No wealth, no freedom, no dignity? Just be happy.

"The UN's Happiness Index ranks countries based on indicators such as generosity, perceptions of corruption, GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy at birth, freedom to make life choices," wrote Member of Parliament (MP) for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Arjun Ram Meghwal. "The measures taken by the Indian government for easing the lives of citizens, uplift of the downtrodden, better infrastructure, increasing employment opportunities are directly improving the happiness of citizens." This concerted effort must have been highly successful because India has jumped to 139th out of 149 in the UN World Happiness Report 2021, from 140 in 2019. Finland is the happiest in the world, while  Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even China are happier than us. Then comes the blather. "We should all learn to seek happiness by limiting our desires rather than attempting to satisfy them." "Rather than buying material goods, we must prioritise buying good experiences." Perhaps, Meghwal should preach the values of renunciation of material wealth to his colleagues in the Lok Sabha, 475 of whom, out of a total of 539, are multi-millionaires, while the GDP per capita has shrunk to less than Rs 100,000 after 7 years of BJP rule, according to the National Statistical Office. That kind of money does not buy much material goods. The fifth National Family Health Survey conducted in 2019-20 showed that "The share of children who were stunted (low height for their age) increased in 13 states, while the share of children who had low weight for their height increased in 12 states." "The economic downturn driven by the coronavirus pandemic pushed 75 million (7.5 crore) below the poverty line in 2020, and shrunk the country's middle class by 32 million (3.2 crore) an analysis by the Pew Research Center found." At the same time, "India's ranking on the Corruption Perception Index - 2020 slipped from 80 to 86 even as its score decreased only by one point from 40 to 41 in 2019." The fall of 6 positions due to slipping by just one point means at least 5 other countries improved their governance compared to us. US NGO Freedom House downgraded India from "free" to "partly free" in a recent report. "The government said the Center treats all citizens as equal as 'enshrined' under the Indian Constitution and all laws are applicable without any discrimination." Beating up everyone equally is not exactly a definition of freedom. "India's broken criminal justice system has become a means of punishing dissidents and other inconvenient people using existing laws. A charge is levied, the person is arrested for sedition or unlawful activities and because the charge is serious, denied bail," wrote Manoj Joshi. India fell two positions to 53rd in the Economist Democracy Union's Democracy Index 2020. "Contrary to the popular narrative that the election process is the ultimate test of a functioning democracy, it must be reiterated that definitive policy and administrative actions to uphold civil liberties in between elections is an indispensable part of the definition," wrote Probal Basu Roy. "Mrs Gandhi imposed the Emergency with a sledgehammer. But dictatorships can also creep in slowly, silently and insidiously, without any formal announcement," wrote Coomy Kapoor. "Overzealous BJP Bhakts, who instigate the police to slap such cases (sedition), seem to be following in the footsteps of Sanjay Gandhi's storm troopers during the Emergency." Mr Meghwal is warning us to get used to being beggars. Don't dare complain.