Grand Delusions
In his piece for The Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan writes that India should learn from Sri Lanka's Rajapaksa political dynasty and the "serial stupidities" which led to the current economic crisis.
"We have learnt over the past decade that explicit majoritarian bigotry can be a shortcut to electoral victories. We have seen this with Donald Trump, Imran Khan, Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, Viktor Orbán, Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte and the Rajapaksas. Politicians elected on the back of these inflammatory campaigns develop a messianic belief in their political capacity to effect sweeping change. Unluckily, their genius for mobilising voters is seldom matched by an ability to govern rationally."Mukul Kesavan for The Telegraph
He writes that modern majoritarian populists tend to offer flashy solutions to complex problems. Even when such solutions fail, they don't seem to affect electoral outcomes because of the passion they mobilise, adds Kesavan, pointing to the fact that Rajapaksa and Modi both won elections after their respective organic farming and demonitisation debacles.
Poor Pay For Their Own Welfare!
P Chidambaram, in his column for The Indian Express, writes that the Modi government practically gave up on reforms, structural changes in the economy and private investment as the main drivers of growth, instead resorting to welfarism.
He contests that the poor and the middle class continue to suffer under high taxes and "extortionate" fuel costs, while the number of billionaires and their untaxed wealth keeps increasing.
"The main sources of revenue of the government were GST and the taxes on fuel. In the latter, the government found a gold mine. The government also realised that it did not even have to make an effort to mine the gold: the taxpayers themselves would mine the gold and hand it over to the government every minute of every day!"P Chidambaram in The Indian Express
What Harms India’s Stature
In her piece for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh notes that one of the things ardent supporters of PM Modi love most about him is that he has ‘raised India’s stature’ in the eyes of the world.
This, according to Singh, makes it puzzling that the BJP has let its youth wing attack the home of the chief minister of Delhi. Gratuitous violence and the spread of hatred creates the impression that the rule of law is weakening in India, lowering its 'stature' in front of the world, she adds.
"As an ex-bhakt, my advice to my former comrades is that when India feels the need to respond in high dudgeon every time an article against Modi appears in some western publication, it exhibits provincialism. The other piece of free advice I have to offer is that if there were fewer BJP workers spreading hatred and disaffection, there would be less criticism of the prime minister not just abroad but in India."Tavleen Singh in The Indian Express
Why India Should Be Wary of Sergey Lavrov’s ‘New Reality’
“The unipolar world is irretrievably receding into the past and a multi-polar world is being born," Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said this week.
Comments like these, writes Peter Frankopan in The Times of India, capitalise on long-standing misgivings with the US, particularly in India, which has remained neutral in the Ukraine conflict so far.
The problem is that this war will drag us all down – including India. So even if the scenes of maternity hospitals being shelled, or schools blown up is not enough to lead to condemnation, then self-interest should focus the mind. In India’s case, the sweetener of plentiful and cheap oil can easily provide a false sense of security, and even a sense that the crisis is an opportunity for India.Peter Frankopan in The Times of India
Frankopan adds that we should be conscious and alarmed by the potential consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, especially since the latter provides around 70 percent of India’s corn imports, which is not only a direct food source, but a crucial indirect source as feed for chickens and livestock.
The Joke’s on All of Us
Leher Kala, in her opinion piece for The Indian Express, writes that after actor Will Smith climbed the Oscars stage and punched host Chris Rock last week for making a joke about his wife, the lack of consequences was alarming.
"The main takeaway from the Smith fiasco is that absolutely nobody is free of grave imperfections; scratch the surface and it’s evident, no one’s leading a dream life either. We tend to view Hollywood legends as earthlings inhabiting a rarefied stratosphere where nothing bad ever happens, but success, it turns out, is no protection from petty emotions and fits of rage. There will be moments in all our lives that we deeply regret irrespective of what we have achieved."Leher Kala in The Indian Express
That the slap overshadowed others who deserved to be celebrated that night, Kala adds, is another unfortunate example of how viral culture perpetually steals the limelight from important achievements.
Why India Needs To Relax the Mask Mandate
In his piece for The Times of India, Chandrakant Lahariya opines that public health interventions need to be regularly reviewed and revised based upon the evolving situation. He believes that India should follow Maharashtra's suit and get rid of the mask mandate, since the risks now outweigh the benefits.
"In low-transmission periods, the mask policy should also factor in the local context. In hot and humid environments such as India, long-duration mask wearing can cause sweat and saliva to dampen the mask which may become a breeding ground for bacterial infections or cause skin allergies and rashes. Studies have also reported that in young children face masks may result in reduced ability to communicate and low attention span, which may hamper learning process in schools."Chandrakant Lahariya in The Times of India
Losers All? Time To Rethink First-past-the-post System
Due to the nature of India’s democracy, in most elections one has to play the game of dirty craftsmanship, caste, and religion to get a sizeable vote share, writes Suraj Yengde in his opinion piece for The Indian Express.
India's first past the post system leads to political parties putting up candidates who do not alienate the majority of voters, excluding Dalits, Adivasis and women candidates, he adds.
"We need to reconsider our election model. Do we still follow the unrepresentative model of government where its vote share may not be in the majority? Take, for example, the BJP in 2014. The party had a vote share of merely 31 percent, the lowest percentage of any party to win the majority seats. How is this democratic? Going by FPTP, vote share does not amount to representation in seats."Suraj Yengde in The Indian Express
India Should Keep Buying Russian Oil Unless West Can Match Discounts
In his column for The Times of India, SA Iyer opines that India should shrug off criticism by Western governments and media on buying Russian oil at a discounted rate during the Ukraine crisis.
He adds that while the sharp rise in oil prices have benefited rich oil exporters like the US, it has pushed India into a bleak financial situation.
"India should tell Australia and the US it will be delighted to buy their oil instead of Russia provided they match the 30 percent discount Russia is offering. This will be equitable burden-sharing of the cost of sanctions. Why should poor countries in tough economic conditions be forced to bear enormous burdens when rich countries escape with far less?"SA Iyer in The Times of India
Destination India: Capitalising on Attention
As the Russia-Ukraine crisis drags on, India finds itself in the position to make a place for itself in the new world order, suggests Shankkar Aiyar in his piece for The New Indian Express.
"India is serendipitously placed to convert attention to advantage – and leverage arbitrage between the competing options. The scale of its domestic market affords the economic clout to attract investments in manufacturing. Services account for over half the GDP of developed economies. India’s burgeoning skilled tech workforce – already serving transnationals and newly relocating data centres – is ideally placed to expand market share, ramp up exports and boost growth."Shankkar Aiyar in The New Indian Express
Aiyar writes that capitalising on the chaos will entail "expansion and activation" of commercial diplomacy to ramp up exports, using the template of the treaties with UAE and Australia.
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