The Silence Finally Breaks
By Jawhar Sircar
(Published in The Telegraph on 11.10.2017)
European
explorers of yore never ceased to be amazed at how the eerie silence of the
night in tropical and equatorial forests was suddenly shattered at the crack of
dawn, by the loud crescendo of numerous sounds appearing out of nowhere. The
genetically argumentative Indian who had suddenly remained so quiet for three
long years, even when fellow Indians were systematically dragged out and killed
in the name of religion, has finally started speaking out. Rather loudly. These
include many who were under the spell of powerful demagoguery and also those
who were scared of reprisals, as never before. Those who had discovered new
virtues in intolerance are now quiet, while the small but fearless lot, like
Gauri Lankesh, that spoke up against saffron terror have recharged their faith
in democracy. Countless discordant voices have suddenly emerged in unison, to
challenge the well-choreographed narrative about “the best of times”.
The
tipping point was surely the 30th August report of the RBI, which confessed that almost the entire amount
of currency that was demonetised with so much fanfare on 8/11 last year was
actually back into the system. This meant, in effect, that India has no black
money and even the most fanatic trident bearer is not prepared to buy this.
BJP’s former minister, Arun Shourie, who can rattle out distressingly detailed
facts, has called it the “largest money laundering scheme” and rued this
suicidal measure. Memories of standing in long queues for cash may have faded
and many have forgotten that nearly a hundred and twenty hapless citizens died
before they could get their own money, but the first seed of bitterness was
surely planted. Yashwant Sinha’s blast on the mess in the economy has so
rattled Modi that he uses not only the young Sinha to counter him but looks up
the Mahabharata to call him names. One is not sure how many common people
really understood what the next critical announcement meant, that at 5.7
percent, India’s quarterly GDP growth was the lowest in several years. But
somehow it made sense and confirmed their suspicions that sheer oratory is not
producing jobs, not even the minimum number promised. That hurts, badly, especially
after three years of blind faith and taking in the monthly fixes of Modi’s
suave Man Ki Baat.
And
then came the blow of GST. There is no doubt that it is a commendable
alternative to multiple taxation though it was none other than Modi and his
party that had sabotaged the earlier government’s GST proposal. But its
implementation calls for infinite patience and tolerance to explain repeatedly
to the taxpayers how the system works, over at least one full year. But both
patience and tolerance are in short supply at present, more so as someone is
desperate to repeat Sardar Patel’s unique feat of “unifying India” and to match
his political amalgamation with the economic, through GST. Parliament was thus
summoned dramatically at midnight just as Nehru had done on the night of the
14th-15th of August seventy years ago, so as not to miss the hour of glory and
not deprive M.P.s and the nation some more spell-binding oratory. Modi may have
overridden sagacious advice to let the system settle in peacefully in two to
three financial years, because he has just one and a half political years left
to hit the election trail. In taxes and laws, the devil always lies in details
and the insensitive babu-drafted GST rules that have been forced upon millions acted
as the last straw on the camel’s back. It is unimaginable that a party that has
grown over decades with the support of the trading community was not aware that
small enterprises hardly ever file detailed tax returns, except once a year
when they engage some accountant to manage both the papers and the
tax-collectors. To demand now that these small businesses and industries
maintain daily accounts and submit electronic forms every month has triggered
widespread anger. Thus, the charge of the anti-Modi brigade is led,
paradoxically enough, by this hitherto loyal right-wing community more than the
left liberals. The otherwise meek grocer or small trader now find faults in
everything, from the complicated computerised forms to the irrelevant questions
they seek and they make it a point to tell every customer that higher costs and
short suppliers are all due to Modi’s GST. They target him , despite the eleven
thousand crore rupees that the Central ministries spent on Modi’s advertisements. In fact, the many
thousand crores more that were spent by Central and State governments on
innumerable hoardings to carry his face all over the land are now proving
bitterly counter-productive.
The
same social media that built up the leader and regularly pumped endless
materials on his great achievements and glorified Hindu India and its past
greatness is now suddenly out of fashion. WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and the
lot are presently deluged by satire against the government and the ruling duo
from Gujarat. Cottage industries have bloomed overnight to produce low-cost but
imaginative audiovisual clips and sarcastic quips lampooning the duo, which was
unimaginable a month ago. Not even known Bhakts now dare circulate their
daily hymns of praise and the factual distortions produced with so much money
and imagination, by obviously better financed media studios, that spew venom on
minorities. Vain attempts by government and party officials to tell us that tax
and bank authorities will now go hammer and tongs after 5800 shady companies
that made suspicious deposits and withdrawals of some ₹4500 crores through
13,241 accounts, are met with derision. While the better informed laugh at the
minuscule figure against the estimated minimum of three to four lakh crores of
black money, the less charitable ask at what rate will the officials fix them,
as they have done so far.
Cynicism
is running high and even if we view the strong statements by Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Subramaniam
Swamy as evidence of personal bias or as self goals, we must remember that they
are no fools. A lot of what they say surely articulate the frustrations of the
foot soldiers in the Sangh parivar. Many realise that it will be
difficult to explain to voters how India’s top 100 richest became richer by 26%
and added ₹31 lakh crores to their wealth in one year, but they added no jobs
at all. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal went on Marie Antoinette mode, when he
actually declared at the World Economic Forum that unemployment is indeed “very
good for them”. Getting real will be painful.
Though mainstream media has also picked up the cue, at
long last, it would be premature to declare that Modi is over. The machinery of
state power that he relies on more than his own ministers has yet quite a few
tricks up its sleeves. Economic failures have just started wood-pecking Modi’s
tree but his obsession for hogging all credit has trapped him, as he is unable
to pass the blame on to someone else. Democracy is, however, back in vogue: that
matters most. And, when the masses resort to satire, rulers need to be very,
very careful.
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