Two Dhruvs captured the public imagination this week.
Dhruv Jurel, on Test debut for India, excelled both with the bat and behind the wickets.
Dhruv Rathee went viral with his new video “Is India becoming a dictatorship?”. Phenomenal 1.5 crore views in a few days, on YouTube alone.
To put this number in perspective, the trailer of Fighter, the new film starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone, has 48 million views in a month.
Most of what Dhruv Rathee packaged in his video was not new. MPs from Opposition parties have been flagging these issues for a while. Both inside, and outside Parliament. But then who watches Sansad TV! MPs sitting in the Opposition benches have made seven key points in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the past two years or so.
Investigative agencies: “You may try to defame it using about nine Central agencies including ED, CBI, NIA, Central Intelligence and even C&AG. We know that you have changed the Enforcement Directorate to election duty by making a mockery of democracy.” – AM Ariff, Communist Party of India (Marxist), 8 August, 2023
Investigative agencies: “They (BJP) are destroying the institutions right from EC, ED, CBI to others. They are using them as tools to harass the people of the country” – Dimple Yadav, Samajwadi Party, 8 August, 2023
Horse-trading: “BJP has a big washing machine. When Ajit Pawar was in NCP, he was very bad. He has Rs. 70,000 crore irrigation-scam. Now, he has entered BJP’s washing machine. Now, he has become a good man. Amit Shah goes and praises him.” Sougata Roy, All India Trinamool Congress, 8 August, 2023.
Right to protest: “It is unfortunate that UAPA has been implemented against those carrying out peaceful protests in Delhi and in the country. That is, people have been sent to jail by misusing this law made for those involved in terrorist activities…. It is an attempt to keep innocent people in jail for as long as possible without trial because there is no evidence against them.” (Translated). Danish Ali Kunwar, Ex-Bahujan Samaj Party, 20 September, 2020.
Electoral bonds: “Despite the opposition of the Reserve Bank of India and the Election Commission, the electoral bonds were issued by this government, which has given rise to government corruption… In the general budget of February 2017, this government made a provision that unknown electoral bonds should be issued, for which neither the address of the donor nor the amount of money given is known and there is no information about the person to whom it has been given… Due to this, government corruption has been brought to light.” (Translated). Manish Tewari, Indian National Congress, 21 November, 2019.
Federalism: “What we have repeatedly seen under this Government is a brazen effort to curtail the autonomy of States. The PM talks about cooperative federalism, but we are witnessing instead a coercive federalism that seeks to centralise all power in the hands of the Central Government. The problem is it looks as if in the new India, some States will come first if they are ruled by the right party. But others must remain subservient to the political wishes of those in Delhi.” – Shashi Tharoor, Indian National Congress, 3 August, 2023.
Media: “I am all praise for those independent journalists, the young men and women, who despite all the pressures from the media owners are still going and trying to do their very best for journalism. Today, even the Opposition’s voice is not amplified. Media owners have their agenda. There is an old Zulu proverb. A dog with a bone in its mouth can’t bark. Enough said.” – Derek O’Brien, All India Trinamool Congress, 7 February, 2023.
Role of Governors: “The Governor of Tamil Nadu has delayed assent to around 20 Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Legislature. It is not that just Tamil Nadu stands alone in this fight. You have seen what happened in West Bengal and Maharashtra. In Kerala, the Governor threatens to withdraw Ministers. It is the same situation in Nagaland and Telangana. I think we have to fight battles with the Governor of every State where the Government is a non-BJP Government.” – Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, 7 February, 2023.
P.S. Your columnist has been in politics for over 20 years now. But I have never been trolled as badly as when I shared the Dhruv Rathee video on social media.