A wake-up call
Today I read the disturbing news that the farmers protesting in India were shot with rubber bullets and tear gas using drones. Drones! India joins the shortlist of nations using such technology against its own citizens. What a remarkable precedent set for the world and for future Indian governments!
Sarcasm aside, what makes me afraid is how rapidly technology is advancing, and how the laws to curb its overreach are not advancing at the same pace. Drones, AI, surveillance tools--most of this tech is beyond the reach of ordinary citizens. Imagine what a powerful entity that wields these tools can do. This leaves the citizens at the mercy of the government to act in good faith and protect their interests. But what happens when the powerful entity in question is the government itself?
Today it was the farmers, exercising their right to protest. Next, the government will send drones to scare away people protesting corruption and oppressive policies. The people of India have gotten into the habit of giving their government a clean-chit every time such things happen. It's always the fault of the victims--there must be an anti-national element behind the protests, why do they need to block the roads, why can't they talk it out in the parliament (as if the government lets the opposition speak freely). The question is this--when people will realize that things have gotten out of hand with respect to government's technology misuse, how will they get back to the normal? With weak laws, and judiciary that mostly tows the line of the government, there's not much left to protect the citizens.
I wish citizens would question their government more, be more skeptical of its intentions. It's not for us to applaud the government for whatever small good they've achieved; rather, it's for us to consistently demand better. Always!
Here’s another wake up call. Those „Farmer Protesters“ are actually anti-Farmer protesters, who want to maintain their stranglehold on the Mandis, and are the most wealthy yet pampered farmers as well as traders. They’re directly financed by AAP, Congress and Khalistani forces at the least. All of their demands were unjust and impossible. Last time as well as this time, they started demanding AFTER the budget session was over. All three farm laws were on the wish list of every farmer as well as in the manifestos of most political parties, including Congress!
ReplyDeleteIt was clear from the start that their protest was not for any need but for the sake of protesting. During the protest, many leaders of their movement openly admitted that hurting the ruling dispensation by generating negative publicity and by causing massive inconvenience to the citizens through months-long blockage of roads was their aim.
In any other civilized country, such protests would've been dealt with full force. See Yellow Vest protests in France, for example. All Indian central as well as state governments have used way more force for way less protesting (many of the times inhumanly). See Anna protests for example, where sleeping senior citizens were lathi-charged. Right now in Sandeshkhali, Hindu women are being abducted and raped by a Muslim goon of the ruling TMC, yet indian liberals are silent.
Of all the protests currently going on in the world, the Indian "farmers protest" is the most fake, entitled and belligerent. European farmers are protesting too, but their demands are genuine. They're just using their tractors to congregate, and maybe spray shit on government buildings. Most are spending their own money to protest. These Indian Arhatiya protesters on the other hand have received massive funding from the usual suspects and they're pimping their tractors to resemble freaking tanks!
Last time around, there was some sympathy as we all have a soft spot for farmers, however, this time, everyone sees through their bullshit. Well, everyone except you, because apparently, seeing drones on protesters is so potent a visual stimulant, it causes you to disregard everything else.
I wonder, of all the human rights abuses happening in India - Sandeshkhali in WB, Hindu displacement in Jammu, Leftist and Muslim violence in Kerala, love jihad all over India, state-sponsored christian conversion and appropriation of Hindu money and property in NE, Chhattisgarh, AP, TN, Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka - why are you moved the most by this issue; an issue in which the protesters are the abusers and the government is displaying patience - nay meekness - hardly ever seen in history anywhere? What makes you sympathise with these thugs-for-hire protesters, whilst calling the most accommodating state draconian?
Finally, you've made many baseless and false claims in that short write-up. Here are two:
1." as if the government lets the opposition speak freely"
When has the government done that? In reality, the opposition (which is the entrenched establishment) controls a plethora of tv channels and has the ears of international legacy media.
2. "With weak laws, and judiciary that mostly tows the line of the government"
Our judiciary, especially the Supreme court, is again, part of the entrenched establishment, and goes against this government and especially Hindus, at the drop of a hat. Judges wake up at 3 am, literally, to give bail to terror accused. Corrupt and unscrupulous lawyers like Kapil Sibbal and Prashant Bhushan have direct access to these judges, who're mostly products of nepotism. Maybe you should read up on how Tahir Hussain (AAP), who confessed to rioting as he wanted to teach Hindus a lesson, was treated with the softest of gloves by these judges. Indian judiciary is an incestuous cesspool of nepotism answerable to no one except to the whims and perversions of the judges.
3. " It's not for us to applaud the government for whatever small good they've achieved"
This current government has achieved more in 9 years than all others in 60. Many times more.