The new British.

To force Indians to buy their textiles the brutal British cut off the thumbs of weavers in Bengal whose muslin was so fine that an entire yarn could be pulled through a man's ring. Today, if you drive from Manchester to Stockport you will see the ruins of those mills with broken window panes, plaster falling off the walls and weeds growing in the gardens. We have got rid of the British but our politicians are using the same rotten system to beat us into submission. A half page advertisement in Saturday's newspapers warns us that any car bought before 2010 must undergo pollution check every 3 months and display the disc, failing which they will not be allowed to buy petrol and be fined Rs 2000 every time the car is stopped by the police. How can any car become polluting within 3 months unless it is used commercially? Trucks and buses are not mentioned and government vehicles are probably exempt too. This is another dastardly effort to extort money from the middle class. Not just money but we will have to wait hours in queues to get our cars checked, thus wasting our lives in front of petrol pumps. Or, maybe this is to force us to buy new cars because sales have been poor even during the festival season. And what happens if a car fails and the owner, say a pensioner, does not have the money to buy a new car? To pay for its social handouts to buy votes the Congress increased taxes on everything, raising prices and bringing the economy to its knees. This government promised to be different but since it has come excise duty on drinks has jumped and circle rates on real estate have been hiked by up to 20%, raising prices to prohibitive levels. Ordinary people cannot even dream of buying any property and are forced to pay high rents which keeps them poor forever. Why is it so difficult to understand that high taxes inhibit growth by reducing demand and frighten investment away from India. Ask Marten Pieters, CEO of Vodafone India. Politicians are crowing about a G20 deal on sharing of bank information which will apparently help India to bring back black money. You maybe able to stop money being stashed abroad but you cannot stop any country from keeping taxes low to attract investment, as many countries are doing. High taxes not only drive away new investments but are killing our domestic industries. Low cost airlines in India charge more than double the rate in Europe. Politicians are no fools. So they must have reasons. They have an insatiable appetite for money to give themselves luxurious lifestyles. The Brits cut thumbs while our lot suck our blood. No different really.