TM Thomas Isaac
The cover of the budget speech of Kerala this time was as much a subject of animated discussion as the budget itself.It featured a painting by Tom Vattakuzhy, which depicted the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The painting captures in stark detail the horror and grief of people as they stood around Gandhiji,who lay in front of the prayer hall,bleeding from bullet wounds. The scene conveys the loss of a nation and also the gruesomeness of the murder.Rarely have liberators of the nation been killed in cold blood within days of freedom being obtained.It was not the wanton act of a demented zealot; it was a cold-blooded deed, planned meticulously by a group of people whose only motive was hatred.
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Naturally, the BJP, stung by the evocation in this painting, condemned it outright.Some independent thinkers wondered whether the choice was appropriate for the cover of a budget speech.
But the painting was a conscious choice to make a political statement on the dangers the Indian societyand polity — and the economy — are facing today.There is an insidious attempt,far more dangerous than the original conspiracy to kill the Mahatma. It is to murder the Mahatma a second time; this time, his soul. Goebbelsian moves are afoot to change the Gandhian narrative.Senior political and social functionaries of the ruling dispensation are making outrageous comments and taking such actions.Statues of Gandhi are being desecrated, his pictures are being shot at, temples are being planned for Gandhi’s assassin NathuramGodse, questions are being raised about the assassination at a school examination in Gujarat, photos of the assassination of the Mahatma have been removed from the National Gandhi Museum. But the latest and most shocking statement is that the Indian freedom struggle, which has a unique place in world history for sustained non-violent mass mobilisation, is being described as a drama staged with the consent of the British to fool the nation.
The feeble condemnation of these despicable acts and the perpetrators continuing to strut on the political stage makes one feel they are all well-orchestrated acts to test the mood of the nation, to find out if the time for the second murder is ripe. That this should happen while the nation is celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi is ironic, to put it mildly.
At a time when the country is facing the prospect of economic recession and failure in development, it is ridiculous that the central government has prioritised CAA and NRC. The official explanation is that the Mahatma’s last wishes were being fulfilled. An instrument for communal polarisation is being rolled out in the name of Gandhi.
The misery of ordinary people is rising day after day. Huge tax concessions have been given to the corporates, 42 per cent of which rightfully belongs to state governments.When good sense makes it clear that public spending must rise to tide over the crisis, states have been denied the freedom to increase borrowings from the market.Shockingly, the allocation for MGNREGS has been cut substantially. It is an insult to the toiling masses, to use a Gandhian term.We have the sad spectacle of an expenditure squeeze being effected at a time when the aggregate demand in the economy is slackening.This supply-side approach is very much part of the reactionary policies of the central government. Therefore, my budget speech is prefaced by a discussion of the contemporary political situation in the country. The cover I chose conveyed the message far more effectively than words could.
The budget speech is not, and should not be, a drab document of schemes and announcements, full of numbers and statistics read out monotonously.It is the most important means of communication with citizens.It has to reveal the spirit and philosophy of the government, its attitude and concerns for the people.Hence the paintings and the quotes I chose stress that the government and the people are one, that we are determined to work and act together to uphold constitutional values, which is a Gandhian legacy.
Dr TM Thomas Isaac is Finance Minister, Kerala.
