What makes a country a super power

Just like every proud citizen wishes to see his or her country to be the best, every Indian citizen wishes to see India touching the skies.  It is the dream of every citizen of India to see their country as a superpower. Some jingoists have even declared 2050 as a deadline for the same. These jingoists claim that their country is as capable of becoming a superpower as any other superpowers of the world. While I don’t blame them for dreaming because dreaming big is certainly not a crime but, what we need to ask ourselves is what makes a country a super power? Is it a strong government or a strong military or maybe access to the latest defense technology? 

If we take a look at the events that India witnessed during these past two years of BJP rule, one can easily gather that dreaming of India as a superpower is just wishful thinking and there is no hope in sight that our country will become one anytime soon. People had voted for BJP with high hopes. They had voted for “Ache Din” and “Sab Ka Vikas”. Common man had voted for a change. But as has happened before, BJP’s promises and slogans turned out to be nothing more than a mythical unicorn. BJP’s two years in the office were celebrated with great zeal and zest. 

Let us measure the distance that BJP covered in its two years of governance through a few examples. Let us first take the example of renaming our roads. I fail to understand which country has become economically sound and democratically stable by renaming its roads. The demand of BJP MP and Ex- army Chief General V.K. Singh to rename Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road yields nothing. It only creates a lack of trust between the BJP and the Muslims. It only serves to alienate the people of this country. 

Then there were those poor down trodden kids who dreamed big. Who went to universities with hopes of getting their families out of poverty but they too became victims of politics. They were not allowed to speak or think freely. A few of them who dared to speak, were labelled as anti-nationalist.  Oh how can we forget the beef ban? The largest exporter of beef asks its beef eating citizens to go to Pakistan. Why? What is the relationship between beef and Pakistan? Is it because we have become habitual of blaming our neighbours for everything we feel is wrong with our country?  Polarization is yet another issue. Here, religion became the victim of politics. The fake list of mass exodus of Hindus from Nairana, UP is their latest attempt at polarization. There are numerous examples which all stand proof to the fact that India is becoming a victim of politics.   

Mr. Modi addressed the joint session of US Congress on June 8 and spoke at length about India’s future. But I wonder what future was he was talking about. Was he referring to a future where Muslims will be lynched or a future where people will be scared to eat what they want or the future were students will be slapped with sedition charges because they made the mistake of believing in our constitutional right to freedom of speech? However, there is still hope for BJP. They can still turn the tide in their favour. All they need to do is come out of victimization politics and being pawns of Hindutva agendas and start working for the betterment of India. It is the diversity of Indian culture and not the Hindutva culture that represents India. This diversity is what makes India a land of temples and mosques, a land of Sufis and Saints, a land of colours and a land of harmony. If this diversity is not preserved, India will be lost forever.

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