Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are constantly celebrating India’s progress and development. Every day the prime minister and his ministers dedicated economic and sometimes social projects worth thousands of crores, or even trillions of rupees. However, no one gets to know how much was actually invested and how successful the projects have been.We are basking under false notions of the Indian economy being the fourth largest in the world, worth four trillion dollars. We brag about 7% growth and the stock market index at 80,000 and above. We are being told everyday how great a country we are and that in the world order we now matter significantly.We are made to believe in all this by a pliable media, both print and electronic and by a very aggressive social media. But most of these are all under the influence of the party in power at the centre. They are controlled by fear and favour. Unfortunately the Indian media has forgotten that their only duty is to publish the truth and nothing but the truth. Almost the entire pliant media has received largesses from the state in form of land, tax concessions, licenses, free airwaves etc. Do they not owe any duty to the citizens?India is now facing existential challenges on many fronts. Fundamental ideals of the constitution of India – justice, liberty, equality and fraternity – have been lost in this race to portray India as an economic giant. We must remember that India is a social democracy; to quote B.R. Ambedkar, “It means a way of life which recognises liberty, equality and fraternity as the principles of life. They form a union of trinity in the sense that to divorce one from the other is to defeat the very purpose of democracy.”Today the nation is as poor as it was in 2014, if not poorer. In the absence of credible census data, which was due in 2021, it is difficult to gauge real progress and development. In the party’s 2024 election manifesto, Modi loudly proclaimed, “We have provided free ration to 80+ crore citizens since 2020. We will continue to provide free ration for the next five years under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna”.It claimed to have “empowered citizens by transferring 34 lakh crore directly in their account.”Modi gave over 20 guarantees to different groups from Poor to middle class to farmers to youth to small traders amongst others.Yet, today, tens of millions of youth are jobless. The demographic advantage is being fast lost. The few hundred govt jobs advertised anywhere in the country get applications in the tens of lakhs. Private investment is slow and job creation is slower.Social indices are alarming. Government schools, including in Gujarat, are mostly run in one class with one teacher. Dropouts are increasing. The public health system has collapsed while corporatisation of medical services is increasing burdens on citizens. Even today, power supply is highly irregular in rural areas and many urban areas.Poverty levels have not come down despite claims to have helped 25 crore people to overcome it, as can be easily seen in rural areas, urban slums and increasing numbers of people forced to beg on streets across India. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening every moment.No one is denying progress has been made in the country. New airports and ports have been inaugurated. New schemes are announced daily. But does that help India’s social and economic situation? According to an UNDP report, India ranked 130 in the world in 2023, rising from 133 in 2022, in the human development index. But ‘Inequality reduces India’s HDI by 30.7%, one of the highest losses in the region.Today’s India under Modi rejects all international and foreign reports, however, credible they may be.We are therefore witnessing a piquant situation. The government bombards us with tall claims and the media highlights them instead of critically examining them, all unflattering outside reports are dubbed anti-India.But the greatest challenge is the complete absence of fraternity, the brotherhood of man. Dalits and Minorities especially Muslims are vilified, targeted and harmed by fringe elements as also govt machinery. Justice eludes them as the Judiciary is incapable of standing up to the Executive. Even the SC is not free from this challenge as the recent matters of Umar Khalid and other accused, as also the Sonam Wangchuk cases show. On the slightest pretext, homes and businesses of Muslims are bulldozed while CJI claims credit for stopping them. ‘Love jihad’, cow smuggling and even slogans praising the Prophet are criminalised. Muslims are barred from Garba – even musicians were brought down from the stage and told to leave. Now even shopkeepers are told to sack Muslim sales staff as was seen in Indore.Christian institutions are also not spared as UP and Gujarat have shown. Dalits across India, especially in rural India are repeatedly targeted.BJP declared, ‘Modi ki guarantee, good governance and vikas’ in 2024, slightly changing it from ‘Sab ka saath sab ka vikas.’Ambedkar had feared India may lose its independence, citing the treachery of the likes of Jaichand, King Dahar and Gulab Singh in history.The last hymn of Rigveda invokes unity thus:Assembly, speak together ; let your minds be all of one accord,The place is common, common the assembly, common the mind, so be their thought united,United the thoughts of all that may happily agree.”We the Citizens must open our eyes to take us, From the unreal to the real,From darkness to light. Dushyant Dave is a former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.