Indians are presently celebrating, trumpeting, partying, and rejoicing. Rishi Sunak has become the prime minister of UK, and India beat Pakistan in the T20 World Cup match in Australia.
This reminds me of a sher (couplet) of the Urdu poet Aatish:
"Fasl-e-bahaar aayi piyo sufiyon sharaab
Bas ho chuki namaaz musalla uthaiye"
Indians are exultant over the fact that the country which once ruled India, will now be ruled by a person of Indian origin, that is, the tables will be turned. In my opinion, this is a puerile and inane thought. It is wholly irrelevant that Rishi is of Indian origin, or a Hindu, or is 42. How is the colour of his skin, or the country of his origin, or his age, relevant to the functioning of a British prime minister? Indians also rejoiced when Kamala Harris became Vice President of the US, which only revealed our immaturity.
The only relevant question is what plan Rishi has to salvage UK’s economy, which is in recession.
Recession is due to lack of sales, which means that the productive forces have outstripped demand. How will Rishi create demand? What are his ideas in this respect? He has not clarified anything. He may have worked for Goldman Sachs or as a hedge fund manager, but that does mean he can solve the woes of the British economy?
Moreover, it is silly to think that as British prime minister, Rishi will do anything for India, just as it was silly to think that Kamala Harris would do anything for us.
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And as far as India's victory in the T20 match against Pakistan is concerned, there is no doubt great rejoicing in India for beating our 'enemy' and arch-rivals. But cricket is really one of the opiums of the Indian masses (the others being TV, politics, religion etc). It is an excellent way to divert attention of the people from real issues like poverty, unemployment, price rise, lack of healthcare and good education, casteism, communalism and corruption.
The Roman emperors used to say that if you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses. India's position has slipped to number 107 out of 121 countries in the world Global Hunger Index.
There is massive poverty, unemployment, lack of proper healthcare and good education in India.
So, what is there to celebrate about?
Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
