Dr. Javed Jamil
While Prime Minister Modi’s “surgical strikes” against “Black Money” cannot be faulted for making it public, the strikes are bound to trap only the small fish. The Corporate grip on economy will further strengthen. The Middle and upper Middle Class will suffer. Banking Sector and the Government will benefit.
What is deplorable in the modern economic terminology is the fact that “Black Money” primarily means unaccounted money hidden to avoid the taxes. Black Money does not involve the accumulation of money by the Corporate through extremely high pricing of their products compared to the cost of production. A product which is available for Rs 100 in the market could have been made available even at Rs 20/- The Corporate are allowed to accumulate only on the condition that they have to pay some part of it through taxes. But they are again allowed to accumulate wealth because there is hardly any tax on accumulated assets. Whatever was there has been done away with by the Modi Government. The result is that the common masses have to pay much more for availing the products of the Big Industry than they should. The Economic Disparity continues to grow, as the money continues to flow from the low-moneyed to the more-moneyed.
The understanding between Corporate Sector, Banking Sector and the Political Hierarchy and mutual distribution of benefits is hitting the masses in a big way. The sectors which fall in between the two are being successively targeted by the same trio. The latest step by the Government will strangulate this middle group.
While the latest steps must be welcomed, they alone without “Surgical strikes” against the wealthiest will only prove counterproductive in the long run. The inflation will keep an upward trend and the economic disparity will keep growing.
In the political terms, these “surgical strikes” can prove as controversial and as ineffective as the ones across LoC. The Middle Class businessmen which so far has been standing staunchly behind Modi may feel cheated. The Opposition may find it more compelling to unite. Only time will tell if the present steps are only Surgical Strikes with limited purpose or are a prelude to full-fledged war not only against those who have cheated the Government by not paying taxes but also against those who have cheated the masses to accumulate wealth.
Dr Javed Jamil is India based thinker and writer with over a dozen books including his latest, “Muslim Vision of Secular India: Destination & Road-map”, “Qur’anic Paradigms of Sciences & Society” (First Vol: Health), “Muslims Most Civilised, Yet Not Enough” and Other works include “The Devil of Economic Fundamentalism”, “The Essence of the Divine Verses”, “The Killer Sex”, “Islam means Peace” and “Rediscovering the Universe”. Read more about him at http://www.worldmuslimpedia.com/dr-javed-jamil. Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/drjavedjamil; also https://javedjamil.com/. He can be contacted at doctorforu123@yahoo.com.