Sunday, January 30, 2022

First duty is to stand still for national anthem.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi...said that people talking about rights since India's Independence, while ignoring their duties, has kept the country weak," Scroll. "The coming 25 years are the period of utmost hard work, sacrifice and penance." Penance for what? Is Modi accusing the entire Indian population of being sinful criminals? People want to work, but they can't find any. "An international comparison of some of India's peers and neighbors using World Bank data shows that India has among the worst labor market outcomes for the young (the 15-24 year old population)," wrote Abhishek Jha and Roshan Kishore. Last week, "Thousands of youngsters in India have burned down empty coaches and blocked rail traffic...in protest against what they call irregularities in recruitment by the mammoth railways department, one of the world's largest employers," Reuters. This after, "test results for different job categories showed the names of the same people appeared multiple times, which unsuccessful candidates felt wrongly excluded them". "New reports suggest that at least 10 million applicants were hoping to get the roughly 40,000 jobs on offer." "We are graduates, we are jobless, we are hungry. Don't kick us in our stomachs," a young man in Bihar told the BBC. "Why are you asking graduates to fry pakodas?" Pakodas are snacks of deep fried vegetables coated in batter, wikipedia. In 2018, Modi suggested that selling pakodas as street food is also employment, FPJ. "Fundamental duties were not part of our Constitution that came into effect in 1950," wrote S Ananth. "It is imperative to note that historically, every authoritarian regime and dictatorship -- Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini to present day North Korea -- talk about duties to 'fatherland' or 'motherland' and rights being subservient to duties." Rights of citizens depend directly on the government doing its duties. Ten fundamental duties of Indian citizens were added to the Constitution through the 42nd amendment by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency in 1976, and the 11th was added by Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2002, The Wire. "When in Moscow in 2015, Modi himself decided to start walking while the national anthem was being played, and had to be restrained by his Russian hosts." He "has made nonsensical claims about ancient plastic surgery and Ganesha's head, and using wind turbines to extract water from air." Since Modi has no respect for the national anthem he has no respect for the national currency. In 2016, Modi canceled Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes with just 4 hours notice, leading to desperate citizens queuing up for hours outside banks to exchange old notes for new, wikipedia. "The Israeli software Pegasus and a missile system were the 'centerpieces' of a roughly $2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017, according to a report in the New York Times," ET. Pegasus promises to "consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone". The FBI in the US decided not to use it but in India it was used against "politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists". Perhaps, if Modi concentrated on his own duties we would not have to fight for our rights. They will come automatically.

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