A report by Oxford International released in January revealed that 9 richest Indians now own wealth equivalent to bottom 50% of the country. The report said, “Indian billionaires saw their fortunes swell by Rs.2,200 crore a day last year, with the top 1 per cent of the country’s richest getting richer by 39 per cent as against just 3 per cent increase in wealth for the bottom-half of the population”.
This data did make some headlines, but a previous report of Oxfam released in October is equally important to look at. According to this report, India ranked 147th out of 157 countries in ‘Commitment to Reduce Inequality (CRI) Index’. It described country’s commitment to reducing inequality as a “a very worrying situation.”
There is, no doubt, a clear lack of commitment by the government to reduce these inequalities. In contrast, it is often seen actively participating directly or indirectly in creating such economic and social inequalities. In this situation, it is important to remember the words of Kaifi Azmi, an illustrious poet, member of Communist Party and a staunch social activist.
“Aaj ki raat bohot garam hawa chalti hai,
Aaj ki raat na foothpath pe neend ayegi.
Sab utho, main bhi uthun, tum bhi uthon, tum bhi uthon,
Koi khidki isi dewaar me khul jaigi.”
“Tonight a searingly hot breeze is blowing,
Tonight on this footpath there will be no sleep
Come let us arise, you and I, and you too, and you
A window in this wall will surely find an opening.”
These were the opening lines of his famous nazm ‘Makaan’. In this poem, Kaifi explains how a particular class is forced to stay away from a place, which they built, carved and decorated by their very own hands. He talks about how a wall which is built to separate them from the others can be broken if everyone rise and unite.
Six decades after the poem was written, we celebrated our 70th Republic Day. The walls he talked about have grown manifold in our democracy. They are not only built to separate people on the basis of class but also caste, religion, language, gender, and are now stronger than ever before. Alarmingly these walls are now built on the corpse of our constitutional values and we might not be rising nor uniting strongly enough to break them.
The United States of America recently went through the longest government shutdown. The reason behind this was a difference of opinion inside the congress on building a wall on Mexican border. Donald Trump believes the Mexicans need to be separated as every one of them coming is a criminal, drug dealer or a rapist.
We in India are doing the exact same thing through the ‘Citizenship (Amendment) Bill’. The only difference is that our wall is selective in nature. It excludes only Muslims in particular. This bill which prohibits only one community from receiving Indian citizenship goes against multiple principles of the Indian constitution.
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on January 8. This bill has now lapsed as Rajya Sabha got adjourned on 13th February without passing or discussing it. But the government can bring an ordinance in this regard.
The Government of India has expressed deep concern over the persecuted minorities of our neighboring countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and believes they have nowhere to go except India. However a completely opposite stand is taken over the persecuted minorities of another neighboring country, Myanmar – the Rohingya Muslims – one of the most vulnerable refugees of the world. The government of India believes every single Rohingya Refugee is an illegal infiltrator and needs to be sent back to Myanmar, where there is a great threat to their lives. It not only expressed the desire to send them back, but also deported seven of them in October 2018, besides spreading deep hatred towards them.
However, PM Modi while addressing a rally in Jammu last Sunday emphasized the need of Citizenship Amendment Bill. He expressed that his government would stand with the ‘Children of Maa Bharti’ who have faced persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. He also said, “They were once part of our republic.” Since this Bill proposes to grant citizenship to only Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi communities and excludes Muslims specifically, this remark should have raised some eyebrows. But considering PM Modi’s past with the RSS and future with 2019 election campaigns, this comment does not come as a surprise.
But the walls in our democracy are not only built with blood and tears squeezed from religious differences, they also contain sweat extracted from the class discrimination that we discussed about. The working class Kaifi Azmi talks about is today deprived completely from basic and quality facilities received by the other side of the wall. This divide has widened in a very systematic and sophisticated manner over the years.
“Government spending on health, education and social protection is woefully low and often subsidizes the private sector. Civil society has consistently campaigned for increased spending,” states the Oxfam report released in October 2018. At the same time, in the interim budget released on February 1, MNREGA budget was reduced by 1000 crores as compared to last years revised budget.
Same is state of education in India. Another revolutionary – Che Guevara had also once said, “The walls of the educational system must come down. Education should not be a privilege, so the children of those who have money can study.” Today, the public universities in India are being privatized in the name of autonomy. This will directly result in exclusion of socially and economically backward students from higher education, as they will fail to bear the burden of fee hike that will follow privatization.
The walls of education system did become taller, but now they are no more limited for separating students. The introduction of 13 point roster system has almost excluded all reserved category applicants to teach at central universities. These candidates are now deprived from their academic ambitions, and universities from their valuable representation.
The protest over all these issues are currently going on and many more are already lined up across the country. The need is to strengthen them and make sure we don’t allow building walls to become a part of running a government anymore. And for the walls already standing tall, once we all rise and unite a window in it might surely find an opening.