A flawed process led to erroneous policy which is counterproductive and which resulted in not only damage to democracy but to huge adverse impact on the public, especially the poor. The process by which a policy is arrived at, also determines the outcomes. Can it then be said that the process was legal, even if formally, so the achievement of[Read More…]
Demonetisation is an example of a needless policy which failed because of lack of consultation and inadequate understanding of the issues. It led to a policy-induced crisis that deeply impacted the nation: all because democracy was not allowed its full play. In a vibrant democracy, critique of policy a) makes for a) better policies, and b) helps correct mistakes as[Read More…]
Three years after demonetisation was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on November 8, 2016, people still remember it as the beginning of a very difficult period. Many have come to accept what I have been saying that the economic downturn in India began then and now the official rate of growth has come down to below five per cent.[Read More…]
Just days before the national elections opposition Congress party released tapes of a sting operation which reveales that the ruling BJP and its president Amit Shah played major role in helping corporates and politicians to exchange the devalued notes. According to Congress spoke person Kapil Sibal three series of notes worth 3 Lakh Crores were printed abroad and brought to[Read More…]
The Government of India celebrated the 1st year of demonetization. Opposition of the Government observed “Kala Dibas”. Demonetization was a foul programme. However, initially, people in Bottom of Pyramid were very happy, and they thought that it was good step. They believed that rich people would become poor and they would get monetary rewards from the Government in their[Read More…]
Woke up with Anxiety Dreams, ‘acute pain in my bones’ transformed into Chilling Mirror Images, of Frightening Triple Headed Monstrous Donkey, ‘Sickening cry with ears like errant wings’. Shoulders fused in to single stomach, Posterior legs kicking in Hatred and loyalty display. I cried out at my painful Metamorphosis Into strange animal, Spewing Saffron Poison. But my broken back[Read More…]
In early November, without warning, the Indian government declared the two largest denomination bills invalid, abolishing over 80 percent of circulating cash by value. Amidst all the commotion and outrage this caused, nobody seems to have taken note of the decisive role that Washington played in this. That is surprising, as Washington’s role has been disguised only very superficially. US-President Barack Obama has declared the strategic[Read More…]
Prefatory Note Demonetisation is, beyond doubt, the most talked of action taken by the incumbent NarendraModi regime, as yet, which came to be in place in May 20141, just over three and a half years back replacing the UPA regime, with the Congress at the head, soundly defeating it in the national poll held a while earlier.2, 3, 4 One[Read More…]
Under a Hindutva sky
I lay me down to die
but suicide is a moral crime,
so maybe it’s not yet my time.
When it comes to disasters, it is as if India’s tryst with ‘iconic’ dates continues unhindered. Although not warranting any commemorative celebrations, the onset of these dates year after year has not been without their share of apprehensions. Human psyche is such that it has a proclivity for registering debacles more consistently than achievements. Although our country does not fall[Read More…]
Daayan! Demonetisation!
Destroyer of lives both men and women!
Benefactor to corporates ‘ paytm’
And much publicised BHIM !
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has delivered a speech in Ahmadabad not as a political leader but as an economist and citizen of India where he has put some important analyses on demonetization and GST. It is a general perception among the vast section of the people who work hard on streets and mainly belong to unorganized sector and small[Read More…]
Count the cows & the cakes
of dung, lynch a few men
every time
you get their tally wrong.
On August 30, 2017, the Reserve Bank of India released its Annual Report for 2016-17 which revealed that 98.8 percent of scrapped currency notes has come back into the Indian banking system. This mind-blowing statistics has put a serious question mark over the efficacy of demonetization move because it was anticipated by the government that a large portion of[Read More…]
I read this article with great interest. http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/21887818 The final sentence is salutary. I want to add that whether governments or judges guard or curtail rights will depend on what we, the people, do about it. Active citizenship is not something that we are used to. We are still used to being the ‘ruled’, looking up to our elected governments[Read More…]
Coming on the heels of the explosive RBI verdict on demonetization, the outrage over Lankesh’s murder is more than just whataboutery. It speaks volumes about the elite left liberal forces and their comfortable politics. I am not among those who say that we must wait till the police investigation is through before pronouncing who’s responsible. There are too any arrows[Read More…]
The RBI has come out with its Annual Report 2016-17. The report says that 98.96% of the demonetized notes have returned to the banking system. Of the 15.44 lakh crores worth of currency in circulation in the form of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, 15.28 lakh crores has returned back. This is in contrast to the argument put forth[Read More…]
On 30 August the much awaited receipt figures of demonetized currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denominations were released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Annual Report. It said 15.28 lakh crores out of total 15.44 lakh crores, i.e., 99% of the demonetized currency notes of Rs. 1000 and Rs 500 were received back in[Read More…]
The cat is out of the bag. The data released by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proves that as was predicted Narendra Modi’s demonetisation was a ‘monumental disaster’. The data shows that 99 % of the demonetised currencies returned to the system. Of the 15.44 lakh crore demonetised money, 15.28 lakh crore returned to the banks. A simple question rises,[Read More…]
A Parliamentary Committee on Demonetisation has submitted its report, which will be tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Accordingly, the report calls demonetisation a blunder. Not a single objective has been met, it reportedly says. Findings of the Committee reveal no major black money was found. It says Finance Ministry accepts that only details of 4,172 crores of suspicious[Read More…]
India commemorates the end of British rule 70 years ago on 15 August. Now might be an apt moment to consider where India might be heading, especially given recent developments. If one policy stands out over the past 12 months, it would have to be demonetisation. Removing all 500- and 1000-rupee notes from circulation overnight was in part a bail[Read More…]
Microsoft’s Bill Gates is one of the richest and most influential people on earth. He announced in 2015 that his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was aiming at achieving full digitalization of the payment systems of India and other populous developing countries by 2018. This “financial inclusion” program for India dates back to well before Narendra Modi came to power. It was elevated[Read More…]
Here is my suggestion for a Single Point Anti-Incumbency Manifesto for 2019 against the BJP for the Grand Coalition of Socialist and Communist Parties. 95% of Indians are agricultural labourers, cultivators and other landless labourers in the informal economy, and outside of the tax regime in India. We depend above all for our survival with dignity on the availability[Read More…]
Today we were treated to a story in a national newspaper in India that gave a heart-rending list of damning statistics about the sorry plight of India’s Scheduled Tribes, written by none other than Varun Gandhi. Gandhi, a Bharatya Janata Party Member of Parliament and accused under the Representation of People Act 1951 of illegally appealing to religion in[Read More…]
(One finds an uncanny resemblance between the rule of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq and the present rulers of the country!) There is a popular saying that the History repeats itself. Muhammad-bin-Tughluq ruled Delhi from 1325 A.D. to 1351 A.D. After Allaudin Khilji he is supposed to have been the greatest Sultan of Delhi. He is fondly remembered for his bold experiments and[Read More…]
It was about 8:00 on the morning of November 9 in Mumbai, India. I sat down with the internet to talk with my husband Stan in Kansas, where it was 7:30 pm November 8. Like many other now-shell-shocked Americans, he was watching what we thought would be the finally-final episode of America’s Got President. The look on his face said[Read More…]
Much later, historians in the 22nd Century would call it a ‘close shave’ for Indian democracy and a ‘hair razing’ experience for millions of citizens. And yet, when it happened real-time -everyone was simply lost for words. The year was 2018 and in an emotional address on primetime TV, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had exhorted his countrymen to[Read More…]
I stumbled upon a book about Alexander the Great and his strategies on the battlefield. I was not particularly keen to finish the book, instead my curiosity took me to research about his teacher Aristotle, who claimed by many, is the reason for Alexander’s success. The western philosopher who was highly influential in the middle ages (5th to 15th century)[Read More…]
At this point, every sane and responsible person in India should be asking: How many tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, or millions of people in India are going to die from hunger, starvation, malnutrition and disease as a result of Modi’s demonetisation? Reports from the rural and semi-rural areas of India, from towns and villages, already indicate that[Read More…]
Farmers in Maharashtra’s Nashik district – where one in every four tomatoes in India comes from – are destroying standing crops on a scale never seen before, following persistent rock-bottom prices since the November 8 demonetisation
Communist Party of India (CPI) organized Hisab do ,Jawwab do dharana in front front of RBI offices at Mumbai and Nagpur. The entire country is in the grip of crisis caused by demonetization, dramatically announceed on 8th November, 2016. Farmers, student’s workers of Nagpur and Mumbai joined raising slogans against demonetization. It was a huge gathering of 1000 people in[Read More…]
The demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is disproportionately impacting the poor of India. Presently 4.5 million Indians die avoidably from deprivation each year and demonetisation will make this worse by increasing poverty, deprivation and disempowerment. Indians must reject this callous and deadly attack on the poor, reject deadly[Read More…]
A Cashless, Corruption-free, Cow-friendly India that also Cares for the Poor. As the Narendra Modi regime shoots forth silken promises like buttered popcorn from a hot oven – it is time to remember India’s long history of using colourful fiction to rip-off the public and carry out caste oppression. Let me explain. For over a millennium one of the recurring[Read More…]
A dear friend of mine from USA sent me this mail regarding the demonetisation in India. Somebody in your country needs to organize something like Gandhi’s salt march against the monetary situation. They need to go to government sites and protest peacefully. Look at Boston. If we can do this, so can people in India! Mobilize, I recommend! This is[Read More…]
A version of the following piece was originally published in June 2016. However, since then, India’s PM Narendra Modi has embarked on a ‘demonetisation’ policy, which saw around 85 percent of India’s bank notes becoming invalid overnight. Emerging evidence indicates that demonetisation was not done to curb corruption, ‘black money’ or terrorism, the reasons originally given. That was a smokescreen.[Read More…]
As 2017 begins and we flounder in our mad rush to force all of India into a digital economy overnight, it is worth pausing and reflecting on what the digital economy is, who controls the platforms and lines as well as some basic concepts about money and technology which have moulded our lives and freedoms, based on patented systems that[Read More…]
I read George Orwell’s ‘1984’ in 1985 when I was a 15 year old. Although the ‘Big Brother’ appearing on screens to announce what people should be doing looked like a science fiction in an 80s India, it made a nightmarish impact on me, even when I was awake. As a 15 year old I never thought that it could[Read More…]
As per mythology, one demon king, Bhasmasur had undertaken tapas to attract the attention of Shiva. His tapas was so powerful that earth and heaven were shaken and pleased with his devotion, Parameshwar appeared before him. Bhasmasur asked for a boon from Shiva, that he should have the power to destroy anything he lays his hands up on. Having promised,[Read More…]
We will have to sign off 2016 with a cultural baggage of a new vocabulary which elderly and illiterate Indians may not be comfortable with , but have to embrace it in order to honour the government since the new rules of democracy leave them with little choice. . Most of the conversations in the new year we will have[Read More…]
Demonetization has left deep scars on the economy and, despite assurances from the government, the journey to normalcy may be slower and more painful than expected. The denudation of India’s vast informal economy, almost entirely dependent on cash, has put the marginalized and economically vulnerable – farmers, daily-wage labourers, street vendors , small businesses, tiny industries, shops, and countless[Read More…]
I feel like a criminal
trying to score some cash,
going from bank to bank,
whipped by Modi’s lash.
I can’t get access
to my own money.
Millions of people go hungry.
This isn’t funny,
The right to food campaign is dismayed by the Indian government’s reckless attempt to renew currency notes, known as “demonetization”, without any serious attention to the consequences it may have for poor people. This move serves no clear purpose and is a major attack on the right to food and the right to life. Demonetization was sold to the public[Read More…]
“We can eat only if we work every day,” D. Narayanappa said after returning to Bucharla from Bengaluru on November 4. Like many other Dalits in this village, he migrates to the city to work on construction sites for most of the year, coming home every now and then for a few days. But in November, the migrants stay on[Read More…]
“This new account you will open for me here,” a terribly worried Dheeraj Rehuwamansoor asks the friendly bank manager, “can I operate it from elsewhere in the country?” Well, says Sanjay Ashturkar smiling, “I will give you an ATM card and you can use that in your own state and town, wherever there is an ATM.” “Of what use is[Read More…]
The currency is the centrepiece of a modern economy, the trust and credibility reposed in it being one of the most precious of national assets. It is not to be trifled with by ignorant tyrants. And this is why fiscal and monetary powers are separated in any modern economy, and the autonomy of the central bank is sacrosanct. This separation[Read More…]
The orange growers of Nagpur have now joined the fellowship of pain of their peers in the cotton farming community. Demonetization has dented the orange trade in Vidarbha. The orange exporters who export to Bangladesh have suffered the most as the fruit prices have fallen by up to 50%. “Prices have crashed by 50% and the time to harvest the fruits is getting over. We fear that the situation can lead to increase in suicides of farmers,” was written in a memorandum that was given[Read More…]
The demonetisation scheme has put people in the unorganised sector out of work. People don’t have work, money and are barely surviving. One person in the video says “when the note ban happened nobody cared about the plight of the poor people. Think about the families who collected some money for a marriage.” Many marriages have been postponed. Report by[Read More…]
You destroyed the economy
with one colossal blunder.
You’ve brought untold misery
and torn our lives asunder.
But Modi-ji, whatever you do
or say or think is fine.
There’s just one more little thing
you ought to do. RESIGN.
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: In demonetised India, when people of the unorganised sector are fast losing jobes, they are finding inventive ways of surviving. A man in Trivandrum has become a hawker of old notes as his business of selling chappals and shoes on the street failed. He says “This is my new business. I’ve become a hawker of old notes. I have[Read More…]
There have been various and repeated references to the suffering of the public caused by the decision of demonetization by the government. The suffering of the ordinary people due to this astounding decision has been criticized even by the High Court and Supreme Court. Around 100 people have died because of it. The supporters[Read More…]
Someone from Tamil Nadu narrated the story that “a person who was cleaning the aircraft and he found a catalogue (it mentions as to how to take off the aircraft) near the pilot seat. He took that and followed the instructions right from starting to take off the flight. He took the flight and got very excited, but the catalogue[Read More…]
One of the least noticed features of the introduction of economic reforms in India 25 years ago was the manner in which addressing a short-term payments crisis on the country’s external accounts became a pretext for the government to introduce – without any debate befitting a supposedly democratic society – sweeping, long-term changes. One need not be a votary of[Read More…]
Fisher people who are dislocated from their homes due to sea erosion are hit hard by the note ban. Women of Valiyathura relief camp tell their woes caused by the note ban. Nobody has work. No money. No food. Who benefited from the note ban? They say, politicians, while the people are suffering.
Demonetization is all about currency and the amount of money with the public. Since the public has no interface with the Reserve Bank of India, they have to deal with the banks for their daily requirements of money. Consequently, demonetization has had a dramatic impact on banks in India and this is likely to persist. Banks and the Public Ire[Read More…]
Beyond the orgasms of patriotism and far from the rhetoric of nationalism breathes the real India, an India of flesh and blood. And no matter what amount of chest thumping some among us do, it is getting clearer by the day that it was this real India which bled white following the demonetization drive announced by the government on November[Read More…]
The workers in the unorganised sector are hit hard by the note ban. They can’t find work. With the introduction of new Rs 2000 notes, a new malady is upon them. They can’t find change for these notes. Auto-rickshaw drivers tell their woes of #Demonetisation
A clear cleavage that has occurred since the introduction of Demonetisation is between those who believe that this will act as a magic panacea against black money on one side and those who critic it by questioning its unconvincing logic. The ones in the former consists the Bhakts and also those who are convinced by the propaganda machine and genuinely[Read More…]
The note ban hit poor people the hardest. Victims of sea erosion living in a camp in Valiyathura School tell their plight. For these people who already lost their homes due to sea erosion the note ban was a double blow.
The note ban has hit the fisher folk and the fish vendors heavily. There is no sale for them. They are desperate. The woman in the video says “those who come to buy fish ask whether we will take old notes? Where will we change it? We don’t’ have mango, jack fruit, tapioca, papaya or anything to eat. We have[Read More…]
A petition campaign on Avaaz.org ,” Mr Narendra Modi: Say Sorry for the Disaster of Demonetisation and Resign!“, has called for Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi’s resignation. The petition asks Modi to take responsibility for the hundreds of people who have died as a direct result of his disastrous demonetisation scheme, apologise to the Indian people and resign. The Petition[Read More…]
My name is Shantha. I work as a domestic help. My granddaughter fell ill on Sunday. She had to be hospitalised. We had no cash at home. Banks were closed for three days. I tried to borrow money from friends. They too had no cash. At last, our neighbourhood shop owner lent us money. I have to give him back[Read More…]
The bank has “decided to use Gandhigiri to try and recover the loans [from you]. For this the bank has decided to do one of the following: 1) Put up a tent opposite your house to protest, 2) Make use of a band, 3) ring bells. “Due to these actions, your standing and image in society are likely to be in danger.”[Read More…]
My name is Muneer. I am a shoe shop owner. After the note ban I hardly sell anything. Many shops have closed down. I don’t know how long can I continue. If things persist I too will have to close down. If you have such #HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia picture stories do send it to editor@countercurrents.org
Usually, Sunday evening is peak business time for local super markets. On last Sunday, 11 December evening, many customers in super bazaars and malls had come back empty handed as credit cards were not accepted – the reason – bank servers were down and there is still Monday ahead, which happens to be a bank holiday. On Sunday morning many[Read More…]
An engrossing sketchbook of the The Great Indian Demonetisation saga. It asks, what’s black mone, where it is hoarded, who will benefit by this whole demonetisation exercise, what will be the consequences for the common people. The sketchbook is in PDF
My name is Josy. I’m a fish vendor. After the currency ban my sales have gone down drastically. I now sell only 1/4th of what I used to sell earlier, that too on credit. Yesterday, I tried to sell 5 kg of sardine at Rs 120/kg. Managed to sell only 3 kg. Nobody has cash. People are not willing to[Read More…]
“This war has been in full swing in Europe and the U.S. for a long time. Governments plan to use negative interest rates, confiscatory taxes and other techniques to rob savers of their wealth. In order to do this, they have to force savings into digital accounts at large government-controlled banks.As long as[Read More…]
Some people, mainly friends and family, have repeatedly wondered if there was a police state in India. I disagree, of course. Not a police state. No. Rather, it’s life under a supreme central leadership like in North Korea, Syria or Russia. Few may call it dictatorship. Those to their views, I argue. Nowadays, it’s mandatory to stand like a zombie[Read More…]
My name is Sabu. I am an auto rickshaw driver from Perumbavoor, Kerala. Perumbavoor is the capital of migrant labourers in Kerala. A lot of migrant workers used to work near this town. After the note ban, a lot of them have lost jobs and left for home. Sunday is their holiday as well their shopping day. On a typical[Read More…]
There was a popular Bollywood movie a few years back titled “I am Khan. I am not a Terrorist”. The movie tries to depict the act of branding a name associated with a certain religion as a potential Terrorist. Following the Demonetization announcement and through the Prime minister equating those standing in ATM and Bank queue with Black Money, everybody[Read More…]
One month after the demonetization decision, things have become more complicated and messy. The Aam Aadmi who was suppose to benefit from it still finds herself bemused in all walks of life. Whether the move has any long term benefits is something that is fiercely getting debated. At the same time, the average Indian news consumer has also been infantilized[Read More…]
My name is Vanaja. I am a 46 year old domestic help. I have been working as a domestic help for the past 22 years. They say there’s enough cash in banks for everyone. But all we get after standing in winding queues is Rs 2000 notes. What are we supposed to do when most shops are reluctant to tender[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: My name is Stella. I’m a fish vendor at Shangumugham, Trivandrum, Kerala. I’ve been selling fish for the past 27 years, and never before have I gone back home after a day’s business with any leftovers. But now things are different. With the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, my daily sales have nosedived from a decent[Read More…]
Prime Minister, in your speeches following the Demonetization announcement you have been talking about India moving to a cashless society. You are talking about India transforming into a state where every money transaction would be made through usage of technology such as Smart Phone, e-payments, Aadhaar cards. You have been trying to sell the dream that moving into this world[Read More…]
The entire demonetisation story has been parsed, discussed, analyzed and commented upon in detail, by its supporters and non-supporters alike. There is not pretty much left that can be contributed to the debate, however, I wish to attempt a Gandhian analysis of the move in the following paragraphs. Why did I feel the need to take up such an analysis?[Read More…]
I discovered a new word: Mitron. It means, ‘A large group of unsuspecting people about to be hit by something they will take a long time to recover from.’ Ironically it comes from the Hindi word – Mitron (Mitr = friend. Mitron = of friends). I believe we are in a Mitron moment; the discovery of a word and an[Read More…]
My name is Nabakishore Pradhan. I am a farmer from Odisha. My family is dependent on our agricultural produces and now is suffering due to demonetization. I cannot get loan from the banks to tend to our farming needs. My relatives do not have money to avail medical facilities. In every field of life, we are suffering. Life has come[Read More…]
Political analyst Devinder Sharma tweeted that angry farmers in Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh are dumping tomato on highways. The reason? They are getting 50 rupees for a 100 kg batch of tomato. That means they are getting 50 paise for a kilogram of tomato. Ironically, 50 paise is practically out of circulation in India. Angry farmers in Ramgarh dist in[Read More…]
It is early winter and a thick, grimy fog, black and white tinged with grey, hangs over Delhi much of the day. Morning visibility is bad, clears up a bit with a dull sun in the afternoon, before darkness descends again on the city. A month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his demonetisation policy, the gloomy weather in the[Read More…]
Perumbavoor in Central Kerala is a mini India. Migrant workers from all over India come to this place looking for work. Workers from many states who get paid around Rs 200 for a day’s work in their home states, get around Rs 1000 as wage here. Sunday is a busy day in Perumbavoor. Workers who get their weekly pay and[Read More…]
My name is Ittiyavirah. I am a petty trader of spices. When the note ban was announced all the money I had with me from that day’s trading became useless. Bank is not giving me money. After standing long hours in queue they give 4000 rupees. Farmers who come to sell me one or two kilo grams of their produce[Read More…]
In her classic book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein unmasks the practitioners of what she calls Disaster Capitalismfor profiting from human misery, and often precipitating and promoting it to spread their influence globally.In a scathing critique of Milton Friedman’s role in inventing “economic shock treatment” as advisor to Pinochet’s regime, Klein says, he advised Pinochet[Read More…]
#HumansOfDemonetisedIndia: My name is Mallika Lohar. I am a daily wage earner from Ruppur, Birbhum, West Bengal. Demonetisation has only been inconvenience for us. Our payments have been delayed, and now there are Rs. 2000 notes only. Wherever we go, there is no change for Rs. 2000. How can we go on without change? The grocery-store person is saying I[Read More…]
At a time when the whole of India is busy standing in ATM and Bank queues for few quantities of currency notes, South Koreans are out on the streets protesting against their scandal-mired president. The wave of protest has grown over the last few days. More than 1.5 million people thronged on the streets demanding the resignation of the President.[Read More…]
Prime Minister, you said that in India even Beggars are going Cashless. You are absolutely true. I keep seeing the Whaatsapp message that you work for 18 hours a day, haven’t taken a single leave for the last many years, left your family. All these sacrifices you are making to take India to a digital world. Then why poor should[Read More…]
Because the fertiliser shop in Tadimarri village of Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh accepts old notes, even drought-hit groundnut farmers are queuing up to clear their credit – while jobless agricultural labourers are finding that the easiest way to change their few old notes is by buying alcohol at the local liquor stores “A farmer’s 500 rupee note is always[Read More…]
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘demonetisation’ drive at the launch of his e-payment wallet Jio Money, yesterday. Ironically it was also the first pay day after ‘demonetisation’ that is for the salaried class which makes up about 20 % of India’s population. Still it was total mayhem. Long queues, no cash in[Read More…]
The currency shortage in the country following the demonetisation of 500 and 100 rupee notes on 8 November has become so bad, there is real danger today of all law and order breaking down very soon. The patience of the Indian public is running out, after three weeks of standing in queues and denied their own cash for making basic[Read More…]
We, in India, are living in a state of anesthetized anarchy. We seem to have lost it in more ways than one. In the days of the sabretooth tiger mankind needed to be totally in touch with reality if it wished to avoid being the tiger’s next meal. Since we made the STT extinct we seem to believe that being[Read More…]
This would have been the time of year for brisk sales at the agricultural markets in Vidarbha. But farmers here are being forced to incur terrible losses – by accepting lower prices, losing their perishable produce, or due to a fear of depositing cash payments in old notes in banks where they owe loan repayments Bandu Ghormade had no choice[Read More…]
“If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Brilliance, Baffle Them With Bull.” WC Fields “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”-Rahm Emanuel,Former White House Chief of Staff in the Obama administration. Naomi Klein in her bestselling book ‘The Shock[Read More…]
After successfully convincing the naïve among the Indian electorate in 2014 that he would usher in “Acche Din”, the campaigner-in-chief is now in phase 2 of his grand project. As he would like to remind the nation time and again, the blow was struck on November “8th at 8 pm”. The much-hyped sudden demonetization of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 currency notes[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE0zoAoREdM&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika The patience of the common people is running out. Despite standing in queues outside banks, day after day, people are unable to find change, resulting in a huge crisis in their everyday sustenance. On one hand, the food intake in the houses have gone down and on the other hand, huge[Read More…]
For the life of me I cannot understand the reasoning behind demonetisation. I think the hidden underlying motivation is as that the only people India’s politicians are willing to attack are the poorest. Hindutva fascism is the system of turning the 90% into miserable wrecks through #demonetisation in order that the 1% super rich and the 9% who use[Read More…]
Statement of the Central Committee of Communist Ghadar Party of India, 20 November, 2016 Since the midnight of 8-9 November, all 500 and 1000 rupee notes issued by the Reserve Bank have been declared illegal. Announcing the demonetization decision on 8th November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted our people “…in this fight against corruption, black money, fake notes and terrorism,[Read More…]
Cash has undoubtedly proven a curse, irrespective of its color, for those who have been queuing up at the bank counters following the currency demonetisation. The unprecedented cash crunch has made many wonder if going cashless is the better way forward? It may indeed be but despite the proliferation of alternate payment mechanisms – plastic currency and electronic cash transfer[Read More…]
During a conversation with a longtime acquaintance of mine about 25 years back, he made an unguarded remark that had made a deep negative impression on me. He started as a trader, was enormously successful and was then morphing in to an industrialist. He said, “You know, most of these babus and technocrats are like easy @#$&. For a price,[Read More…]
An argument which has been put forward in the recent ‘Demonetisation’ issue is its relationship with Terrorism. It has been pointed out that ‘funds’ either from outside or otherwise find their way into the terrorist groups. Fake currency or notes in denominations of Rs. 500 and 1,000 sustain and fund the terrorist activities. Hence the belief expressed is that Demonetisation[Read More…]
A week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation on November 8 , Varda Balayya, a 42-year-old farmer from Dharmaram village of Siddipet district in Telangana, was about to sell an acre of his farmland. The plot is located next to the highway connecting Siddipet and Ramayampet. His corn crop was destroyed due to unseasonal rains in October. The interest[Read More…]
Statutory Warning : – This is a fictitious retelling of a real life event. The arguments presented through various characters have taken place in real life only the circumstances & places have been changed. Before you read this: It is crucial to understand that this piece was written during the initial days of Demonetization, when almost every Well-to-do Indian was[Read More…]
Even as the rest of the population continues to stagger and reel under the blow that demonetization has delivered to them, almost all Dalits and Adivasis in the country have been hit enormously in varying degrees, with the hardest HIT being the rural ones, reducing them to a worse state than they already were in, struggling to survive for want of[Read More…]
In Chikalthana village, on the edge of and merging with Aurangabad town in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of a cashless economy seems to have been realised. Nobody has any cash. Not the banks, nor the ATMs and certainly not the people queuing up in and around them in despair. Even the policemen sitting in the vans outside bank[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaIKBcBbjbc&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the large population of the country is standing in long queues, an old woman of 75 years of age describes her current situation while waiting for her turn outside KYS bank, branch Govandi in Mumbai. She has been waiting for her chance since morning and this video was shot at[Read More…]
Putting the cacophonous debate on the merits and demerits of demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1000 currency notes aside, there is no doubt over it having hit the farmers all set to go for Rabi crops sowing hardest. Almost entirely dependent upon cash transactions for everything from buying seeds to fertilisers, the move has ended up turning their earnings into[Read More…]
While much has been written and said about the demonetisation move by the government, the question of its legality has received scant attention. The issue however is not the desirability or the economic viability of the decision and the undoubted public and national interest it serves. The goal of eliminating black money from circulation is undoubtedly in public interest. While[Read More…]
https://youtu.be/uj2edB3U5SA Video byAabha Joshi, NeethuSaji and Kritika Nine days has passed since Modi government has declared a ‘war’ against ‘black money’ by demonetizing Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, claiming lives of almost 55 people. As the days pass by, the queues do not seem to get any shorter and the lives of the common people seem to have[Read More…]
Never before has a decision of the Government shown negative effect on people so early as the current move to demonetize. A narrative has been built on its supposed benefits. The decision has been hailed by the supporters as a master stroke, a surgical strike which will end the reign of Black Money and establish the supremacy of White Money.[Read More…]
Demonetization is the new polarisation strategy deployed by the Modi Government, which has succeeded in killing many birds (and people) with a stone. This new policy is not only mindless but also evil right from its conception to execution. Much has been already said & in cases proved by various sources as to how the Demonetization is actually a witless,[Read More…]
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded. Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed. Everybody knows that the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost. Everybody knows the fight was fixed: the poor stay poor, the rich get rich. That’s how it goes. Everybody knows. Leonard Cohen Everybody knows that the elected party governing India wants to decimate all[Read More…]
The poor women of India who save money in currencies for a rainy day, or from irresponsible husbands have been hit hard by Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw Rs 1000, and Rs 500 notes from circulation. Here is a video of an old woman who saved some money in the now withdrawn denominations trying to flush out ‘black money’ from[Read More…]
Public Meeting: November 18, 4-7pm Constitution Club (Speaker Hall), New Delhi At the stroke of midnight on November 8, 86% of the value of Indian currency which was in circulation in the country ceased to be legal tender. Many different adjectives are used to qualify that action – surgical strike, master stroke, third freedom (after freedom from British and license[Read More…]
30 people from various left organisations, who organised a protest in Banglore against the demonetisation of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 currency notes, have been arrested a few hours ago. A joint protest was called by CPI (ML) Liberation, AICCTU, New Socialist Alternative/ Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns, Street Hawkers Association and Karnataka Tamil Makkal Aaikyam for ‘Occupy RBI’ a movement[Read More…]
The abrupt demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes by the Narendra Modi regime is a drastic move that is staggering in its scale, ambition and repurcussions. The only other figures in modern history one can think of, devious or stupid enough to attempt something similar, are the likes of Marcos, Suharto, Idi Amin and Pol Pot. For all its[Read More…]
Now, falling in line with political expediency is being pushed as ‘patriotism’, so it appears from RSS spokesman Ram Madhav’s statement ‘patience of people queuing up outside ATMs and banks is a test of their patriotism. Whereas, one supposes that the criminality that led to the death of 30 people so far should be excused in the name of ‘nationalism’![Read More…]
This Episode is about the Koli fisherwomen of Mumbai who are bearing the brunt of this sudden demonetization. They are highly disillusioned by the government who comes begging to them for votes, but ends up protecting the rich. But when the poor needs the government, why don’t they listen?
There are many myths and facts, claims and allegations, in the air about – recently announced – demonetization scheme, under which the government of the day at the centre has banned all series of old notes of 500 and 1000 Rupees. My teenaged child & his friend’s arguments and inquisitiveness led me to probe documents on RBI’s websites and some[Read More…]
The National Hawker Federation (NHF) expresses its strong disagreement with the ways in which the Government of India has addressed the evil of corruption in the country. While we do feel as a collective of more than 1176 unions and associations of street vendors of this country, that black money and the corruption raj should end and rule of law[Read More…]
India saw a late evening announcement on the 8th of November, 2016; by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, declaring ‘five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is 8th November 2016.’ India is world’s 3rd biggest economy and Asia’s second biggest, in purchasing power (2015) at $7.98[Read More…]
We, the undersigned, support all efforts to stop corruption, stamp out black money and counterfeit currency, and act against funding that helps creates unrest in the country be it through terrorism or creating divisions and hatred among people. However, the decision to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes is misconceived and will not address the problem of black money[Read More…]
A fruit seller accounts the result of demonetization on her, who is one among the 93% of the unorganized sector of the Indian working class. She tells how despite working each day from morning till the night, she has been unable to make 50 rupees a day
Dire Straits’ famous song has some very politically incorrect lyrics but the refrain, ‘Money for nothing and the chicks for free’ sums up the situation of black marketeers and owners before the demonetization and the name of the songsters – Dire Straits – sums up their situation in India today. But what are the implications of demonetization? We have seen[Read More…]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CpwW77R9UQ&feature=youtu.be Video by Aabha Joshi, Neethu Saji and Kritika As the Modi government, in a bold step, by demonetizing 500 rupee and 1000 rupee currency notes has promised to recover ‘black money’ and combat ‘terrorism’, the horrors of this move have shaken the entire country, especially the most vulnerable section of the society who earn their living through daily wages[Read More…]
Demonestisation affected people. Things were said and written in ‘for ‘and ‘against’ of it. Prime Minister announced it, made a sensation and havoc among public and went to Japan. His picture sitting in bullet train, one of the fastest speed trains, was tweeted while his country persons were made peoples’ rail before bank’s ATMs, to experience one of the slowest[Read More…]
Demonetization of bank notes in the country has brought problems to multitudes of the people. The arguments being offered by the NDA government suggest that it is one of the greatest achievements and even the associated members and the TV channels of the party in power are projecting the thesis that government has moved into a new generation of economic[Read More…]
The announcement of withdrawal of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes is being described as a masterstroke, a surgical strike on the Black money holders and one tough decision in Indian economic history which will change the world. It is being said that this will put an end to Black money and hit the backbone of terror. The logic that[Read More…]
The high decibel announcement of “ demonetization “ by Prime Minister Modi went all round in India sounding like a prescription of panacea to black money problem terming it as “ beginning of end “ of Black money in India. The cyber brigade of Sanghi started working 24 hours to handle this to project its eminence,while banks are burning mid[Read More…]
At the stroke of midnight November 9, 2016, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi imposed an undeclared economic emergency on India. With a stroke of pen he wiped out Rs 15 lakh crores in cash from the system. What prompted this drastic step? What will be the fall out of the action for Indian economy is a billion dollar question.
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My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
