The Verdict 2007, Gujarat : " The Development Unabated "Goes Unabated

The Verdict -2007 , Gujarat: "The Development" goes Unabated

Gujarat has again passed the majority test.
It apparently means that hating, killing and raping of minority is
okey, if
you have the sanction of majority.
Let the minority be condemned for ever to live as second class citizens,
always begging for their lives and honour.
This is just not a case of our Consitution being undermined by the
proponents of hindutva alone.
If we take the recent developments in Nandigran of West Bengal, or
those reported
from the states of Jharkhand, Chathisghad Andhrapradesh, Orissa Kerala
or any other state for that matter,
cases of cynical betrayal of the Rule Of Law by each political
partyor group , which competes with the others to push through a
neoliberal economic
agenda of Development can be seen. Despite the apparent differences in
degrees in their
stated commitments to formal democracy and peaceful forms of
governance with
allegiance to the Constitution, there seems to be a consensus running that
it is neither unethical nor undemocratic to kill, rape or loot people, if
'democratically' sanctioned by "people's mandate".
Be it the Salva Judum, the Hindutva brigade, or the armed party cadres
(with police on their side)
fighting the unarmed people engaged in democratic struggle
to protect their agricultural lands from being taken away for the sake
of SEZ,
the scenario is same everywhere notwithstanding the differences in
rhetoric.
How could it otherwise happen that the secular and non-hindutwa based
Rajeev Gandhi Foundation and the popular magazine India Today (again,
secular) capped Narendra Modi with the title of the best CM who had fared
well in bringing development to any State in recent times? Apparently,
these were outcomes of opinion polls conducted / partaken by the
representatives of classes aspiring for higher GDPs even at the
expense of
letting down vast multitudes of less privileged people.
The latter, the same people who eagerly wait outside for the crumbs of
Development are virtually being told that their fortunes depend on
supporting the very same agenda of Development: ( Never mind those
killings, rapes or lootings of 2002 done in broad daylight, though you
were
actually missing a chance, when you had been assured of impunity for
three
days not only for doing anything to dismember 'the other' , but also to
help yourself by appropriating the booty)
Though there is no claim to adding any new insight to the too familiar
discourse of Upholding Democracy Against Hate and Bigotry, I would
suggest that it is
imperative to focus more on the near consensus between the ruling
classes over the neoliberal agenda of Development as one that obscures and
subverts the Rule of Law and the Constitution , than on dwelling too
much on
the agenda of Hindurashtra itself (because it is unmistakably clear,
anyway).