Do we deserve democracy? This is a question that Indians must seriously debate, especially when the governing party is trying its best to lift India but is being opposed every step of the way by the opposition and some so-called experts in the mainstream media.
PM Modi works round the clock even when he is travelling, but he can never satisfy his critics.
First, they wanted major reforms; he delivered. He made sure everyone had bank accounts, including the poor. Then he launched the Digital India campaign to ensure government services are available online for the people and the Make in India initiative to encourage multinationals to manufacture in India. Next came demonetisation, the biggest reform of all. The opposition and some in the media cried blue murder, but the world media marvelled that India could take so big and bold a step.
I would tell my fellow Indians to watch Pakistani TV to see how much PM Modi is admired. There are people in Pakistan who wring their hands in despair about their state of governance and ask, “Why can’t we have a PM like Modi? “
Pakistani TV channels are not the only ones expressing admiration for Modi. The massive mandate with which he came to power and the sweeping measures he has taken since then have been headlined and televised by all the major media groups from the BBC to the New York Times.
Before we run down demonetisation, let us ask ourselves who were the ones most affected and screamed the loudest? The traders, the shopkeepers, the political parties and dishonest businesses. They are being caught now – the fake companies, the bank accounts that suddenly got huge deposits.
The opposition might have cried itself hoarse, but demonetisation had its supporters. The Bharatiya Janata Party won state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and retained power in Goa besides doing well in the Mumbai municipal elections after demonetisation.
The people wanted big-bang reforms after a decade under a very corrupt and paralysed government – and PM Modi gave it to them. But the opposition and some big names on television and media cried foul. Why, I wonder.
Has the opposition and some in the media become so privileged and so entitled that they disdain to take the pulse of the people?
