How to stop India turning into a failed state like Venezuela?

Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela with a strong rhetoric of populist policies and as it turned out many of his policies were pork-barrel. Indeed, he was the popular president of Venezuela and wanted to amend the Constitution to remain at the helms of the power forever.

The ambition to remain at the helm of the power forever smirks of dictatorial tendencies. No country can remain dependent on the whims and fancies of one person, because as now proved by the case of Venezuela, democracy matters and democratic decision-making matters.

Modi’s Man Ki Baat is modelled after Chavez’s weekly radio program where Chavez was talking directly to the masses. Modi’s Man Ki Baat program is actually the beginning of his dictatorial tendencies.

Why does Modi need to talk his “Heart’s talk” to the citizens?

He has the best platforms to talk with the citizens through Parliament and through the proper press conferences. He is directly bypassing the Parliament and the press conferences. What is he afraid of? We will leave this question here for a moment and come back to it later in our discussion.

Today, Venezuela is the failed state with 90 percent citizens struggling to get the food and three-fourth of the population is not properly fed. It is a paradox that the country so endowed with oil (it is claimed that it has more gas and oil than Saudi Arabia) is facing such a drastic situation.

India is a vast country with many resources, but still, India is not able to maximise the resources that it has due to its geography. The economy of Venezuela has collapsed completely with the inflation is reaching many degrees higher than even dreamt of by any sane country.

Maduro, who took reigns after the death of Chavez, is resorting to printing more money, instead of making money. In an ironical way, he even tried to copy “demonetization” that was forced on Indians by Modi, but due to a huge public pressure, he abandoned the policy.

We are yet to understand the logic of demonetization and it has affected the economy very deeply that the RBI is not even able to tell how much money is back in the state’s coffers. So Maduro is watching India’s Modi in terms of how through the smokescreen of “populist” policies, a dictatorial regime can come into exist and survive even in the garb of democracy.

Venezuela is undergoing not only an economic crisis, but it is also undergoing a political crisis and Maduro would like to bypass democracy and its institutions to establish himself as the powerful ruler. Indian political scene is also depressing as the RSS/BJP is trying to create a monolithic political system where there is no scope for any divergent voices. RSS/BJP is trying to create a monolithic undemocratic state and they have already started gagging the OBCs, SCs, STs and the minorities. It is clear from their policy approaches. However, the RSS/BJP regime is creating a facade of “populist” policies to further their authoritarian agenda.

We have seen the results of the “socialist” agenda of Hugo Chavez and where it led the citizens into. India will soon see the similar future if the RSS/BJP imitates and models on the lines of Venezuela. The topmost priority is to safeguard the democratic institutions in India and if the institutions are killed India is surely heading for a big crisis.

We have to stop a person become greater than the national interest and national sovereignty. We have to stop the fascist organisation to take over our country through any means possible.

Coming back to the question that was raised in the beginning, the RSS/BJP is afraid of leaving the power because it will expose their wrongdoings to the general population. It has to answer the largest constituency of the OBCs, SCs, STs, and converted minorities.

The RSS/BJP must run the transparent government and not the opaque and secretive government. Failed state Venezuela is showing us the way where not to go. Indian media is claiming that the rising cost of tomatoes (100 rupees per kg) will be balanced by the falling cost of other commodities.

The entirely twisted logic that has been thrown onto the Indians. Political and economic is entwined and this is exactly what is happening in India, but with the twist of social engineering which the RSS/BJP is so fond of.

Save India turning into a failed state!

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale, Human Rights Activist