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Iran suffers with the rising HIV/AIDS problems, regime fails to combat

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Iran suffers with the rising HIV/AIDS problems, regime fails to combat

Despite the government’s pledge to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, the number of individuals suffering from AIDS/HIV in Iran has been steadily rising.

According to a 2016 survey by the United Nations, there were roughly 5000 new infections between the years 2010 and 2016, adding up to the total of 66 thousand people living with HIV. However, some estimates claim that there may be over 100 thousand Iranians suffering from HIV, highlighting significant discrepancies between official statistics and reality.

The AIDS epidemic in Iran has a significant drug-related dimension. Being part of the Golden Crescent, a region spanning Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan with prominent illicit opium production, Iran has served as a pathway for drug traffickers in the shipping of narcotics from Afghanistan to Europe.

While the Iranian government does not treat drug trafficking lightly, the illegal drug trade has fueled the country’s growing problems with drug addiction.

According to a survey carried out by the Iranian Drug Control Organization, there are about 2.8 million Iranians who regularly use narcotics. Out of those, roughly 67 percent take heroin as their primary drug.

The widespread availability of heroin and other opiates, which are often taken intravenously, has served as an important vector spreading AIDS/HIV among drug addicts, with UN statistics claiming that 9.3 percent of Iranian drug addicts currently have HIV.

While there have been efforts undertaken by the government to promote the use of clean needles and other practices targeting the spread of AIDS/HIV among drug users, the country’s policy against addicts has sometimes been called a “vicious cycle”.

According to Mohammad Bakhshandeh, the chief of the Drug Police of Greater Tehran, the problem is largely caused by ineffective policies which treat drug addicts as criminals, rather than victims of addiction.

“If we have accepted the fact that addicts are not criminals and consider them as sick individuals, we should also accept that it is the duty of municipal and health departments to look after them, not the police’s,” Bakhshandeh said. In turn, HIV has entered Iranian prisons, with roughly 1 percent of Iran’s prisoners now suffering from HIV.

However, more than ever before, there has been a steady increase in HIV transmission rates through unprotected sexual intercourse, rather than intravenous drug use. This is not limited only to Iranian sex workers, where up to 2 percent of all sex workers suffer from HIV, but to the younger generation in general.

Indeed, whereas about 70 percent of sex workers suffering from HIV know their status, only 41 of the general population suffering from HIV are aware of their condition. Similarly, the country’s treatment services have also delivered lackluster results, with only 13 percent of HIV-positive individual having suppressed viral loads as part of treatment.

This has been particularly problematic for the younger generation. According to Parvin Afsar Kazerouni, the head of the Health Ministry’s AIDS department, more than 50 percent of HIV patients in Iran are between 21 and 35.

Although the government continues to blame illegal drug use as the chief source of HIV transmission, unprotected sexual intercourse is becoming a significant factor.

This can be partly explained through the lack of sexual education program offered to Iran’s youth, with only 18 percent of Iranian youth aged between 15-24 knowing about HIV prevention.

The government’s inability to provide well-rounded sexual education to its young population highlights an equally difficult challenge to the regime’s fundamentalist character.

While drug addiction and prostitution continue to be deemed as “social problems”, the ostracized nature of HIV-positive individuals in the general public presents an immensely problematic issue, which effectively prevents the possibility to educate individuals on HIV and living with an HIV-positive status.

In turn, this ineffective policy may lead to the further spread of this disease, particularly to at risk group such as gay men who already retain a highly stigmatized position in Iranian society, as well as to other segments of the Iranian population.

Article first published on RadioFarda

Health benefits of exercising in Winter season

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Health benefits of exercising in Winter season

The shift to colder, winter weather often makes us feel lethargic and deters our motivation to go outside.

But before you pull over the blankets or curl up by the fire to watch your favorite show, you should consider the potential benefits of cold-weather workouts.

Aside from helping to ease fears of potential winter weight gain, exercising outdoors in colder weather has numerous health benefits. The average winter weight gain ranges from 5-10 pounds, Senior Director of Clinical Nutrition at Mt. Sinai Rebecca Blake told AccuWeather.

While many avoid the cold, outdoor winter workouts are a great way to take in small doses of sunlight. The sunlight can help to improve mood and help with vitamin D intake, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).

Winter exercise boosts immunity during cold and flu season. A few minutes a day can help prevent simple bacterial and viral infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Shivering, a mechanism to produce heat, also burns a significant amount of calories. Studies have shown that people expend five times more energy when shivering, compared to when they are resting.

Regardless of exercise, studies have shown that being outside in cold weather can transform white fat, specifically belly and thigh fat, into calorie-burning beige or brown fat.

Brown fat’s purpose is to burn calories to generate heat. Brown fat is often referred to as the “good” fat because it helps to burn rather than store calories.

A 2014 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, showed people have more genetic markers for brown fat in the winter than during the warmer months. This could signal slightly more calorie burn in the winter as the body insulates itself.

“Browning fat tissue would be an excellent defense against obesity. It would result in the body burning extra calories rather than converting them into additional fat tissue,” Study Author Dr. Philip A. Kern said in a release.

While the cold weather may deter some from outdoor physical activity, working out in the cold has several advantages over warmer weather workouts.

There is no heat and humidity to deal with in colder weather. Winter’s chill might even make you feel awake and invigorated, according to AHA.

In the cold, your body can regulate its temperature a little better. This means you can often exercise farther or longer; therefore, you can potentially burn even more calories, according to AHA.

Exercising in extreme temperatures, hot or cold, has shown the ability to enhance endurance and mental edge. However, it is important to be aware of the potential risks and proper safety precautions before venturing out.

The Mayo Clinic provides numerous tips for staying safe during your cold-weather exercise:

Preparations for cold versus warm workouts differ. Both require proper nutrition and hydration. However, in warmer weather, your body will “climatize,” or adapt to the heat, whereas your body does not do that for the cold, according to Dr. Jonathan Finnoff, medical director at the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center.

The body will constrict blood vessels more vigorously and earlier as well as start to shiver earlier in cold weather. Layers of clothing are especially important in preparation for cold-weather exercise, differing from warm weather.

“You can take off a layer if you start to sweat and get too hot and put them back on if you get too cold. You can’t really take off enough clothes in the heat when at risk for heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke,” Finnoff said.

Depending on how cold it is and how exposed one’s skin is, hypothermia can become a concern, according to Penn State Professor of Kinesiology Dr. David Conroy.

“Regardless of the temperature, there is a danger from sun exposure. Outdoor physical activity increases skin cancer risk, so it is important to protect your skin at all temperatures,” Conroy said.

Those that suffer with asthma should also be aware of the risks of colder weather. Cold, dry air can hurt the lungs and may trigger an asthma attack, according to Finoff.

Those with medical conditions should check with their doctor to review any special precautions based on their condition or their medications.

Exercising outdoors is almost always a good idea as long as you make the adequate preparations for extreme temperatures, Finnoff said.

Article first published on Acuweather.com

If Chaiwala is our Prime Minister, it’s because of Nehruji: Shashi Tharoor

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If Chaiwala is our Prime Minister, it’s because of Nehruji: Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi – The Congress Member of Parliament on Tuesday praised Nehru’s institutional structures that can even help a Chaiwala (Tea-boy) aspire and become a Prime Minister of India.

The 62-year-old dynamic and educated congress MP, Shashi Tharoor said, “If today we have a chaiwala as the prime minister, it’s because Nehruji made it possible through institutional structures through which, any Indian can aspire to and rise to the highest office in the land.”

Tharoor was addressing a convention at the re-launch of his 2003 book – Nehru: The Invention of India on the occasion of Nehru’s 129th birth anniversary, where Congress chairperson – Sonia Gandhi – made the inaugural speech by speaking about his legacy and the uncouth efforts by ruling-party BJP to demoralize his legacy.

Recently, BJP accused Nehru for running a monarchy like pattern by grooming his daughter Indira Gandhi to be his successor. Tharoor responded the accusation, and said, “there is an unfair and ridiculous charge by the ruling party today that Nehru tried to groom his daughter as a successor. On the contrary, at no stage did he indicate a preference for any successor.”

While defending Nehru’s democratic values, he enthused, “Nehru believed in democracy despite it being the toughest choice, given the state of the country after Partition.”

Renaming places in India has the deep-seated inferiority complex in Hindus

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Renaming places in India has the deep-seated inferiority complex in Hindus

by Apoorvanand

It feeds on a deep-seated inferiority complex among Hindus that the symbols representing India largely bear a Muslim identity, thereby making India look like a Muslim country.

We fail to see in the excitement generated by the incessant renaming of towns and railway stations in India that the past, which these new old names allude to, is an imagined land that we are being invited to inhabit. We are not exactly recovering lost ground, because as the Hindi poet Bodhisattva wrote, there never was a Prayag that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claim to be restoring now. What is being sold in the defence of capturing the glory of the past is an ideological construct.

This was clear when a nativist and “vulgar” name like Gurgaon was elevated to Gurugram. The defence used for the change was the myth of Gurugram having been the abode of Dronacharya. Gurgaon has been flaunted as a futuristic city. However, there was no protest from the citizens of this postmodern city to the name change. No question was raised about why the tradition of Dronacharya, who had tried to disable his student, Ekalavya, by cutting his thumb needed to be celebrated.

An imagined past

Why is the BJP getting away with this? Simply because, for a long time, we have been fed with nostalgia about an India that was “taken away” from us 1,200 years ago. We have been told — and we believe — that Bharat was once a “Sone Ki Chidiya (a golden bird)”. The era of the Guptas is referred to as “Swarna Yug (golden period)”. This historical imagination leads us to believe that the golden age ended with the coming of the Muslims and all we have to do now is go back to that period. When I heard an old, seasoned socialist lament the cowardice of the Indian people which kept them under different forms of slavery for more than 1,000 years, I realised that this is so deeply ingrained in us that it has almost become a part of our subconscious. This can also be the reason for Prime Minister Narendra Modi not facing censure in Parliament when he said, while speaking after the debate on the motion of thanks to the President for his address, that the slave mentality of 1,200 years continues to trouble us.

The subconscious feeling is that nothing new was created in this period, especially during the time of Muslim rule. It is that everything new was created before these rulers came here, and what they did was break what was created, distort them, or simply defile them by giving them new names, their names. So, the Babri Masjid could not be a new monument; it had to necessarily be built on the ruins of an earlier existing structure. Nor was the Taj Mahal; it was built on a Hindu temple. This feeling is of ownership as well as authorship. It feeds on a deep-seated inferiority complex among Hindus that the symbols representing India largely bear a Muslim identity, thereby making India look like a Muslim country. We take comfort in the so-called fact that nearly 95% of Muslims in India were originally Hindus who were later converted, and it is therefore possible to restore them to their Hinduness. It is the same belief that plays out in the quest to rename places and monuments — they don’t need to go, they only need to be renamed and rehabilitated.

It has been argued that even after centuries of “Muslim rule”, neither Prayag nor Ayodhya vanished. Ayodhya coexisted with Faizabad, and Allahabad kept Prayag alive in it. But the “originalists” will rest only after erasing Muslim or “alien” names which have covered the original Hindu names. But Indian culture presents a unique challenge for them. For example, how should Patna be rechristened? As Pataliputra, Bankipur or Patna Sahib? How do you deal with Sheikhpura? It has Sheikh, a Muslim-sounding name, plus Pura, which comes from a Sanskrit ‘pur’ or ‘puri’. What do we do with mohallas?

This brings us to the real intent, which is something else. In some villages in Haryana, Muslims live disguised under Hindu-sounding names. This is seen as their willingness to assimilate into “Indian culture”. Culture is manifested in names, clothing, food habits, etc. Muslims are constantly asked to adopt so-called Indian ways, which means accepting Hindu norms in all aspects of their life. It is now being argued that even mosques are not essential for their religious identity.

Cultural genocide

The renaming of places and “reclaiming” of monuments are part of a large and long process of cultural genocide. The term might be extreme for some people, but for Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term genocide in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, the cultural destruction of a group is as important as the physical annihilation of its members. According to Lemkin: “The world represents only so much culture and intellectual vigour as are created by its component national groups. Essentially the idea of a nation signifies constructive cooperation and original contributions, based upon genuine traditions, genuine culture, and well-developed national psychology. The destruction of a nation, therefore, results in the loss of its future contribution to the world… Among the basic features which have marked progress in civilization are the respect for and appreciation of the national characteristics and qualities contributed to world culture by different nations — characteristics and qualities which… are not to be measured in terms of national power or wealth.”

We need to stress on original contributions, on the genuine traditions that Lemkin mentions. A community feels diminished if it is made to think that it has not made any genuine, original contribution to the life of a nation of which it is a part. The drive to free India of Muslim influences is a clear message to the Muslims that this nation is not the result of cooperation between them and other religious communities. It is a message that they have made no contribution to India’s cultural life.

In The Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru describes India as an ancient palimpsest on which layer upon layer of thought and reverie have been inscribed, and yet no succeeding layer has completely hidden or erased what had been written previously. Nehru understood the way cultures grow. They are not ordered from above. He does not propose that we go back to our origins to feel authentically Indian because there is no original point as such in the life of a nation. In the same vein, Kwame Anthony Appiah, in The Lies That Bind, says a nation is a “fabric to be woven, not a mineral to be mined.”

We must be clear that the present regime is not interested in culture. It is interested in capturing the nation by making Hindus feel that they have conquered this land and taken it back from “aliens”. A drug is being generated and it is putting people on a high. It is the drug of victory.

The nationalist project of the present ruling party is based on the idea of making invisible and subjugating an entire population to keep the majority in a permanent state of dominance. This renaming is part of a cultural genocidal project.

The article first published on The Hindu.

Apoorvanand is a professor at Delhi University.

Saudi Arabia denies banning Palestinians from Hajj, calls Israeli and UK news ‘illogical’

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Saudi Arabia denies banning Palestinians from Hajj, calls Israeli and UK news ‘illogical’

Jakarta – A Saudi envoy in Jakarta on Tuesday denied the Israeli and UK news reports of banning Palestinians from Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage by calling it ‘illogical’.

The Saudi envoy to Indonesia, Osama bin Mohammed Abdullah al-Shuaib, while addressing reporters, said, “The reports are wrong and cannot be trusted. It was made by Israel and the U.K. sides.”

He rubbished the propaganda by a London-based online news portal – Middle East Eye – as ‘illogical’ as the Palestinian population is around seven million, unlikely to get a pilgrim quota of three million.

Al-Shuaib explained that, it is illogical that one million Palestinians performed Hajj pilgrimage. With their seven million population, their Hajj quota accepts only 7000 pilgrims.

He emphasized Kingdom’s role in supporting Palestine and Palestinians in all aspects. He said, “We will not let Palestinians stand alone. We will continue to provide financial assistance for the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine.”

Saudi Arabia has transferred $60 Million to Palestinian Finance Ministry on Tuesday through Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) to uplift Palestinians’ condition.

King Salman personally hosts every year, thousands of Palestinian pilgrims from the families of martyrs and slain Palestinians who suffer at the hands of brutal Israeli occupation.

Hyderabad Scientists discover method to identify Halal meat

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Hyderabad Scientists discover method to identify Halal meat

Scientists in Hyderabad for the first time have discovered techniques to identify if the meat served in hotels and sold in the market, is slaughtered as per the Islamic ‘Halal’ procedures.

Scientists at Hyderabad-based National Research Centre on Meat (NRCM) have developed a laboratory test through which they compared the meat pieces of the sheep slaughtered as per Islamic dietary law and the sheep slaughtered through the electric stunning method.

The scientists discovered difference at the molecular levels in the two pieces. They also found changes in the blood biochemical parameters and protein structures (proteomic profile), by performing a method called as ‘difference gel electrophoresis’.

They claimed that more than 46 proteins were affected in the sheep slaughtered through the electrical stunning method, which can cause serious health consequences.

The impact variations helped scientists conclude whether the meat is Halal or non-Halal.

The scientists have also claimed that pre-slaughter stress an animal goes through also helps identify Halal and non-Halal meat.

OPINION: How Hamas have helped Israel attack Palestine

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OPINION: How Hamas have helped Israel attack Palestine

by Miran Reshi

How much blood shed will it take for Muslims to realize that Hamas and Hezbollah are merely tools at the hands of Iran and Israel, which they use to murder Muslim population in Palestine.

Hamas fired a few rockets towards South Israel, and their armed wing al-Qassam brigades targeted a bus carrying Israeli occupiers. It resulted in a few deaths and around 10-12 Israeli terrorist-soldiers died.

Aftermath: Israeli warplanes launched an all-out offensive against innocent civilians of Gaza destroying more than 5 civilian buildings including Al-Rahma building and Al-Amal Hotel in the heart of Gaza City. They also targeted the Palestinian TV station.

Gaza is under attack, more than 100 casualties are reported, in return to Hamas rockets which resulted in less than 20 casualties. Hamas and their armed wing have taken a back seat and have left innocent citizens of Gaza at the mercy of Israeli war-planes.

How much blood shed will it take for Muslims to realize that Hamas and Hezbollah are merely tools at the hands of Iran and Israel, which they use to murder Muslim population in Palestine.

Iran can arm Houthis with sophisticated Ballistic missiles to attack Saudi Arabia, but they provide Hamas with fire crackers and stones to attack Israel.

Salah ud Din Ayoubi, the last man to liberate al-Quds, fought the Fatimi Shitte empire for 10 years, before he defeated the crusaders in a span of only two years to liberate Palestine.

Miran Reshi is a Kashmiri Blogger. He also works as an active Social welfare activist.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect The Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

Turkish Police drags female student to jail for disrespecting pro-Israeli Atatürk

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Turkish Police drags female student to jail for disrespecting pro-Israeli Atatürk

Instanbul – Turkish authorities arrested a female medical student on Saturday for declining to pay respect to the pro-Israeli first Turkish president on his death anniversary.

21-years-old medical student, Emine Şahin, was arrested for speaking out and declining to maintain one minute silence commemorating the death of pro-Israeli first president of Turkey – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – who died on 10 November 1938.

She peacefully protested, “Ataturk is not God. There are Allah’s laws and he took laws from the West.”

Atatürk is known as the father of the modern Turkey who exiled the last monarch of the Ottoman Empire – Khalifah Abdulmajid II – and made a public speech brazenly criticizing Islam and Prophet Mohammed.

During his first speech he said, “For nearly five hundred years, these rules and theories of an Arab Shaikh and the interpretations of generations of lazy and good-for-nothing priests have decided the civil and criminal law of Turkey.”

He further said, “Islam – this theology of an immoral Arab – is a dead thing. Possibly it might have suited tribes in the desert. It is no good for modern, progressive state. God’s revelation! There is no God! These are only the chains by which the priests and bad rulers bound the people down.”

He believed that Prophet Mohammed brought Islam to empower Arabs and to form an Arab political movement. Due to his ardent anti-Arab sentiments, he became a pro-Israeli ideologue.

Şahin said in a police statement, “remembering Apostate Atatürk in such a ceremony was against Muslims beliefs, and I did not regret what I said,” T24 reported.

Disrespecting Atatürk is deemed as a serious offence in Turkish constitution by the article 5816.

However, President of Turkey Tayyib Erdoğan promised to ‘protect the legacy’ of Atatürk during the anniversary.

“We consider it a duty to give Atatürk due credit as the commander-in-chief of our Independence War and the founder of our Republic, in front of our nation. Our nation’s respect for Atatürk is eternal,” Erdoğan said.

“There is nothing more natural than respect for a name who was leader of such a struggle to have a valuable place in the nation’s hearts,” he added.

Israel praises $15M Qatari funds to Hamas, while Palestine calls it “Sale of Palestinian Blood”

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Israel praises $15M Qatari funds to Hamas, while Palestine calls it “Sale of Palestinian Blood”

Tel Aviv – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the $15 million Qatari funds to Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian authorities criticized the Qatari-Israeli independent deal by calling it – “sale of Palestinian blood for $15 million.”

However, Nethanyahu called Qatari-Israeli deal, as “right step at right time” to calm the tensions, no matter the deal occurred without the consent of Palestinian authorities.

Netanyahu said, “Israeli security establishment supported the move and that ministers in his security cabinet approved it.”

“I’m doing what I can, in coordination with the security elements, to return quiet to the southern communities, but also to prevent a humanitarian crisis,” he added.

On the other side, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Qatar and Hamas, during a conference to remember the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (who was killed by Israel on 11 November 2004).

“Not a single Palestinian who is loyal to his principles will agree to a deal that does not secure the independence and the sovereignty of the Palestinian people on their land in the 1967 territories with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he stressed.

Palestinian Government’s official News Agency, Wafa, published a column on Friday accusing Hamas of what is called – “the sale of Palestinian blood for $15 million.”

“Fifteen million dollars has been paid to Hamas at the expense of Palestinian blood, and the leadership of the organization is taking advantage of this money to continue with the Zionist-American plan to separate the Strip from the West Bank,” the column read.

The article claimed that the Qatari funds would go to Gaza with Israel’s approval, and the salaries Hamas will pay Gazan officials will be based on a list pre-approved by Israel.

Why I resigned from BJP? The Good, Bad and Ugly sides

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Why I resigned from BJP? The Good, Bad and Ugly sides

by Shivam Shankar Singh

Political discourse is at it’s lowest point in the country, at least in my lifetime. The partisanship bias is unbelievable and people continue to support their side no matter what the evidence, there is no remorse even when they’re proved to have been spreading fake news. This is something that everyone — the parties and the voters/supporters are to be blamed for.

BJP has done a great job at spreading some specific messages with incredibly effective propaganda, and these messages are the primary reason that I can’t support the party anymore. But before we get into any of that, I’d like everyone to understand that no party is totally bad, and no party is totally good. All governments have done some good and messed up on some fronts. This government is no different.

It takes decades and centuries to build systems and nations, the biggest failure I see in BJP is that it has destroyed some great things on very flimsy grounds.

The Good: 

  1. Road construction is faster than it was earlier. There has been a change in methodology of counting road length, but even factoring that in it seems to be faster.
  2. Electricity connection increased — all villages electrified and people getting electricity for more hours. (Congress did electrify over 5 lakh villages and Modi ji finished the job by connecting the last 18k so, you can weigh the achievement as you like. Similarly the number of hours people get electricity has increased ever since independence, but it might be a larger increase during BJP).
  3. Upper level corruption is reduced — no huge cases at the ministerial level as of now (but the same was true of UPA I :/ ). Lower level seems to be about the same with increased amounts, no one seems to be able to control the thanedar, patwari et al.
  4. The Swachh Bharat Mission is a definite success — more toilets built than before and Swachhta is something embedded in people’s minds now.
  5. UJJWALA Yojana is a great initiative. How many people buy the second cylinder remains to be seen. The first one and a stove was free, but now people need to pay for it. The cost of cylinders has almost doubled since the government took over and now one costs more than Rs. 800.
  6. Connectivity for the North East has undoubtedly increased. More trains, roads, flights and most importantly — the region is now discussed in the mainstream news channels.
  7. Law and order is reportedly better than it was under regional parties.

Feel free to add achievements you can think of in the comments below, also achievements necessarily have caveats, failures are absolute!

The Bad: 

It takes decades and centuries to build systems and nations, the biggest failure I see in BJP is that it has destroyed some great things on very flimsy grounds.

  1. Electoral Bonds — It basically legalizes corruption and allows corporates & foreign powers to just buy our political parties. The bonds are anonymous so if a corporate says I’ll give you an electoral bond of 1,000 crore if you pass this specific policy, there will be no prosecution. There just is no way to establish quid pro quo with an anonymous instrument. This also explains how corruption is reduced at the Ministerial level — it isn’t per file/order, it is now like the US — at the policy level.
  2. Planning Commission Reports — this used to be a major source for data. They audited government schemes and stated how things are going. With that gone, there just is no choice but to believe whatever data the government gives you (CAG audits come out after a long time!). NITI Aayog doesn’t have this mandate and is basically a think tank and PR agency. Plan/Non-Plan distinction could be removed without removing this!
  3. Misuse of CBI and ED — it is being used for political purposes as far as I can see, but even if it isn’t the fear that these institutions will be unleashed on them if they speak up against anything Modi/Shah related is real. This is enough to kill dissent, an integral component of democracy.
  4. Failure to investigate Kalikho Pul’s suicide note, Judge Loya’s death, Sohrabuddin murder, the defense of an MLA accused of Rape who’s relative is accused of killing the girls father and FIR wasn’t registered for over an year..!
  5. Demonetization — it failed, but worse is BJP’s inability to accept that it failed. All propaganda of it cutting terror funding, reducing cash, eliminating corruption is just absurd. It also killed off businesses.
  6. GST Implementation — Implemented in a hurry and harmed business. Complicated structure, multiple rates on different items, complex filing… Hopefully it’ll stabilize in time, but it did cause harm. Failure to acknowledge that from BJP is extremely arrogant.
  7. The messed up foreign policy with pure grandstanding — China has a port in Sri Lanka, huge interests in Bangladesh and Pakistan — we’re surrounded, the failure in Maldives (Indian workers not getting visas anymore because of India’s foreign policy debacle) while Modi ji goes out to foreign countries and keeps saying Indians had no respect in the world before 2014 and now they’re supremely respected (This is nonsense. Indian respect in foreign countries was a direct result of our growing economy and IT sector, it hasn’t improved an ounce because of Modi. Might even have declined due to beef based lynchings, threats to journalists etc.)
  8. Failure of schemes and failure to acknowledge/course correct — Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, Make In India, Skill Development, Fasal Bima (look at reimbursements — the government is lining the pockets of insurance companies). Failure to acknowledge unemployment and farmers crisis — calling every real issue an opposition stunt.
  9. The high prices of Petrol and Diesel — Modi ji and all BJP ministers + supporters criticized Congress for it heavily and now all of them justify the high prices even though crude is cheaper than it was then! Just unacceptable.
  10. Failure to engage with the most important basic issues — Education and Healthcare. There is just nothing on education which is the nation’s biggest failure. Quality of government schools has deteriorated over the decades (ASER reports) and no action. They did nothing on Healthcare for 4 years, then Ayushman Bharat was announced — that scheme scares me more than nothing being done. Insurance schemes have a terrible track record and this is going the US route, which is a terrible destination for healthcare (watch Sicko by Michael Moore)!

You can add some and subtract some based on personal understanding of the issue, but this is my assessment. The Electoral Bonds thing is huge and hopefully the SC will strike it down! Every government has some failures and some bad decisions though, the bigger issue I have is more on morals than anything else.

The Ugly:

The real negative of this government is how it has affected the national discourse with a well considered strategy. This isn’t a failure, it’s the plan.

  1. It has discredited the media, so now every criticism is brushed off as a journalist who didn’t get paid by BJP or is on the payrolls of Congress. I know several journalists for whom the allegation can’t be true, but more importantly no one ever addresses the accusation or complaint — they just attack the person raising the issue and ignore the issue itself.
  2. It has peddled a narrative that nothing happened in India in 70 years. This is patently false and the mentality is harmful to the nation. This government spent over Rs. 4,000 crore of our taxpayer money on advertisements and now that will become the trend. Do small works and huge branding. He isn’t the first one to build roads — some of the best roads I’ve traveled on were pet projects of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav. India became an IT powerhouse from the 90s. It is easy to measure past performance and berate past leaders based on the circumstances of today, just one example of that:

Why did Congress not build toilets in 70 years? They couldn’t even do something so basic. This argument sounds logical and I believed it too, until I started reading India’s history. When we gained independence in 1947 we were an extremely poor country, we didn’t have the resources for even basic infrastructure and no capital. To counteract this PM Nehru went down the socialist path and created PSU’s. We had no capacity to build steel, so with the help of Russians the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC), Ranchi was set up that made machines to make steel in India — without this we would have no steel, and consequently no infrastructure. That was the agenda — basic industries and infra. We had frequent droughts (aakaal), every 2–3 years and a large number of people starved to death. The priority was to feed the people, toilets were a luxury no one cared for. The Green Revolution happened and the food shortages disappeared by the 1990s — now we have a surplus problem. The toilet situation is exactly like people asking 25 years from now why Modi couldn’t make all houses in India air conditioned. That seems like a luxury today, toilets were also a luxury at some point of time. Maybe things could have happened sooner, maybe 10–15 years ago, but nothing happened in 70 years is a horrible lie to peddle.

  1. The spread and reliance on Fake News. There is some anti-BJP fake news too, but the pro-BJP and anti-opposition fake news outstrips that by miles in number and in reach. Some of it is supporters, but a lot of it comes from the party. It is often hateful and polarizing, which makes it even worse. The online news portals backed by this government are damaging society more than we know.
  2. Hindu khatre mein hai — they’ve ingrained it into the minds of people that Hindus and Hinduism are in danger, and that Modi is the only option to save ourselves. In reality Hindus have been living the same lives much before this government and nothing has changed except people’s mindset. Were we Hindus in danger in 2007? At least I didn’t hear about it everyday and I see no improvement in the condition of Hindus, just more fear mongering and hatred.
  3. Speak against the government and you’re anti-National and more recently, anti-Hindu. Legitimate criticism of the government is shut up with this labeling. Prove your nationalism, sing Vande Mataram everywhere (even though BJP leaders don’t know the words themselves, they’ll force you to sing it!). I’m a proud nationalist and my nationalism won’t allow me to let anyone force me to showcase it! I will sing the national anthem and national song with pride when the occasion calls for it, or when I feel like it, but I won’t let anyone force me to sing it based on their whims!
  4. Running news channels that are owned by BJP leaders who’s sole job is to debate Hindu-Muslim, National-Antinational, India-Pakistan and derail the public discourse from issues and logic into polarizing emotions. You all know exactly which ones, and you all even know the debaters who’re being rewarded for spewing the vilest propaganda.
  5. The polarization — the message of development is gone. BJP’s strategy for the next election is polarization and inciting pseudo nationalism. Modi ji has basically said it himself in speeches — Jinnah; Nehru; Congress leaders didn’t meet Bhagat Singh in jail (fake news from the PM himself!); INC leaders met leaders in Pakistan to defeat Modi in Gujarat; Yogi ji’s speech on how Maharana Pratap was greater than Akbar; JNU students are anti-national they’ll #TukdeTukdeChurChur India — this is all propaganda constructed for a very specific purpose — polarize and win elections — it isn’t the stuff I want to be hearing from my leaders and I refuse to follow anyone who is willing to let the nation burn in riots for political gain.

These are just some of the instances of how BJP is pushing the national discourse in a dark corner. This isn’t something I signed up for and it totally isn’t something I can support. That is why I am resigning from BJP.

PS: I supported BJP since 2013 because Narendra Modi ji seemed like a ray of hope for India and I believed in his message of development — that message and the hope are now both gone. The negatives of this Narendra Modi and Amit Shah government now outweigh the positives for me, but that is a decision that every voter needs to make individually. Just know that history and reality are complicated. Buying into simplistic propaganda and espousing cult like unquestioning faith are the worst thing you can do — it is against the interests of democracy and of this nation.

You all have your own decisions to make as the elections approach. Best of luck with that. My only hope is that we can all live and work harmoniously together — and contribute towards making a better, stronger, poverty-free and developed India, no matter what party or ideology we support. Always remember that there are good people on both sides, the voter needs to support them and they need to support each other even when they are in different parties.

Article first published on Shivam Shankar Singh’s Medium account.

Shivan Shankar Singh did Licensure and Master’s Program (LAMP) 2015–16 from University of Michigan Economics, 2015.

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