Wit Wisdom and Whoop

Risks of Digitisation: A Congress and allies government “used” Aadhar to create vote banks by giving illegal immigrants the opportunity to become voters leveraging this proof of identity – famously termed as a non-identity document. Case in point are West Bengal and Jammu Kashmir.  The Modi Govt leveraged this same system to improve the delivery of cash to citizens and then by linking this to PAN and other transactions brought in an ocean of data to be analysed. Over time this has only sharpened and like all decisions of (any) Govt, there are those who have been affected and others benefitted. If the number of beneficiaries are far higher than those affected, the criticism of the affected gets blunted. In the case of digitisation, recall what happened in Canada recently, where a supposedly liberal and democratic leader used digital technology to silence not just the truckers who were protesting for very genuine reasons but even common citizens who dared to support the truckers....

Kashmir: It is nobody’s case except those who had a personal stake in the older eco system and policies, that continuance of Art 370 was a perversity. Pakistan absorbed the areas it had captured in 1948 within itself, gave away large tracts of land to China and left just a sliver of land as a dispute across the border. India, even after the Himalayan blunder of vacillating and delaying military action in 1948 not only created this pernicious Art 370 but subsisted with it for 75 years. The BJP and its earlier avatar Jan Sangh, red flagged this and opposed it since 1948, demanding its removal. The Modi Govt achieved this target after 75 years and bifurcated the state. Making Ladakh a UT was key especially since the Chinese attack and as a border area, the central Govt had to maintain complete control. While one can debate converting J & K as a UT, instead of the state that it was, again this is a strategic move. The bar for a future non-BJP Govt to revert to the old system of hav...

Ayodhya and Kashi: My private joke in 2015 was that only a multiple missile attack on the Kashi area to raze it to the ground and then rebuilding the city afresh, was the only way given the geographical complexities involved. By 2019 I had to eat humble pie given that the Ganga had been cleaned up beyond recognition. As I mentioned in my 2019 blog, the cleaning of Ganga was conceptualised by that “genius” Sam Pitroda in 1985, 29 years later was as filthy as ever, 5 years under the Modi Govt, the Ganga was gleaming clean and in 2019 was a pleasure to see. A periodic visitor to Kashi told me that earlier he dreaded to walk along the Ganga ghats given that he stepped in a pile of shit often. Today, he said he could walk from one end of the ghats to the other end admiring the Ganga with no risk of filth underfoot. Even the Manikarnika ghat, where the cremations happen is clean and one could actually take a bath barring for the ashes from the wood flying in the wind. The Kashi Vishwanath ...

ALL PICTURES IN THIS BLOG EXCEPT A FEW TAKEN FROM INTERNET - THERE IS NO COMMERCIAL INTENT/USE & ACK WITH THANKS WHOEVER ARE THE AUTHORS OF THESE PICTURES In January 2019 I wrote a 3-part blog on the end of term view of the Narendra Modi Govt. Those interested can read them here. I sincerely feel that a reading of the 2019 blogs will give a real flavour to the readers. Modi Govt view - 2014 We are now in 2024 and so I share my views on the end of term of Modi 2.0 with the 2024 elections looming large. I first try to update the topics I spoke about 5 years back. Defence: Defence is a subject where decisions and actions initiated can easily take 15 years before one sees the impact of those. Modi 2.0 was unrelenting in its efforts to bolster the security of the nation and play catch up as fast as possible. Much has been done in the last 5 years even as events tested the armed forces of the nation. Some key points to recall, not in any order. Women’s empowerment was demonstrate...