Is the ruling party in India hiding it’s worst economic failure through religious propaganda such as the Gyanwapi issue in 2022? 

Is the ruling party in India hiding its worst economic failure through religious propaganda such as the Gyanwapi issue in 2022? 

The Bhartiya Janta Party has emerged as an extremist government, infamously divergent towards the majority Hindu population of the country. Be it the issue of NRC(National Register of Citizens) and CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act) or the revocation of Article 377; the government kept submerging the more critical issues such as raging unemployment, falling economy and increasing poverty under savage topics such as religion. 

Raising these issues not only creates  political chaos, taking attention away from more practical matters, but also instigates communal violence and riots. This heavily favours the vote bank of the government. But the question is, are the innocent lives lost worth the game of thrones? 

The Gyanwapi Mosque-

The ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple was built by Todar Mal, a minister in the court of Akbar. Over later years, it was developed and taken care of by several other well-known personalities. Allegedly, it was demolished by Aurangzeb either out of anguish against his father’s policy of Din-i-lahi or out of hatred for the Hindus in 1669. The temple’s courtyard was left untouched and served as the entrance hall for the Gyanwapi Mosque. 

Signs of the presence of the temple have been found inside the mosque. It has been alleged that there is a well inside the courtyard which encloses a Shiva lingam. However, the Muslim community denies it and claims it is a fountain and has stayed there forever. 

This has led to several cases of communal violence and riots and becoming a cause behind an already widening gap between the two major communities of our country. 

The fact that this issue has been making headlines for weeks now is enough to show the sentimental manipulation being done by the government and the corrupt media houses to sway the attention from the strangled economic conditions of the country. 

In this light, let us take a look at the current economic conditions of India-

• Double digit inflation in India

In October 2020, India entered a phase called technical recession. The GDP then experienced contractions for two quarters in a row. After the ravaging first wave of Covid, which throttled the economy of our country, there commenced the Delta wave. This second wave was even worse than the first one. There was an immense loss of life and livelihood. The pandemic waged a bitter war against humanity, and its success is evident.

K Shaped Recovery

India, since then, has been recovering in factions. Recovery of the formal sector has been made at the cost of informal fractions. Fatefully, the informal sector forms only 90% of the population. This has led to significant inequality between the upper and the lower classes of society. In fact, as of 31 December 2021, the middle class got pushed down by 30%.

• Unemployment is a major issue

The unemployment rate in India is currently the highest in 45 years. The BJP had promised Acche Din, but ironically there has not been more bura din(worse day) in the history of post-independence Indian economy. In its election propaganda in 2019, BJP had promised to create two crore jobs, but during the pandemic, twelve crore people lost jobs and nearly three to four crore people did not get any jobs at all. 

The unemployment rate in the country is at an all-time high of 7.83%.

• Consumption slump 

According to a survey, the standard of living has gone down by 30% in 2022. The World Inequality Report is pegging India as one of the worst performers. The top 10% of people in India hold 57% of the total income. 

A study by Santosh Mehrotra and Jajali Prid found that between 2012-2020, India witnessed an increase in the absolute number of poor. The inflation has been persistently high. Private consumption has slipped from 60.5% in 2019-20 to 57.5% in 2021-22.

• Falling GDP

After the pandemic, India hit its worst ever GDP since independence. 

The graph clearly shows that the current GDP is slogging at -7.3%.

GDP is made by the following components-

However, GDP growth is a show-off. It increases with the increase in expenditure but does not consider where the spending is being made. For example, in India, most of the constructed roads are of so poor quality that they get ruined within a month. The government then spends money on its repair, and it gets destroyed again. This cycle continues and while there is no actual development, the GDP goes high. 

• High Taxation

Instead of relieving the burden off of the suppressed middle class, the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, introduced absurd terms of taxation in the budget of this year. 

• LPG Cylinder costs have breached Rs. 1000 
• Petrol prices have breached Rs. 100/ litre 
•  Inflation is at an all-time high of 15% 
• Taxes on Fuel are insanely high at 60 %
• Absurd Taxes on new vehicles at 50%
• Reduction in Fixed Deposit Interest Rates 
• Lowest interest rates for Provident Fund in over 40 years 
• Taxing returns from Provident Fund 
•  Long Term Capital Gains Tax 
•  Dividend Distribution Tax 
•  Increased CORRUPTION 
•  Inefficient RERA rules lead to bankrupt and dead home buyers 
•  Expecting the middle class to fulfil all basic needs within 2.5 lakhs ( Section 80c ) 
• Tax on Cryptocurrencies- 30 % Tax

The BJP government is using Religious Riots as a distraction from these critical issues of the nation. 

From 2016-2020 there were 3400 religious riots instigated by BJP’s anti-nationalist propaganda. 

In June 1928, Martyr Bhagat Singh wrote an article about how the government was pushing religious riots to engage the citizens in fights based on false information. Even after about ninety years, the condition is still the same. 

The article mentioned the following reasons behind such riots, and this is still relevant. 

• People who die in riots are not criminals. They die as a result of radicalism and hatred. 

• Herd mentality- When a group of people start following particular propaganda, it appeals to more people simply because it is being followed by many. 

• Sentiments attached with materials are an obstacle to the progress of a nation. While the rest of the world is working on complete automation of technology and sending a man to Mars, our country is busy fighting whether there is Shiv Lingam or a fountain in the Gyanwapi Mosque. 

• Communal politicians and corrupt media play a significant role in moving the mind set of people. Every citizen has their personal favourite among the politicians, and this categorises them according to their political ideology. But when that political leader starts talking about anti-nationalist and extremely religious stuff, it badly hinders with secular nature of our Constitution and the unity and integrity of our nation. 

• Economic factors- It is seen that the people who get involved in riots are mostly jobless or frustrated individuals. No successful business tycoon or any highly educated individual has ever been a victim or a part of any religious riots. It is elementary to channel the frustration of such individuals into a completely non-sensible issue as to whether or not there was a temple inside the mosque. 

This is what had happened in Nazi Germany too. The unemployed and frustrated Germans saw hope in hate speech by Hitler and supported him at the stake of millions of innocent lives.

We need to understand that the government is not interested in the number of lives lost in such riots. It has all its focus on its vote bank and syphoning the hard-earned money of innocent citizens. People are busy fighting among themselves while the country lies in peril. We need to wake up and oppose this manipulation before it is too late. 

Is the ruling party in India hiding its worst economic failure through religious propaganda such as the Gyanwapi issue in 2022? 

The Bhartiya Janta Party has emerged as an extremist government, infamously divergent towards the majority Hindu population of the country. Be it the issue of NRC(National Register of Citizens) and CAA(Citizenship Amendment Act) or the revocation of Article 377; the government kept submerging the more critical issues such as raging unemployment, falling economy and increasing poverty under savage topics such as religion. 

Raising these issues not only creates  political chaos, taking attention away from more practical matters, but also instigates communal violence and riots. This heavily favours the vote bank of the government. But the question is, are the innocent lives lost worth the game of thrones? 

The Gyanwapi Mosque-

The ancient Kashi Vishwanath temple was built by Todar Mal, a minister in the court of Akbar. Over later years, it was developed and taken care of by several other well-known personalities. Allegedly, it was demolished by Aurangzeb either out of anguish against his father’s policy of Din-i-lahi or out of hatred for the Hindus in 1669. The temple’s courtyard was left untouched and served as the entrance hall for the Gyanwapi Mosque. 

Signs of the presence of the temple have been found inside the mosque. It has been alleged that there is a well inside the courtyard which encloses a Shiva lingam. However, the Muslim community denies it and claims it is a fountain and has stayed there forever. 

This has led to several cases of communal violence and riots and becoming a cause behind an already widening gap between the two major communities of our country. 

The fact that this issue has been making headlines for weeks now is enough to show the sentimental manipulation being done by the government and the corrupt media houses to sway the attention from the strangled economic conditions of the country. 

In this light, let us take a look at the current economic conditions of India-

• Double digit inflation in India

In October 2020, India entered a phase called technical recession. The GDP then experienced contractions for two quarters in a row. After the ravaging first wave of Covid, which throttled the economy of our country, there commenced the Delta wave. This second wave was even worse than the first one. There was an immense loss of life and livelihood. The pandemic waged a bitter war against humanity, and its success is evident.

K Shaped Recovery

India, since then, has been recovering in factions. Recovery of the formal sector has been made at the cost of informal fractions. Fatefully, the informal sector forms only 90% of the population. This has led to significant inequality between the upper and the lower classes of society. In fact, as of 31 December 2021, the middle class got pushed down by 30%.

• Unemployment is a major issue

The unemployment rate in India is currently the highest in 45 years. The BJP had promised Acche Din, but ironically there has not been more bura din(worse day) in the history of post-independence Indian economy. In its election propaganda in 2019, BJP had promised to create two crore jobs, but during the pandemic, twelve crore people lost jobs and nearly three to four crore people did not get any jobs at all. 

The unemployment rate in the country is at an all-time high of 7.83%.

• Consumption slump 

According to a survey, the standard of living has gone down by 30% in 2022. The World Inequality Report is pegging India as one of the worst performers. The top 10% of people in India hold 57% of the total income. 

A study by Santosh Mehrotra and Jajali Prid found that between 2012-2020, India witnessed an increase in the absolute number of poor. The inflation has been persistently high. Private consumption has slipped from 60.5% in 2019-20 to 57.5% in 2021-22.

• Falling GDP

After the pandemic, India hit its worst ever GDP since independence. 

The graph clearly shows that the current GDP is slogging at -7.3%.

GDP is made by the following components-

However, GDP growth is a show-off. It increases with the increase in expenditure but does not consider where the spending is being made. For example, in India, most of the constructed roads are of so poor quality that they get ruined within a month. The government then spends money on its repair, and it gets destroyed again. This cycle continues and while there is no actual development, the GDP goes high. 

• High Taxation

Instead of relieving the burden off of the suppressed middle class, the finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, introduced absurd terms of taxation in the budget of this year. 

• LPG Cylinder costs have breached Rs. 1000 
• Petrol prices have breached Rs. 100/ litre 
•  Inflation is at an all-time high of 15% 
• Taxes on Fuel are insanely high at 60 %
• Absurd Taxes on new vehicles at 50%
• Reduction in Fixed Deposit Interest Rates 
• Lowest interest rates for Provident Fund in over 40 years 
• Taxing returns from Provident Fund 
•  Long Term Capital Gains Tax 
•  Dividend Distribution Tax 
•  Increased CORRUPTION 
•  Inefficient RERA rules lead to bankrupt and dead home buyers 
•  Expecting the middle class to fulfil all basic needs within 2.5 lakhs ( Section 80c ) 
• Tax on Cryptocurrencies- 30 % Tax

The BJP government is using Religious Riots as a distraction from these critical issues of the nation. 

From 2016-2020 there were 3400 religious riots instigated by BJP’s anti-nationalist propaganda. 

In June 1928, Martyr Bhagat Singh wrote an article about how the government was pushing religious riots to engage the citizens in fights based on false information. Even after about ninety years, the condition is still the same. 

The article mentioned the following reasons behind such riots, and this is still relevant. 

• People who die in riots are not criminals. They die as a result of radicalism and hatred. 

• Herd mentality- When a group of people start following particular propaganda, it appeals to more people simply because it is being followed by many. 

• Sentiments attached with materials are an obstacle to the progress of a nation. While the rest of the world is working on complete automation of technology and sending a man to Mars, our country is busy fighting whether there is Shiv Lingam or a fountain in the Gyanwapi Mosque. 

• Communal politicians and corrupt media play a significant role in moving the mind set of people. Every citizen has their personal favourite among the politicians, and this categorises them according to their political ideology. But when that political leader starts talking about anti-nationalist and extremely religious stuff, it badly hinders with secular nature of our Constitution and the unity and integrity of our nation. 

• Economic factors- It is seen that the people who get involved in riots are mostly jobless or frustrated individuals. No successful business tycoon or any highly educated individual has ever been a victim or a part of any religious riots. It is elementary to channel the frustration of such individuals into a completely non-sensible issue as to whether or not there was a temple inside the mosque. 

This is what had happened in Nazi Germany too. The unemployed and frustrated Germans saw hope in hate speech by Hitler and supported him at the stake of millions of innocent lives.

We need to understand that the government is not interested in the number of lives lost in such riots. It has all its focus on its vote bank and syphoning the hard-earned money of innocent citizens. People are busy fighting among themselves while the country lies in peril. We need to wake up and oppose this manipulation before it is too late.