Skip to main content

National development? Begun by Congress, Modi 'selling away' shared life, resources

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

The Indian National Congress under the leadership of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was responsible for the beginning of half-hearted liberalisation policies in the name of economic development and modernisation in India. The half-hearted liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies became the cornerstone of new economic policies launched by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
These policies are in full swing under the Hindutva laissez-faire under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose mantra is based on the idea of ‘minimum government and maximum governance’. The market forces and corporates are absolutely free to rob public resources without any form of deterrence.
From river, sand, fishing, water to land, forests, woodlands, playgrounds, mining and minerals are for sale. From defence sectors to banking, postal, railways, health, education, road and transportation sectors are controlled by the market forces.
There is nothing in India which can’t be sold under the Hindutva government led by Modi. The Congress party has laid the foundation of this process of robbery and Hindutva forces are accelerating the process and institutionalising it as a norm of everyday lives in India.
The privatisation of public resources is not only about transfer of ownership and profit to the private corporations. It is a process of privatising profits and socialising risk. The Hindutva theft of the commons is a capitalist pursuit to dismantle collective foundation of society and public ownership of resources. It is in a direction of no return where pursuit of profit, atomisation of individual life is central to the growth of market and corporations.
The growth of urban monoculture and ghettoization of lives within housing estates dictate norms of everyday life where individuals mortgage their future and freedom in search of a house in the city. The villages were destroyed by ruining the sources of livelihoods of the villagers. The commercialisation and commodification of lives and livelihoods are the only common culture between urban and rural areas in India today.
Hindutva forces are spreading the politics of otherness and hate in everyday life which brings rural and urban areas together against the religious minorities and marginalised communities. The sense of fear and hate are the twin pillars on which urban and rural India is standing to confront a miserable future created by the Hindutva politics.
Poverty, unemployment, hunger, homelessness and crime are five net outcomes of Hindutva robbery of India and Indians. The destruction of public resources, public images, public institutions and fellow feelings are central to Hindutva hegemony over society and politics, and crony capitalist control over economy. These processes help in the atomisation project that is concomitant with capitalism. Hindutva and capitalism are twin forces that accelerate unhitched robbery of life, liberty and livelihoods in India.
Hindutva is a class war and unprecedented class robbery unleashing on Indian masses. Their agricultural land, river, forest, playgrounds, airports, schools, colleges and universities, hospitals are either captured or waiting to be captured by the Hindutva crony capitalist thieves.
The cultural, religious and social genocides are conducted by the Hindutva forces in the name of nationalism to control, manage, manipulate, sabotage and dismantle any form of unity among working people against this Hindutva robbery to uphold the interests of few corporations in India. The people and their constitutional citizenship rights are disposables.
Hindutva is a collective robbery of public imagination in India. The state power provides legitimacy to such a process that legalised robbery as an art and a beautiful product of previous Karma. The unpolluted and simple people were manipulated to vote such a political process that had not expected that ‘Achhe din’ (good days) means loss of livelihoods, peace, social solidarity and cultural bond among people.
The shared life and resources are ruined in the name of national development, but the reality is different. It is an organised tragedy of all Indians. If you are a Kashmiri, a Muslim, a Dalit, a worker and a tribal, your tragedy is multiplied with every passing every seconds. Hindutva generates multiple forms of tragedies in the name of fake nationalism to legitimise robbery. Hindutva destroys a sense of collective belonging to a place and people by dividing people in religious lines. The monolithic and ethnic nationalism of Hindutva is western European in letter and spirit. It is alien to India and Indians.
It is within this context, one needs to understand Hindutva robbery of society, culture, religion, politics, economy and nationalism in India. The very survival of India and Indians depend on the defeat of these forces working overtime and unleashing a terror of the theft of the commons. The alternative narrative needs to be based on the interests of the masses and their control over all public resources in India.
To stop the privatisation of India, Indians must stop buying electoral promises from the political market of Hindutva. A collective electoral boycott of Hindutva is the immediate alternative that can halt the forward march of Hindutva robbery in India.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

TRENDING

From algorithms to exploitation: New report exposes plight of India's gig workers

By Jag Jivan   The recent report, "State of Finance in India Report 2024-25," released by a coalition including the Centre for Financial Accountability, Focus on the Global South, and other organizations, paints a stark picture of India's burgeoning digital economy, particularly highlighting the exploitation faced by gig workers on platform-based services. 

'Condonation of war crimes against women and children’: IPSN on Trump’s Gaza Board

By A Representative   The India-Palestine Solidarity Network (IPSN) has strongly condemned the announcement of a proposed “Board of Peace” for Gaza and Palestine by former US President Donald J. Trump, calling it an initiative that “condones war crimes against children and women” and “rubs salt in Palestinian wounds.”

India’s road to sustainability: Why alternative fuels matter beyond electric vehicles

By Suyash Gupta*  India’s worsening air quality makes the shift towards clean mobility urgent. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) are central to India’s strategy, they alone cannot address the country’s diverse pollution and energy challenges.

Gig workers hold online strike on republic day; nationwide protests planned on February 3

By A Representative   Gig and platform service workers across the country observed a nationwide online strike on Republic Day, responding to a call given by the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) to protest what it described as exploitation, insecurity and denial of basic worker rights in the platform economy. The union said women gig workers led the January 26 action by switching off their work apps as a mark of protest.

Jayanthi Natarajan "never stood by tribals' rights" in MNC Vedanta's move to mine Niyamigiri Hills in Odisha

By A Representative The Odisha Chapter of the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), which played a vital role in the struggle for the enactment of historic Forest Rights Act, 2006 has blamed former Union environment minister Jaynaynthi Natarjan for failing to play any vital role to defend the tribals' rights in the forest areas during her tenure under the former UPA government. Countering her recent statement that she rejected environmental clearance to Vendanta, the top UK-based NMC, despite tremendous pressure from her colleagues in Cabinet and huge criticism from industry, and the claim that her decision was “upheld by the Supreme Court”, the CSD said this is simply not true, and actually she "disrespected" FRA.

Stands 'exposed': Cavalier attitude towards rushed construction of Char Dham project

By Bharat Dogra*  The nation heaved a big sigh of relief when the 41 workers trapped in the under-construction Silkyara-Barkot tunnel (Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand) were finally rescued on November 28 after a 17-day rescue effort. All those involved in the rescue effort deserve a big thanks of the entire country. The government deserves appreciation for providing all-round support.

Whither space for the marginalised in Kerala's privately-driven townships after landslides?

By Ipshita Basu, Sudheesh R.C.  In the early hours of July 30 2024, a landslide in the Wayanad district of Kerala state, India, killed 400 people. The Punjirimattom, Mundakkai, Vellarimala and Chooralmala villages in the Western Ghats mountain range turned into a dystopian rubble of uprooted trees and debris.

Over 40% of gig workers earn below ₹15,000 a month: Economic Survey

By A Representative   The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while reviewing the Economic Survey in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the rapid growth of gig and platform workers in India. According to the Survey, the number of gig workers has increased from 7.7 million to around 12 million, marking a growth of about 55 percent. Their share in the overall workforce is projected to rise from 2 percent to 6.7 percent, with gig workers expected to contribute approximately ₹2.35 lakh crore to the GDP by 2030. The Survey also noted that over 40 percent of gig workers earn less than ₹15,000 per month.

Fragmented opposition and identity politics shaping Tamil Nadu’s 2026 election battle

By Syed Ali Mujtaba*  Tamil Nadu is set to go to the polls in April 2026, and the political battle lines are beginning to take shape. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state on January 23, 2026, marked the formal launch of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Addressing multiple public meetings, the Prime Minister accused the DMK government of corruption, criminality, and dynastic politics, and called for Tamil Nadu to be “freed from DMK’s chains.” PM Modi alleged that the DMK had turned Tamil Nadu into a drug-ridden state and betrayed public trust by governing through what he described as “Corruption, Mafia and Crime,” derisively terming it “CMC rule.” He claimed that despite making numerous promises, the DMK had failed to deliver meaningful development. He also targeted what he described as the party’s dynastic character, arguing that the government functioned primarily for the benefit of a single family a...