuments to every other person and turning them into demi-Gods. Unfortunately these people who themselves were worth the highest respect would, like you say, been not just embarrassed but distressed beyond belief. Can't help wondering when politicians will come to their senses.
ReplyDeleteMy other worry is that the TINA factor may return these very perpetrators back to power, the tragedy being that they will interpret it as a license to continue their ridiculous ways. Not just that, they will shout from the rooftops about how the entire country supports their policies.
God save us all!