Development must include everyone

India has been termed one of the fastest growing countries in the world. It is touted to be superpower along with China. The development that India has achieved is being hailed all over the world. But still so many of us live below the poverty line. So many mothers and children are malnourished. So many prople are starving and homeless. What kind of growth is this?

We hear our politicians speak of their achievements in bringing about so must growth. The TV news channels and newspapers are full of reports about our success story but rarely do we see or hear anything about the plight of the poorest of the poor in our country. 

This eyewash by the media has led people living in cities to believe that each and everyone of the 1.2 billion people in India are prospering. This is surely not the case. There are more poor in India than in the poorest regions Africa, this is a fact. The growth we see on TV or read in the newspapers is only the growth of the middle class, the upper middle class and the rich. The poor continue to remain poor.

Our villages are plagued by drought and lack of basic facilities. Most villages do not get three phase electricity for even 6 hours a day and we in cities complain even if there is no power for 15 minutes. We hail politicians like Narendra Modi who have done so much of development, while completely overlooking the kind of development that has taken place. People are still malnourished in Gujarat, there is still a high infant-mortality rate. These statistics are alarming to me. How can one call that growth when everyone cannot benefit from it?

India's growth according to me is exclusive. I cannot call this growth because it has excluded the majority of the population while only focusing on a small group of the urban population. We must strive to change this trend of inclusive growth. We must educate those who cannot afford an education and teach them their rights. We must demand from the government to first provide basic amenities to people who do not have them. Then we can think about expressways and flyovers and malls and so on.

Secularism means separation of religion from the State

The preamble of our constitution declares India to be a secular nation. The Constitution through Article 25 allows every Indian to practice and propagate any religion of his/her choice. This means that the State of India is devoid of a religion and ideally practices no faith but welcomes all faiths and treats them equally.

However, recently, we saw The CM of Karnataka doling out money to Mutts. Former CM of Karnataka BS Yedyurappa had donated close to Rs. 300 crore to various Mutts in Karnataka according to an article in the Times of India dated 25 Feb 2013. The article also states that overall, a sum in excess of Rs. 500 crore was earmarked for Mutts by the BJP Government of Karnataka.

Now, donations to religious institutions is not wrong, as long as it is from one's own pocket. But the money that was given to the Mutts was from the State exchequer. Meaning it is the tax-payers money. This is, according to me, a violation of the secular principle of our Constitution.

This must not be encouraged. Politics and religion should not be clubbed together. The job of a political leader is to serve people no matter what community they belong to. And it is the job of our governments and judiciary to uphold the secular fabric of our nation.

Article 25(2)(a) of the Constitution says "Nothing in this article [Article 25] shall affect the operation of any existing law or prevent the State from making any law regulating or restricting any economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious practice." But does any law exist restricting any political activity associated with religion? If it did, all the issues related to politics and religion can be controlled. There would be no political instigation or involvement in any religious activity. Politics of religion can be removed from our country.

The State and religions will truly be separate and all faiths can live in harmony only if politics does not play a part in people's faith. I extend my support to a passing of such law under Article 25(2)(a) of our Constitution. If we restrict political activity in religion now, probably our children will live in a secular country. As of now, we only have a secular country on paper, not in reality. Remove religion from politics and government and secularism will come. Mark Tully, a former BBC correspondent in India said that India was fundamentally secular and I tend to agree with him. It is the politics that is harming this fundamentally secular nature of our country. This is my opinion and this is why I urge a separation of religion from the State.

My Campaigns

I wish to put forward my opinions about a few issues which I feel are important for the development of our country.

• I am all for freedom. I believe free speech and expression without any restriction other than libel or slander must exist in a democracy. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) has sections related to Sedition (124A) and Outraging Religious Feelings (295A) apart from various other sections which I feel must be repealed. Any law that curbs free expression including those related to decency and morality (which have no fixed definition whatsoever) is not good in a democracy. To know more about this, click on Free Speech

• I also believe is separation of religion from the State. India is a 'Secular' country as per our constitution. Which means that every citizen is free to practice and propagate a religion of his choice. It also means that a citizen may choose to be without any religious beliefs and no one can impose any religion on him/her. The State, however, shall have no religion. I believe that the successive Governments of India have failed to live by this principle of secularism. For more, read Separation of State from Religion

• India has a huge divide between rich and poor. Today when we hear of development in our newspapers and TV channels, it is only focused on the cities. Today, growth means that of the middle class, upper middle class and the rich. We rarely, if never, hear about the various problems faced by India's villages. Poverty, malnutrition, ill-health and drought are taking their toll on the people. Caste systems are rampant and people of lower castes are often subject to bad treatment including rape and murder. Please read Inclusive Growth for more.

Feel free to comment on any issue. I'd love to hear dissenting opinions too. After all, we are a democracy.