PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day Speech was full of the usual claims, promises and bombast. But here is the actual message behind what was said and what was left unsaid.

‘SECULAR CIVIL CODE’
Forcing a majoritarian set of customs and rituals on all communities is not ‘secular.’ The UCC is nothing but a tool for the RSS-BJP to invade people’s private lives to gain control over it, and to further their communal agenda. This is evident from the Uttarakhand government’s UCC draft.

ONE NATION, ONE ELECTION
‘One nation, one election’ hits at the very root of the democratic process in two ways. It gives a huge advantage to parties with vulgar amounts of money as they alone will be able to mobilise resources for simultaneous elections. It also reduces opportunities for people to express their dissatisfaction with their governments.

WOMEN’S SAFETY
Successive governments have failed the women of India. But during BJP rule, the support enjoyed by perpetrators of crimes against women has been unprecedented. The culprits in the Bilkis Bano case were pardoned by the Gujarat government. Kuldeep Singh Sengar enjoyed the patronage of the BJP for the longest time, while Brijbhushan Sharan Singh continues to do so: the list is endless. This is not to mention the amount of filth faced in digital spaces by any woman who dissents against the Modi government. And let’s not forget Manipur!

WAR ON CORRUPTION
BJP’s ‘war on corruption’ has yielded one and only one result: those accused of corruption have been welcomed into the party with open arms and have been declared ‘clean.’ If the corrupt join the BJP at this rate, it will certainly win its ‘war’.

Meanwhile, a host of recently built infrastructure projects are suddenly full of holes and cracks – from the Rs 700 crore tunnel at ITO and collapsing highways and roads to falling airport ceilings and the leaky roof at the new parliament building, the people of the country are waiting for reports for all this and more!

MESSAGE FOR BANGLADESH
We all join PM Modi’s appeal to the Bangladesh government to ensure the safety of minorities in their country. Perhaps, Modi ji should make the same appeal to himself, his government and party, and to the Sangh parivar. Glass house, Modi ji, glass house!

Amid all this rhetoric, the prime minister, of course, failed to take any concrete steps to address the soaring inflation, the crisis of unemployment that is haunting India’s youth, and the rampant inequality which stares us in the face. For the workers and farmers of India, he had platitudes and nothing else. It is clear that the PM and the government have refused to heed the message that Indian voters gave just a few months ago.