India has transformed into a state of black & white. Either you are a ‘Bhakt’ (white) or you are a Pakistani (black). Dialogue and discourse has died a sudden death in India. On 8 November 2016, Prime Minister Damodardass Modi unilaterally declared that 500 and 1,000 Indian Rupee paper currency has been made invalid.
This was an executive order of an individual. It may have been the Prime Minister but no Court of Law has been asked to adjudicate whether such an executive order is tenable under the Constitution of India. Maybe, this order is legally viable. We do not wish to get into that here. However, some questions may seem in place.
Has Kashmir really gone quiet or has the national media been fooled into getting diverted into a great big issue?
After the paper currency has been declared as worthless, why are Indian banks accepting those useless slips of paper and claiming they have received thousands of crores in deposits? Generally, it is understood that the paper currency is backed by gold reserves, export earnings, natural and human wealth of a nation.
Signed by various Governors of the Reserve Bank of India, every individual currency states ‘I promise to pay the bearer…’. This promise is not of any individual or even the group of elected representatives who form the government of the day. This promise is backed by the nation as a whole. When one man can decide (and execute) to dishonour this ‘promise’, this nation could be rushing into a terrible state.
The nation’s currency is an economic tool. No other nation in history has used it for political results. To claim that the 2016 demonetisation of the Indian National Rupee (INR) is to root out black money seems a simplistic and farfetched notion.
Indians, as a race, have never been educated and encouraged to become taxpayers. The benefits that should accrue from paying taxes have not been, ever, made attractive for the meagre 3 per cent of the population that pays direct tax. Thus, the character that drives the desire of creating wealth without paying tax cannot be discouraged by this demonetisation overnight.
That will result in two things. First, the same corrupt businessman, bureaucrat, police, judge, politician and in fact anybody who is anybody, will continue to evade tax. Second, the INR, dreaming to be the representative of a super power growing economy, will definitely be internationally viewed as highly undependable and a risky currency.
The desire to deal with the INR, already considered a weak currency, will be further eroded in world money markets. The prime reason for this is simple to understand. The long Democratic tradition in the US has come crashing down with the stupendous defeat of Hillary Clinton. The amazing victory of Republican Donald Trump proves democracy inherently describes change.
Drawing a parallel, we saw the ouster of Manmohan and the coming to power of Modi. Sooner than later, Mr Modi, too, will be replaced. It is very likely that the next Prime Minister, in a moment of great stress, will desperately seek to grab a straw and trying to save the Chair will again demonetize the INR.
Will those supporting the cry against black money today be prepared for another change prior to 2019 or before any other major election? If Punjab and UP Assembly elections could trigger this ‘surgical strike’ against black money, what could the next elections bring forth?
India survived the Asian Tigers’ meltdown of the late 1990s. It survived the subprime crash of the US and Europe in the late 2000s. It has fared well even when China is weakening as at present.
Has anyone in power ever tried to search and find the reasons behind the resilience of the Indian economy? Could it be that the unorganised sector, including the farm, tiny, small and medium enterprises which deal only in cash are in any way responsible for this cushioning?
Is it also possible that these unorganised players protect our economy from massive foreign attacks? Let us not forget the tiny haldi (turmeric) farmer of Kandhamal or Koraput. Even his family is seen standing near a bank waiting to change ‘black’ money at a bank at least 20 km away from his home.
His problem: he has to make copies of his Aadhar card and fill in a long questionnaire which is in English and Hindi only. Both languages are unknown to him. No one around is free to help. And a mass of paper is demanding to be filled in the quest for a paperless currency.
Do the bhakts really believe that villagers in India will open bank accounts and transact business online? Are we, as a nation, truly so far away from ground realities that exist probably 10 floors below our comfortable apartments?
It will be pointless to make insinuations and draw conclusions from glaring verified reports that showcase a huge spike in bank deposits in the last few months. We are not bothered about the hilarious deposit of about Rs3 plus crore in a Calcutta bank by the state BJP unit on November 8.
We also must desist in pointing fingers at UP BJP Chief’s daughter holding a huge pile of 2,000 rupee notes which was circulated in social media November 9.
As a Twitterati, Pallavi, has aptly put — “If I reflect the anguish on the streets I am anti-national!! Since when has our nationalism become so fragile?”