Friday, May 16, 2014

Dark days ahead – be prepared to resist!

My dear family, friends, colleagues, students and well-wishers, 

Democrats and freedom-fighters in India are prepared for the dark days, now ahead of us.

Life goes on ... Such dark days have ended; they have prepared us for today:
  • The Emergency of 1975-77, imposed by Indira of the Indian National Congress (INC).
  • The anti-Sikh riots of 1984, following the assassination of Indira, when the INC was in power.
  • The demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) / Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
  • The riots, following the terrorist attack in Mumbai, in 1992.
  • The privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation (LPG) of the Indian economy since 1992, begun by Manmohan Singh of the INC and continued by the BJP/NDA.
  • The anti-Muslim riots of March 2002, when Modi of the RSS/BJP was CM in Gujarat.

The sad fact, which democrats have to understand and accept, is that the forces of darkness can be elected by a majority.

Such forces of darkness have been elected in earlier times:
  • Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy.
  • Reagan in USA and Thatcher in Britain.
So, India in 2014 is not the first time.

How do ordinary people resist the forces of darkness?

From personal experience and lessons learned from resistance movements, I suggest:
  • Listen to your inner voice, ie, conscience. Be sincere & honest. No indoctrination or intimidation can silence the inner voice.
  • Trust working people 100%: work patiently and learn from them.
  • Do not submit to the dictates of authority. Resist the personality cult; do not glorify the rights of the individual, especially the rich.
  • Resist temptation.
  • Question constantly till U are satisfied.
  • Our earth belongs to the citizens of the world. 
  • Democracy and freedom are for ALL: the poor need them the most.

Your support is my strength. 

Peace and love,
- Joe.

Pune, India; Friday, 16 May 2014.

16 comments:

Abhay Sathe said...

I am sorry, if you think that Hitler and Mussolini are equivalent to Reagan and Thatcher, you are beyond any reason. Amazingly, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, Saddam did not occur to you, but two democratically elected, transformational leaders did. The 1991 liberalization is the main thing separating India from failed states such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. If this is the definition of 'Dark Days', I say bring on the night and let´s party.

Vandana Mohal Dewan said...

PLS ADD THE FOLLOWING DARK DAYS

1) 1947: India's partition leaving 5-8Lakh people dead. Over 10 million people who became refugees overnight.

2) 1971: Creation of Bangladesh leading to a further refugee problem from the East.

3) 1984: Operation Bluestar, followed by Indira Gandhi assassination. Anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and anti-Punjabi wave in a lot of other parts of the country. About 6-8000 deaths.BTW no justice yet.

4) 1987-88: Peak of Punjab Terrorism. Several thousands dead.

5) 1987-90: India's misadventure in Sri Lanka culminating in Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. IPKF suffered over 1200 casualties & thousands military personnel wounded.

6) 1990-91: Displacement of over 1.5-3lakh Kashmiri Pundits from J&K, an instance of the largest ethnic cleansing in Independent India.

7) 2002: Godhra massacre. 58 people on the train burnt alive. Widely reported stats of Gujarat riots claim deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus.

8) Pre 1991 economic liberalisation India was on the brink having to mortgage its gold and having foreign Exchange only to fund 3 weeks of exports and we needed an IMF bailout so as not to default on payments.

ALL THESE ARE DARK PERIODS too, however India still survived, India still thrives.

Have belief in yourself, have belief in your country and be ready to embrace an era of Development & Progress...

It isn't in India's destiny to remain poor, remain a has been...India will one day flourish...India will become a success....just that all Indians will have to work for it. The time to work is here...IT IS NOW. Jai Hind!


Joe Pinto said...

My dear Vandana,

I agree to add the eight (8) dark periods U have listed. No issue to the list, except for your opinions, on which we may agree to disagree.

As for the rest, this is all I can go with, "Have belief in yourself, have belief in your country."

As for progress and development, let us wait, watch and see. I keep an open mind. Though little that I see demonstrates that things have improved for the poor since 1992.

Today, my concern is about social harmony. And the "brown shirts". I have been a student of the RSS since the 1960s and the BJP since its inception, after 1977. I can go along till Vajpayee. After that, and esp Modi, is worrying.

Peace and love - Joe.

Joe Pinto said...

My dear Abhay -- Please read my next blog-post of 800 words, which addresses exactly why I include Hitler & Mussolini with Reagan & Thatcher. Peace and love - Joe.

Joe Pinto said...

My friend Dr. Vivek Pinto from Tokyo, Japan sends this reference:

"An open letter to Narendra Modi," by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindu, May 19, 2014, which can be accessed at:

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/an-open-letter-to-narendra-modi/article6022900.ece?homepage=true

Sriharsha said...

Hi Joe,

The title of the post itself bears pessimistic view. I am not a pessimist. Just for a moment leave aside the politics and view India as a country. What is the immediate need of hour for India. A strong, decisive, dedicated and committed leader and one who talks, pun intended, and India chose one. Do you agree to this?.
You talked about dark days ahead, what could be more darker than the last 5yrs of mis-rule, sycophancy, scams, crony capitalism, pseudo-secularism..... .

Unknown said...

I'm a cynic, Sir, but I have to say, Modi seems to be making all the right noises, at least as far as taking care of the policy paralysis goes. And for the rest, that is why they say in a Democracy, people get the government they deserve.
I haven't made up my mind yet. I am waiting to see how "inclusive" his development will really be. India has the typical problems of any developing nation, only here the problems of the divide between the rich and poor, for instance is way worse than in many others. And isn't even comparable to any developed nation. I, for one, think we've got it all wrong. There's not much point of building super tall malls and rich restaurants when you have to step over slums to get into them, like one has to, in Mumbai. I understand all big cities need these facilities, but I know for a fact that a clean, less poor environment would resonate better with the foreign investors they all seem to be wooing, because while hoity toity hotels aren't what they keep talking about when they return, they do go on about how there're slums all around a 5 star.

Joe Pinto said...

My dear Nivedita,

Thank U for your frank comments.

My fear is that the new govt -- following in the footsteps of the two UPA govts and the earlier NDA led by Vajpayee, but also going far beyond -- will pander to (or "appease") the whims & fancies of the Indian corporates as well as foreign investors, at the cost of the poor working people.

At the moment it is a fear, going on the basis of what the "Gujarat model" has done since 2002.

I see the "Gujarat model" not only merely as an economic model but also a vast political, social and economic project of the RSS/BJP/Modi, which has one of its roots in what began in India after the Manmohan Singh budget of 1992.

That is why I have referred to Thatcher (UK) and Reagan (USA) also.

Peace and love,
- Joe.

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