Credibility And Govt Are Antonyms

The government and the railways seem to have forgotten that the tragedy took place in the national capital and not in a remote village. The entire national and international media is present there and such incidents cannot be brushed away as mere rumours. The OB vans would reach the railway station and start beaming live interviews and footage

In the beginning there was nothing! No industrial revolution, no big manufacturing unit, no job, no IT wave, no education, no hospital, no GDP growth, no development at all. And suddenly, in 2014 the world changed as the Modi government came to power.

This is the story that the BJP government has been dishing out and the Godi media and the Bhakts have been lapping it up without even a second thought.

I am not talking about the 10-year-old kids, but even those who are 30 plus and those who have retired seem to strongly believe in the ‘Development After Only 2014’ story. These generations are so blindfolded that they refuse to accept that they had jobs, incomes and experienced progress. Worse, even the so-called intellectuals and big corporates do not question the no-progress-before-2014 theory.

One can understand Modi & Co making political statements for their vote bank audiences. But what about the PM’s addresses to corporate honchos and media summits? These statements also go without anyone batting an eyelid. Shocking.

PM Modi at a business summit hosted by a media house on Saturday said India did not benefit from the first three industrial revolutions. During the first Industrial Revolution, he said, India was under the grip of colonial rule. During the second Industrial Revolution, while new inventions and factories emerged worldwide, local industries in India were being destroyed, and raw materials were being taken out of the country. He argued that even after independence, conditions did not change much. When the world was moving towards the computer revolution, in India, one had to obtain a licence to buy a computer.

How on earth can any PM say such half-truths? He does not give credit to large industries, research organisations, irrigation projects and even the strong foundation for space exploration that was laid right from the Nehru era. He forgets the fact that India trusted the friendly overtures from China and the Red country royally ditched us. And he does not say a word about the way India demonstrated its defence mightby crushing Pakistan twice.

Indians had to have licences to buy computers before 2014? Rubbish. It was this government that mandated licences to import laptops and tablets and rolled back the after pressure from US officials, news agency Reuters reported. The policy in question was rolled out in August (2024) and required companies like Apple, Dell and HP to obtain licences for shipping imported laptops, tablets, personal computers and servers. However, soon after announcing the new policy, the government took a U-turn and stated that it will only monitor the imports and decide on the next steps a year later, Reuters said.

Modi talks a lot about AI and the way India is making progress without even mentioning the fact that the strong foundation for the IT revolution was laid by the Rajiv Gandhi government and fortified with a great zeal during the Manmohan Singh era that has made India great. Indian IT companies not only created massive jobs in India but in the US. Public memory may be short, but the public experiencing the benefits of this revolution cannot forget it.

The Prime Minister speaks as though there were no Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune or for that matter Gurgaon before 2014 and all that happened in IT was only during the last decade.

One may say it is all about POLITRICKS. Right. Look at what Modi said. A year ago, he said, India would gain speed during the third term of his government. His government assumed power for the third time. He expressed satisfaction that this speed is now evident and receiving support from the country. He thanked the people of Odisha, Maharashtra, Haryana and New Delhi for showing immense support for the commitment to Viksit Bharat. But he conveniently forgot the fact that his BJP is in power with the support of the ruling parties in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar.

Last Saturday also witnessed a terrible stampede at New Delhi Railway Station that exposed the Double Engine government’s ostrich behaviour. This led to the suppression of the facts about the incident. At least 18 people bound for the Maha Kumbh died and many more were injured. The tragedy took place around 9.30 in the night and bodies and the injured were rushed to the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital from 10 pm onward. Yet a section of the media repeated what it did during the Prayagraj MahaKumbh that there was a stampede-like situation. Worse, the railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav in his social media post did not even mention the stampede but merely said the situation was under control and the injured were being taken to hospital. There was also no mention of the deaths. But the Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena in his post at 11.55 PM expressed sorrow over the unfortunate loss of lives due to disorder and stampede, but half an hour later this statement was edited to delete the deaths’ part. As it happened in the Prayagraj stampede, PM Modi posted at 1256 AM - a full three and a half hours after the tragedy – that he was disturbed by the stampede and that his thoughts were those who lost their loved ones. Then came the Railway Minister’s post on the deaths.

What I am trying to convey is the fact that the government has not officially communicated to the world about the stampede tragedy for three and half hours and the fact that the Northern Railway CPRO dismissed the stampede as a rumour. Unpardonable. Some YouTube clips showed railway coolies rushing bodies and being injured by luggage carts, while the officials were scurrying to cover up the incident. In fact, one coolie said the sudden announcement about change in platforms caused confusion and commotion that led to the stampede.

Now the CPRO Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay came up with this statement almost 12 hours after the stampede: "When this tragic incident took place yesterday, at that time, Magadh Express going towards Patna was standing on platform number 14 of New Delhi Railway Station and Uttar Sampark Kranti going towards Jammu was standing on PlatformNumber 15. During this, a passenger coming towards platforms 14-15 slipped and fell on the stairs, and many passengers standing behind him were hit, and it was how the tragic incident took place. This is being investigated by a high-level committee." Please note that the official did not admit it was a stampede.

When one passenger slips, others behind him start falling on him, crushing him. They don’t get hit! And look at what the statement said.

Moreover, the New Delhi railway station was busy selling a large number of tickets for the unreserved passengers when there was no train arranged for the Maha Kumbh. It was only after the tragedy that the railway minister and officials said two more trains were being arranged.

The government and the railways seem to have forgotten that the tragedy took place in the national capital and not in a remote village. The entire national and international media is present there and such incidents cannot be brushed away as mere rumours. The OB vans would reach the railway station and start beaming live interviews and footage.

Finally, one question which the Godi media does not ask: What do the government, the ministers and the officials achieve by trying to hide facts, other than losing credibility? But we shall keep raising these questions.

And Modi talks about doing great things with AI when we fail to use natural intelligence – not to crowd the railway platforms when there are no trains. Couldn’t the railways have planned for the special trains in advance particularly when the entire government machinery was busy asking the people not to miss the so-called once-in-a-140-year religious event? Hasn’t the Double Engine UP government targeted to get 60 crore people – that is nearly half of India’s population – to Prayagraj? Where was their crisis preparedness, that too despite the recent disasters?

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a YouTube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging)