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Ever shifting goalposts: Modi ministers and post-truth politics

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New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Whether it is Aadhaar or demonetisation, ministers in the Modi government keep shifting the goalposts whenever they hit a roadblock, says Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek OBrien.

In his latest book “Inside Parliament”, the Trinamool MP writes about themes and their ramifications he witnesses “and often participates in” inside the country’s largest temple of democracy.

In one chapter, he expresses his “bewilderment” at the way union ministers take U-turns from their (or their government’s) earlier stated positions, such as in the right to privacy and demonetisation.

He notes that politicians “potentially face no penalty” for propagating “fraudulent facts” and emphasises that the only way to fight the menace is to treat it as “our civic duty to place a premium on the truth”.

“A few hours after the Supreme Court held (on August 24) that Right to Privacy was a Fundamental Right, Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted that this was in accordance with the BJP government’s view.

“He repeated this at a press conference later in the day,” O’Brien writes.

“I was left bewildered. This was in complete contrast to the position taken by the Union of India, represented by the Attorney General, at the hearings of the case. Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, in his opinion, had noted that the Attorney General had referred to the Constituent Assembly debates in ‘copious detail’ to argue that the framers of the Constitution had rejected the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right,” he adds.

“So was Minister Prasad trying to give a spin to the defeat the government had suffered in court? I would say he was in direct contradiction to the truth,” he writes, adding that the very reason behind the case was the government’s contention that there was no Fundamental Right to Privacy.

“If Prasad was right, there would be no case at all, no need for protracted hearings and no dispute between the government and every sensible citizen,” he notes.

O’Brien cites yet another example to corroborate his argument.

“On August 30, the RBI released a report admitting that a mere 1.4 per cent of the value of currency notes demonetized had not made it back to the system and had been extinguished. This added up to a measly Rs 16,000 crore. It was a twentieth of what the government had estimated.

“Finance Minister Arun Jaitley immediately dismissed these figures as irrelevant. He claimed that the amount of money being returned to banks was not the correct metric for judging the success of demonetization. In the past, he had said just the opposite,” O’Brien writes.

The MP points out that at one stage, then Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had told the Supreme Court that the government expected Rs 4 to 5 lakh crore to be extinguished.

“When it was realized that this was an empty boast, the tone changed. The goalposts were shifted. What started as an attempt to target black money and corruption was suddenly touted as a promotion of digital payments and a cashless (or less-cash, depending on which minister you decided to listen to) economy,” he says.

O’Brien quoted noted columnist and commentator Paul Krugman, who once wrote that in the ‘post-truth of politics’ era, “politicians potentially face no penalty for running utterly fraudulent campaigns”.

“The impunity with which misrepresentations are spread through the use of social media is astonishing and worrying… The fact that the… seemingly credible and persuasive ministers can attempt to undermine positions taken by the government itself… is dangerous.”

He says that the only way to fight it is that “we realize that it is our civic duty to place a premium on the truth. We cannot afford to drown in a sea of information and fail to distinguish fact from fiction”.

–IANS
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Foodman Vishal Singh Honored for Hunger Free World Mission in Bangkok

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Lucknow: Vishal Singh, a renowned social worker from Lucknow, also known as Foodman, has once again made India proud. He was honored by the Happy Hands Gloves Cooperative Limited Company in Korathai, Thailand, for his work with the Hunger Free World Mission.

The Hunger Free World Mission’s meeting was held in Korathai, Thailand, under Vishal Singh’s leadership. Representatives from several countries, including Mr. Raja Dwivedi (Managing Director of Happy Hands Gloves Limited), Thailand Coordinator Mr. Raja Mishra, and member Mr. Varun Singh, attended the event.

Under Vishal Singh’s leadership, the attendees took a pledge to work together toward creating a hunger-free world.

Speaking on the occasion, Vishal Singh explained that the main goal of the Hunger Free World Mission is social participation. He said the mission is not just about feeding people but also about meeting other basic needs of those who are struggling. The mission focuses on helping families of terminally ill patients in hospitals by providing food and shelter. It also works to fulfill essential needs like education, jobs, and care for the elderly.

For the last 16 years, the Vijay Sri Foundation has been providing free services, benefiting thousands of people. Vishal Singh highlighted that the mission aims to gain global recognition like other organizations such as WHO, WWF, and Red Cross, which work for social causes.

During this meeting, Vishal Singh was appointed as the Chairman of the Hunger Free World Mission by representatives from various countries. They also discussed holding regular meetings in different countries to push the mission forward.

Business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has also supported this humanitarian mission, vowing to promote the idea of “Seva Parmo Dharma” (Service is the highest duty) worldwide. Vishal Singh praised him, stating that people like Dr .Abhishek Verma inspire others to work for the betterment of society.

Recently, Romania’s Ambassador, Mr . Daniela Sezonov Ţane, invited Vishal Singh to the Romanian Embassy in Delhi, where they discussed the mission in detail. Impressed by his humanitarian work, she honored Vishal Singh and invited him to Romania to take the mission forward .

Food man Vishal Singh has been serving the people of India for the past 16 years. Through the Vijay Sri Foundation, he provides free meals to cancer patients & their families ,shelter, and education for women & children along with running free old-age homes in Lucknow.

In addition to his humanitarian work, Vishal Singh also addresses issues like crime and corruption through his role as Chairman of Seva Path Media and Managing Director of Vijay Sri Foundation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vishal Singh and his team worked tirelessly to provide food and help to the needy, including starving children, elderly citizens, and pregnant women. Despite contracting the virus himself, he continued to assist others after his recovery. He even created a life-saving oxygen regulator using household items, which was praised by doctors both in India and abroad.

In his address at the meeting, Vishal Singh spoke about his mission to create a hunger-free world. He pointed out that India’s large population, along with issues like unemployment and poverty, has caused the country to fall on the Hunger Index. He urged people to contribute just one handful of grains daily to help create a hunger-free world.

He concluded by saying that through social participation, we can empower the people around us, meet their basic needs, and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous, and developed society.

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