In fact, there was a well chiseled plan to convert entire railways as Indian Railways Corporation Ltd. But the Government developed cold feet in the last minutes in view of growing public ire against privatization and dropped the proposal for now. Anyway, privatization will push the costs of rail services making Indian Railways prohibitive for general public of whom about 80 crores (800 million) people are poor and live on day to day earnings and that also in our democratic system of governance where people elect the government of transient majority and for that the people are sovereign masters of the elected government.

और मेरे गांव (फुलवरिया) में भांग तो अपवादों को छोड़ कर हर वयस्क लेता था, साल में कम से कम एक दिन- होली के दिन- तो जरूर ही. कुछ उत्साही 'श्रद्धालु' उस दिन अपने बच्चोंं को भी देते थे. लड़कियों के लिए निषेध अवश्य था- यहां भी 'भेदभाव' की परंपरा कायम थी.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been degraded further from the “caged parrot” to a blood hound of the government. When a CBI director, whose tenure was protected, threatened to investigate the Rafael deal, was ousted in a midnight coup, acting director, appointed in place forcibly removed director, effected 40 transfers in the CBI within a day at the behest of the government. Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), was headed by an official, who played a key role in suppressing incriminating documentsrecovered in the raids by Income Tax on the Birla and Sahara group of companies, which showed then Gujarat CM now PM, BJP CMs as recipients of large sums of unaccounted money.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 104 countries women constitute 70 per cent of health and social works and are on the frontlines in the fight against Covid-19 and earn 11 per cent less than men with similar responsibilities. In India, the ASHA grassroots level healthcare workers draw a meagre salary of 3000 per month.

Presently, subversion of the independence of the mainstream media is almost complete even without formal censorship. More than 90 per cent of the mainstream media has been reduced to propaganda arm of the government going to absurd lengths to justify the actions of the government, which are otherwise totally unjustifiable. Examples are coverage of the disastrous decisions of Demonetisation, the Covid-19 induced disastrous and brutal lockdown ostensibly to fight the pandemic infection, and government’s response to Chinese incursion in Ladakh. Prime time debates on most TV channels are attempts to fan anti-Muslim prejudice among people in line with Sangh agenda and its social media campaign. Fake news has become the order of the day so much so that a new term WhatsApp University has been coined wherefrom people derive information from its forwards that propagate falsehoods and outright fabrication for fanning inter-faith hatreds.

It is germane here to point out, in all such hearings of cases, the Solicitor General became points man of the government for all politically sensitive cases where he was allowed to be present. Even without notice to the government or filing of any caveat by the government in violation of all SCI rules, often the apex court had copies and reports handed over to it by the Solicitor General without any other parties to such cases having any access to it and that often-formed basis for orders of the court.

For the first time, fingers are pointed at the independence of the ECI. People have witnessed sharp erosion in the independence and fairness of ECI. People are finding important decisions of ECI like announcement of date of elections and the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct increasingly as partisan and decided by the government. Officials from Gujarat, seen close to Prime Minister-Home Minister, have been appointed to the ECI, with the present Chief Election Commissioner not only being from Gujarat but also one who figures in the Nira Radia tapes where he talks to her about an acquaintance who claims he paid rupees nine crores to the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court for a favourable judgement. Present CEC at that time was heading Air India. That CEC then did not bother to report this serious corruption of a judge to any authority but quietly mentioned it to a corporate lobbyist Nira Radia speaks volume about his integrity.

With the appointment of Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board, Human Resource (HR) Division in the Corporation stands dismantled and replaced to provide secretarial assistance (logistic support) to the Recruitment Board. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Staff Selection Commission (SSC) have also been divested of their responsibility for recruitment of personnel below Joint Secretary level in the Prasar Bharati. With this, the process of replacing wholesale contractual employees with a new such lot following change of government through electoral processes has been obviated as well.This will also ensure long lasting imprint of Sangh ideology on the performances of All India Radio and Door Dashan even after the change of guard at the Centre.

सच तो यह है कि हम (भारतीय) नस्लवादी हैं, रंगभेदी मानसिकता से ग्रस्त हैं, साम्प्रदायिक हैं, विधर्मियों और अपने आलोचकों के प्रति असहिष्णु हैं. हम आसानी से धर्मान्धता में बह जाते हैं. हमारा समाज बुनियादी रूप से स्त्री विरोधी है. भाषा और क्षेत्र के आधार पर अहं का टकराव तो है ही. और जब मैं ‘हम’ कहता हूँ, तो यह सिर्फ धार्मिक बहुसंख्यकों, यानी हिंदुओं के लिए नहीं कहता. गैर हिंदू समाज भी कमोबेश ऐसी ही नकारात्मक मानसिकता और धार्मिक संकीर्णता से भी ग्रस्त है.

Presently, there are four categories of anti-national crimes, North-East Insurgency, Naxalism renamed Left Wing Extremism (LWEs), Jihadi terrorism and other terrorism. Such anti-national crimes are charged under the four draconian laws, Indian Penal Code (sedition provision), Official Secrets Act, Prevention of Damages to Property Act, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (the most dreaded anti-terror law). Official agencies that investigate and prosecute anti-national crimes are, Police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for all sorts of crimes like corruption, counterfeiting of currencies and financial frauds, National Investigation Agency (NIA) for terrorism and subversive activities, and Enforcement Directorate (ED) for financial frauds especially money laundering. These agencies aregrossly misused mostly as never before, by the current Union Government and its sisterly state governments (BJP ruled States) to frame up people adversarial to the governments, harass them, incarcerate them, violate their human rights with impunityand even attach their properties. Most such cases are frame-up and make-believe  to hoodwink the people.