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Unique hypocrisy: As black-money owners hail demonetization move poor condemn it

by | May 25, 2021

Black moneyBy Soroor Ahmed,

For some very obvious––and at the same time hidden––reason demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes is one such move of Narendra Modi government which is being widely hailed in public by almost all the opinion-makers but criticized in private by the same lot.

Even political opponents like Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD president Lalu Prasad have not flayed it though West Bengal chief minister Mamanta Banerjee, BSP and SP supremos Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav respectively have come out against it for their own political reason. Congress party too has flayed it, but it has not gone all out against November 8 announcement of PM Modi.

Industrialists, traders, whole-sale deaelers, super-rich film personalities, TV anchors, various columnists and commentators etc have welcomed it, so did the harassed and panicked men and women lined up outside the banks with cash in their pockets or purses. It is only two or three days later that they started becoming restive.

If almost all of them are hailing the move and are ready to suffer hardship for the cause of the country then where lies the black money and who are the real culprits?

In contrast it is the poor rickshawpullers, labourers, scavengers, coolies, tonga-wallah, thela-wallahs, domestic helps, liftmen, private security guards, miners, masons and other daily wage earners who are mincing no words in denouncing the government action and dubbing it an absurd move to save the rich. Yet at the same time some of them are getting sadistic satisfaction, if not pleasure, in seeing people in long queues for hours. “Gareeb hone par kuch maza aa raha hai,” commented one. (We are somewhat relishing our poverty).

Many of our ‘crorepati’ anchors and BJP spokespersons can be seen and heard screaming in studios in favour of the move to demonetize Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Obviously, they wanted to be counted in the good book of the government. But talk to them in hush-hush tone in their bed-rooms and they would reveal their true colour––and would be heard blasting the government for undertaking such an ‘outlandish’ move.

True these gentlemen and ladies in the media pay taxes on salary, but that is no guarantee that they have no black-money. Many of them do invest in real estate and other businesses and have unaccounted money. Radia tapes and several other revelations in the past have exposed some shady deals of many top journalists, who are sermonizing the masses about the negative impact of black-money. At least one of these gentlemen even served days in prison.

Though the BJP spokespersons are naturally hailing the move before the Press––and at several places ABVP boys of the saffron family taking to streets in support of PM’s decision––there is no dearth in the party top brass who are in private furiously condemning the action on the plea that it has left many in the country high and dry. They are upset over the way the hardship of people is increasing. Yet they are saying that they are strongly with the party and the leader.

Mind it a sizeable section of top Congress leaders, who had been applauding Indira Gandhi between June 25, 1975 and January 19, 1977, for imposing Emergency deserted her soon after she announced election and went over to join hands with hurriedly formed Jnata Party to ensure her defeat two months later.

The situation may not be the same again and a section of the media is highlighting the hardship faced by people across the country. Some in the Fourth Estate are now meekly questioning the very rationale behind this sudden move, which has led to the loss of several lives too. Now some experts have started expressing doubts whether this latest ‘surgical strike’ would actually help unearth black-money.

Mayawati and Congress are repeatedly citing the examples of the escapes of Lalit Modi and Vijay Mallya to question the intention of the government on the issue of black-money.

But the moot question is why the people in general welcomed the move––at least initially. After all they were not getting Rs 15 lakh from the banks––or, as a wag joked, may get this much promised amount in old demonetized notes a few months later.

The answer is very simple: there is a latent fear that the moment one publicly criticizes the November 8 move one may be branded as ‘kale-dhan wala’ (black-money owner) and anti-national. So what is wrong in publicly applaud while giving byte to channels.

On the other hand, the lesser mortals do not mind being labelled by any name.

——

(Soroor Ahmed is a Patna based senior journalist).

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