By Justice Markandey Katju
In his famous novel 'A Tale of Two Cities' The British author Charles Dickens writes :
''It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us, we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way''
This is precisely the situation in India today.
(1) The following articles ( supported by massive propaganda by the 'godi media' ) say everything is hunky dory in India, GDP is growing, the stock market is booming, India is shining, and soon rivers of milk and honey will flow in our country :
(2) But the following articles paint the reverse picture :
So what is the truth ?
Even if there is GDP growth, the question remains : who is getting the fruits of this growth, the Indian masses, or a handful of big businessmen and corporates.?
The truth is that there is massive poverty in India.
Global Hunger Index, an internationally renowned agency, has mentioned that half of India’s children suffer from malnutrition, and many are wasted and stunted. Out of the 121 countries it surveyed, India has slipped from position number 101 to 107, behind the poorest sub Saharan countries like Somalia, and behind neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Srilanka.
Prices of essential commodities like food have skyrocketed. Recently a ₹50 increase in the price of cooking gas cylinders was announced.
Unemployment in India is at a record high. For even 100 jobs of peons advertised by the government there are usually half a million applicants, many of them Ph.Ds, engineers, MBAs, MSc, etc, all begging for a menial job.
Proper healthcare and good education is almost non-existent for the Indian masses (though there are state of the art hospitals and IITs for a few).
So is India going towards heaven or hell, as Charles Dickens asked ?
One feels one is like Alice in Wonderland when confronted with this question, and one's mind boggles.
https://writerscafeteria.com/guest-blogging/alice-in-the-wonderland-that-is-india/
So what is the truth ? Let the people decide.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
