Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist. You can e-mail the author at aakar.patel@gmail.com
'Two consecutive quarters of negative growth are the technical definition of an economic recession, and for the first time in this generation's memory, we may be staring at one,' observes Aakar Patel.
'The Union government does not have much of a governance function other than to send orders.' 'But even the sending down of orders it cannot do properly,' observes Aakar Patel.
'One hopes that it is for the better that this disaster alters our reality from the morning of May 4,' notes Aakar Patel.
India is going into the longest lockdown in the world, with the least amount of notice given to its people and the least preparation by its government.
The answer cannot be that we will beat the disease at the end of the 21 days. And the answer cannot be that it is to halt the spread because the spread is going to happen anyway, notes Aakar Patel.
One third of all Indians live in one room. Another one third lives in 2 rooms. They cannot self quarantine or isolate and if infected they will pass it on to others. It is impossible for India to control an epidemic, warns Aakar Patel.
No nation is fully sovereign to do what it wants to do in the face of opposition from others, points out Aakar Patel.
'Modi has presided over an ultra-nationalism that has stunted India's growth, been unable to change the country's external situation, brought foreign intervention into Indian affairs,' explains Aakar Patel.
'Are we too close as well-off Indians, all with servants and drivers and tuition teachers ourselves, to be able to understand why it is all so awful?', asks Aakar Patel.
'The government has given up its focus on economic growth because it it not something Modi has been able to fully understand.' 'This explains the extraordinary focus on divisive politics by the BJP even at a time when the world's most important man in visiting India,' notes Aakar Patel.
'Modi's strategy to redesign India's economy was Make in India, but that has flopped,' says Aakar Patel.
'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
'The best thing that Modi can hope for in this visit is that he is able to mobilise Indians in America to vote Republican and try and help Trump return to power,' argues Aakar Patel.
'Do the Muslims of India think that they are receiving justice from their nation and particularly from the Supreme Court?'
'India is growing at the lowest rate in the last decade.' 'If it continues in that path then the jobs and prosperity that has been promised by this government and on the basis of which it was voted in, will continue to elude us,' says Aakar Patel.
Why are the protesters still on their own and why are political parties abstaining from joining this mass movement? Aakar Patel explains.
'This is millions of Indians standing up for values rather than an individual gain.' 'This is why this protest is unique and this is why this protest has for the first time made this government uncertain and doubtful of what to do next,' says Aakar Patel.
It is going to be a rough and brutal 2020 for India as its government pushes on with its ideological agenda, and the citizens do whatever they can to protect themselves, notes Aakar Patel.
'It is never a good idea to let the broad population determine policy that is the domain of experts and specialists,' notes Aakar Patel.
'When one has a lot of power, one can shut one's ears to the other side. This is what is common between the BJP of 2019 and the Congress of 1947,' says Aakar Patel.
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