1. What I would have liked to hear from an Indian political leader:
"My fellow countryman, more than 72 years after achieving independence, we have the greatest crisis that the Republic has ever seen, and it shows how far we are from acheving the freedom we fought for."
"My fellow countryman, more than 72 years after achieving independence, we have the greatest crisis that the Republic has ever seen, and it shows how far we are from acheving the freedom we fought for."
2.
...
"This is a health crisis, but in the millions of Indians rendered jobless, in the long march of workers trying to head home, what is also revealed is the crisis of politics and economy.
If so many of our citizens are so vulnerable, what is the freedom we have achieved?"
...
"This is a health crisis, but in the millions of Indians rendered jobless, in the long march of workers trying to head home, what is also revealed is the crisis of politics and economy.
If so many of our citizens are so vulnerable, what is the freedom we have achieved?"
3.
...
"In 1947 our first PM warned that we had achieved freedom only in part, Gandhi warned that without swaraj an external political freedom was not enough. In 1950 our first Law Minister, Ambedkar, warned that social and economic inequality couldn't coexist with equal rights."
...
"In 1947 our first PM warned that we had achieved freedom only in part, Gandhi warned that without swaraj an external political freedom was not enough. In 1950 our first Law Minister, Ambedkar, warned that social and economic inequality couldn't coexist with equal rights."
4.
...
"Immediately post-independence we had to beg for grain from the US and USSR, it was only after the Green Revolution that we managed to grow enough to feed ourselves.
Today, we have the grain, but it isn't getting to those that desperately need it."
...
"Immediately post-independence we had to beg for grain from the US and USSR, it was only after the Green Revolution that we managed to grow enough to feed ourselves.
Today, we have the grain, but it isn't getting to those that desperately need it."
5.
...
"Part of the reason is that we are tied into a global political and economic system that leaves us as largely exporters of primary goods.
We may have won freedom, but our people are still underpaid labour both for the rich in India, as well as for those overseas."
...
"Part of the reason is that we are tied into a global political and economic system that leaves us as largely exporters of primary goods.
We may have won freedom, but our people are still underpaid labour both for the rich in India, as well as for those overseas."
6.
...
"It is this system, one that has led to an extractive and exploitative destruction of ecological systems, weakening poorest countries most, guaranteeing an outflow of impoverished refugees, both within countries, and across borders, that needs to change."
...
"It is this system, one that has led to an extractive and exploitative destruction of ecological systems, weakening poorest countries most, guaranteeing an outflow of impoverished refugees, both within countries, and across borders, that needs to change."
7.
...
"Even if India rides out this crisis with fewer deaths - something that seems unlikely given that the virus behaves here as it has behaved elsewhere - it is a moral obscenity that Indians remain bonded labourers in this day and age."
...
"Even if India rides out this crisis with fewer deaths - something that seems unlikely given that the virus behaves here as it has behaved elsewhere - it is a moral obscenity that Indians remain bonded labourers in this day and age."
8.
...
"We understand that many developed countries cannot lead this change - too many of their richest companies are invested in the status quo, even if there are some energy transitions. China, which has become central to the system, does not seem willing to."
...
"We understand that many developed countries cannot lead this change - too many of their richest companies are invested in the status quo, even if there are some energy transitions. China, which has become central to the system, does not seem willing to."
9.
...
"We need a change that puts human dignity - which includes an appreciation of the environment which is necessary for this dignity - at the centre of our policymaking.
I ask the world to look to India, not because we have the solutions, but because we are the challenge."
...
"We need a change that puts human dignity - which includes an appreciation of the environment which is necessary for this dignity - at the centre of our policymaking.
I ask the world to look to India, not because we have the solutions, but because we are the challenge."
10.
...
"In a world burning itself up, no country will pay a bigger price in terms of deaths, impoverishment and misery than us.
This crisis is revealing that in full, day in and day out.
We seek to find a better way forward because we are the most hurt by how things are."
...
"In a world burning itself up, no country will pay a bigger price in terms of deaths, impoverishment and misery than us.
This crisis is revealing that in full, day in and day out.
We seek to find a better way forward because we are the most hurt by how things are."
11.
...
"We are not begging the world for pity, just as we do not look down at other developing countries suffering through this crisis.
What we are saying is that in the steps India takes to save itself, there is a way for the world to do so as well."
...
"We are not begging the world for pity, just as we do not look down at other developing countries suffering through this crisis.
What we are saying is that in the steps India takes to save itself, there is a way for the world to do so as well."
12.
...
"In doing so India must put the welfare of its citizens at the centre of its decisionmaking.
Arbitrary laws that muzzle the freedom to dissent, to associate, to be ourselves, will not lead to good or sustainable solutions.
An imprisoned population is not a healthy one."
...
"In doing so India must put the welfare of its citizens at the centre of its decisionmaking.
Arbitrary laws that muzzle the freedom to dissent, to associate, to be ourselves, will not lead to good or sustainable solutions.
An imprisoned population is not a healthy one."
13.
...
"Our path forward cannot ignore our neighbourhood. We may have difficult relations with some, but if we are to have a prosperous future, we must find a path forward, a shared vision.
With the majority of the trade and population in S Asia, the onus is on us."
...
"Our path forward cannot ignore our neighbourhood. We may have difficult relations with some, but if we are to have a prosperous future, we must find a path forward, a shared vision.
With the majority of the trade and population in S Asia, the onus is on us."
14.
...
"That does not mean we dictate terms for how the future is to be imagined, but we can convene a discussion on how to imagine that future, putting the welfare of the citizens of South Asia as the greatest need."
...
"That does not mean we dictate terms for how the future is to be imagined, but we can convene a discussion on how to imagine that future, putting the welfare of the citizens of South Asia as the greatest need."
15.
...
"If India leading the discussion worries others, we can let others lead, such as Nepal, or Bhutan, or Bangladesh, confident in knowledge that no country can, or should, bully any other if we are to come to a conclusion supported by all."
...
"If India leading the discussion worries others, we can let others lead, such as Nepal, or Bhutan, or Bangladesh, confident in knowledge that no country can, or should, bully any other if we are to come to a conclusion supported by all."
16.
...
"But the time for this change, for this effort, is overdue.
We must live up to the promise that we made our own citizens in 1947. Our current conditions show that we have a long way to go. Only by acknowledging this failure can we reach for a solution."
-end-
...
"But the time for this change, for this effort, is overdue.
We must live up to the promise that we made our own citizens in 1947. Our current conditions show that we have a long way to go. Only by acknowledging this failure can we reach for a solution."
-end-
