Open to Debate Is Modi's India Heading in the Right Direction?
Sep 22, 2023
Debate on whether Modi's India is heading in the right direction. Arguments for progress: safety improvements, improved foreign relations, strong economy, social welfare, scientific achievements. Arguments for regression: erosion of democratic institutions, attacks on media, minority rights violations, rising inequality and unemployment, mismanagement of COVID, decline in democracy and social welfare. Observations on India's science and technology ecosystem, Modi's popularity and Hindu nationalism, India's role on the global stage, concerns about freedom and multiculturalism.
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Material Progress Across Multiple Fronts
- India shows measurable advances in security, economy, infrastructure, and innovation under recent years.
- Samir Lalwani argues these aggregated gains indicate India is heading in the right direction.
Institutional Erosion Threatens Democracy
- Priyana Singh highlights a broad institutional decline: press freedom, judiciary autonomy, and parliamentary debate are under sustained stress.
- She argues these democratic erosions make India less of a functioning democracy today.
Pandemic Scenes That Moved A Scholar
- Prerna Singh recounts seeing images from Delhi during the COVID delta wave with cremation grounds overwhelmed and makes the pandemic mismanagement a personal moral shock.
- She cites Harvard estimates suggesting millions more deaths than official counts.