Demonetization of rupee : Political & economical masterstroke or a blunder ?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on 8th November that rs500 & rs1000 denomination notes will cease to be legal tender has stumped the nation and has been the center of debate across the political & social circles. The initial response to the decision came as a  welcome delight to most of the honest taxpayers & the common masses but took the political class & the corrupt by surprise.

All of a sudden the tables seemed to have been turned and it seemed to be an excellent but very bold decision. The social networking sites , newspapers and other platforms were filled with shock ,awe and praise for Modi’s “surgical strike” on the menace of black money.In his address to the nation, Modi himself had warned that this decision will cause inconvenience to the public for the short term but it is benficial and required for the long term gain for the nation as such. There is not doubt about his intentions and being part of the system we all knew how difficult & brave this decision was,  to take headon with a framework where corrupt & powerful had become nothing short of Frankenstein monster. The situation in Indian society has become so grim that corrupts have  got social acceptance  and honest & poor were looked down upon. Needless to say this strata of society has been feeling cheated and let down by the system.

But as the days passed , there seems to be more chaos than it was initially anticipated. There are lot of factors which has resulted in creating panic in the minds of people but I would like to mention here  the role of opposition parties and main stream media ( often termed as MSM). It is notable to see that MSM has been loosing credibility all across the globe. The most recent example is election coverage of US, where MSM had crossed all limits of negativity and inclination in favor of Hillary Clinton and shamelessly announced her the winner without even waiting for the final mandate of people. The final result was entirely contrary to what they have been projecting for long. It’s not a rocket science to understand that social media played a major role  in echoing , revealing and channelizing the real voice of the people.

Something similar is happening in India too. Ever since coming to power , Modi has been taking various steps to disrupt & fix the broken system , thus affecting media houses which had become more as dallals rather than independent press. Media had played a major role in projecting Modi as a massacre of 2002 riots , neglecting his other major achievements as CM , leader, statesman and a man of action. Though it was expected ,but what makes me upset is when the so called fourth pillar of democracy doesn’t rise to the occasion.

Demonetization is a major reform taken by the government and any reasonable and sensible media house would have covered this entire operation in a positive manner to help it become a success.

Ever since the announcement, the  opposition parties are in tatters  and behaving like headless chickens , still coming to terms how to respond to this step. They are concerned about their truckloads of ill gotten wealth which they had accumulated over the years after looting this nation. Within 4 hours it was reduced to junk and their anger was obvious to Modi’s decision. To hide their frustration they are trying to raise concern of common man which they had never cared of otherwise. Suddenly they have become messiahs of poor & needy.

I agree there is genuine problem of people, but instead of playing constructive role in helping out the needy, these political parties with hand in gloves with MSM are spreading panic and rumor amongst people. One of them even went to the extent of saying that there may be a law & order problem if this scheme is not rolled back. Was he threating to create riots ? This attitude of politicians and MSM are bigger threat to this nation than ISIS or Pakistan. As a common man , the least I expect them is help people tide over this crisis instead of trying to milk out the situation for their political gains at the cost of nation.

All I have to say is that there is no doubt on the intent of the government to curb black money, fake currency and militant funding but hindrance in execution due to the above two reasons is causing more chaos. No doubt this move will give the required boost to the Indian economy but only time will tell if this was masterstroke of Modi government or a political hara-kiri.