PM Modi’s speech to the nation on 15th August

Speak what the people want to hear, do what the capitalists want

It was expected that the Prime Minister’s speech to the nation on the occasion of the 70th Independence Day would be filled with claims of achievements of his government in the past two years. So, it was no surprise that he boasted of many things his government is supposed to have done for the people. Nor is it a matter of surprise that there is little or no evidence in the lives of the people of many of the achievements he boasted of – like the reining in of inflation, electrification of villages, creating an enabling situation for youth to get jobs, etc. His claim that, “I and my government did not allow the cost of a poor man’s thaali (plate) to be unaffordable”, was one of the most glaring mismatches between the Prime Minister’s claims and reality.

Noticeable in its absence was any mention of the severe and inhuman suffering of the people of Kashmir and the brutal attacks on dalits in the name of gau-raksha. Just in the last month before he stood at the ramparts of the Red Fort, hundreds of youth in Kashmir had become victims of the utmost brutality of the security forces of the state; people had been deprived of all communication links; the Press had been muzzled; curfew had been clamped in Srinagar and many towns. The situation in Kashmir continues to go from bad to worse, with more deaths and blinding by pellets, and people being picked up at random and beaten to death by the security forces. Elsewhere in the country, dalits have risen up in the thousands to protest the inhuman atrocities against them in recent months as well as to express their deep hatred for this system that has brutally humiliated and tortured them for the past many generations.

Not only did Modi not address these burning issues, he shook off all responsibility for these. He projected himself as a great statesman, standing above all these conflicts. He tried to make out as if some “backward minded” people are the source of all these problems, while his party and government, in particular he himself, are above all these and have some great vision for the society. He spoke of lofty ideals and intentions – “We have to fight social evils together”, “Unity in diversity is our greatest strength”, “Our cultural tradition of respect for others, and assimilation is the reason why our civilisation has persisted”, “Let’s fight poverty, by fighting our own people we will destroy ourselves, only by fighting poverty together will we prosper”.  Through all these high-sounding homilies, the Prime Minister is seeking to cover up the fact that he and his government are presiding over a political system that is based on imposing with utmost ferocity the will of the ruling class, the big monopoly capitalist class, over the masses of toiling people. He is trying to hide the fact that smashing the unity of people through systematic casteist, communal and other sectarian propaganda as well crushing the people’s resistance through barbaric state terrorism has been the tried and tested method by which the ruling class maintains its minority rule over the masses of toilers, and the present government is very actively implementing just this under PM Modi’s leadership. He and his government are in fact continuing the legacy of previous prime ministers and leaders, talking in the name of the people, as if they are the greatest defenders of people’s rights, while executing the most anti-people course in the interest of their class.

The biggest deceit in the Prime Minister’s speech was his ‘expression of friendship and concern’ for the people of Balochistan and their human rights. By pointing fingers at Pakistan, PM Modi would like the people of India to forget the blatant violation of human rights in Kashmir, the savage state terrorism in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Chhattisgarh etc. through all these years.

It suits the Indian ruling class to raise this issue at this time when its actions in Kashmir are being opposed by masses of people. The state of Pakistan, like India has many unresolved problems, including the problem of the Baluchi peoples struggle for their national rights. The Indian state has been fishing in these troubled waters, not out of concern for the rights of the Baluchi people, but in order to weaken Pakistan. It is a fact that the Pakistani state has time and again accused India of interfering in Balochistan and other regions of Pakistan through its intelligence agencies, including the fomenting of terrorist attacks in that country.  The Prime Minister’s utterances show that his government has neither any interest in addressing the political problems facing the Kashmiri people, nor any interest in building relations of friendship, peace and mutual benefit with Pakistan. Instead, this government is determined to pursue a course that will endanger peace and security of all the peoples of this region.

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