The India ‘Doland Trump’ Saw!
The only ray of hope for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters is the claim that the world is looking at India because of Modi. The moment allegations such as the collapse of India’s economy, increase in unemployment, and reduction in GDP growth rate are levelled, BJP leaders try to push things under the carpet by claiming that ‘even then, the world’s focus is on India.’ There is no doubt that China’s focus is on India. In the last two months when Chinese mounted attacks in Ladakh, BJP leaders stooped to the level of attributing the attacks to the jealousy triggered due to India’s development under the leadership of Modi! Already, a BJP leader has issued a statement that the developments works initiated in the Indian border have startled China.
In the recent days, the party is drawing up strategies to draw into its fold actors, political leaders, and the media. By delivering hate speeches, a leader can emerge in the country within a day. Similarly, we have seen how television channels retain viewers by spreading rumours and fake news throughout the day. Whatever the result, their only goal is to make sure that they get attention. It is true that a majority of the people were optimistic that Modi would do something new and develop India to such an extent that the world would be amazed at India’s development. His initial speeches and announcements that we will soon witness ‘acche din’ instilled confidence in the people of the country. But all expectations were dashed in the first five years of his administration.
It is not that the world is not looking at India. In fact, the world is looking at India wonder struck. It is looking at the country with anguish, sadness, and worried at where the country has reached! We were at least hopeful that Narendra Modi’s friend US President Donald Trump will have good words to say about India. But now, his friend ‘Doland Trump’ has called India as a ‘dirty country’ in his speech. Perhaps, Modi should have built higher walls on the streets of Gujarat during the ‘Namaste Trump’ programme. Maybe Trump saw Gujarat’s dirt and has now called India a ‘dirty country’. But we need to be clear whether Trump needs to be criticized for calling India a ‘dirty country’ or criticize Narendra Modi for converting the country into one. The country will not develop by getting praised by paid media nor will the world praise the country based on media reports. Similarly, it is not right to forcibly get praised by others. Before criticizing or making sarcastic remarks, we should first weigh the truth in Trump’s statement. Modi had already accepted Trump’s statement and therefore, when Trump arrived, he constructed walls overnight in the by-lanes of Ahmedabad. He has constantly tried to cover up the state of the nation not only by constructing walls but also with the help of the friendly media.
It is ironical that the embarrassment we feel when Trump calls us a ‘dirty country’ is not felt when the United Nations expresses anguish about the increasing human rights violations in the country. The United Nations has already warned that human rights is under tremendous strain in the world’s largest democracy that is India. At the same time, Europe’s Parliamentary Committee had also warned India about the increasing attacks on minorities. These are more humiliating than Trump calling India a ‘dirty country’ in his speech. Such official statements of anguish have not only affected India’s standing in the world but also impacted the country’s economy. Only if democracy has a strong foothold and peace and harmony prevails in a country will industrialists come forward to invest. No country will want to make investment in a country where crime, violence, and cruelty are on the rise. Also, India’s poor performance in the Global Hunger Index and the problem of tuberculosis assuming alarming proportions should be issues of humiliation for the country. We need to quickly find answers for who and what is responsible for India reaching this state. Otherwise, instead of becoming the world leader, India will become a pain to the world.
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Prabhsimran fifty, Jitesh cameo lift Punjab Kings to 214/5 against SRH
Hyderabad, May 19: Prabhsimran Singh set the tone with a quickfire fifty before skipper Jitesh Sharma finished it off in style to lift Punjab Kings to an imposing 214/5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, here on Sunday.
The new look opening pair of Prabhsimran and Vidarbha's Atharva Taide put on 97 runs from 55 balls as PBKS did well to see through the power play without losing a wicket after opting to bat.
Prabhsimran smashed seven fours and four sixes for his 45-ball 71, while Taide will regret missing out on a fifty after being dismissed for a well-made 46 off just 27 balls.
Taide smashed five fours and two sixes and after his departure, Prabhsimran got the company of Rilee Rossouw as the duo put together 54 off 32 balls to keep the momentum going in the middle overs.
It looked a one-way traffic at 151/1 in 14 overs when leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth dismissed the set batter Prabhsimran off a quicker delivery that took a faint edge and Heinrich Klaasen did well to take a one-handed catch behind the stumps.
Cummins (1/36) ended his spell taking the wicket Rossouw one run shy of a half-century in the 18th over that left two new batters at the crease -- Jitesh Sharma and Ashutosh Sharma.
T Natarajan (2/33) then did well to remove the inform Ashutosh Sharma in the penultimate over.
PBKS went on to lose four wickets for 44 runs in five overs before the stand-in skipper Jitesh's last over assault took them to a fighting total.
Jitesh (32 not out from 15 balls; 2x4, 2x6) finished with two sixes against Nitish Kumar Reddy in a 20-run final over.
It was a fearless batting display by the Punjab Kings who had nothing to lose and playing the last match of the season.
There was no Jonny Bairstow or Liam Livingstone -- the English duo who have left home for national duty -- but PBKS batters never felt their absence after they opted to bat.
Following a tidy start by Pat Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar where the duo conceded just 12 runs, Prabhsimran took on the veteran Indian seamer slamming him for consecutive boundaries.
The lefthander Taide then got into the act in Natarajan's opening over, when he dragged one from outside off to through mid-on and followed it up with a mighty pull.
The diminutive Punjab batter Prabhsimran added to their misery, hammering a 145kph delivery from Cummins over deep square leg with sheer timing.
Taide also matched his senior partner Prabhsimran and took on Bhuvneshwar with a six and four, as PBKS cruised to 61 for no loss in the power play and the home side looked desperate in search of a breakthrough.
Natarajan finally broke the opening partnership in the 10th over with a short and widish delivery to dismiss a well set Taide.
But Prabhsimran continued his belligerent batting in the company of Rossouw and raced to a 34-ball fifty, his second this season in the 11th over.
His big assault came in Nitish Reddy's next over when the duo spanked him for 20 runs two sixes and one four as there was no stopping PBKS.
