'Hijab, Gyanvapi, Nupur raised the heat in 2022

If one were to summarize the story of India in the year 2022, taking into consideration the overall parameters of its onward journey from 2021, one could say that it comfortably continued its progress in several sectors. The story of India's strides and the absence of economic discomfiture should be the envy of many.

This year saw Hindu identity getting more assertive, much to the chagrin of the so called liberal, secular and free voices Apart from political reasons for the onslaught against India and Modi, three issues raised the heat in the country. 'Hijab, Gyanvapi and Nupur Sharma'. All three, we could have done without.

Political narratives that followed these developments only pushed the majority into a corner bonding it further.

One may prioritise his or her political preferences and blame the BJP/RSS for the assertiveness of Hindus, yet, it should not be forgotten that the former only exploited the ground situation to develop a solid vote bank. The Hindu identity has grown to encompass several areas and fields now in 2022 and these includes the art forms.

Cancel culture or call-out culture came into force this year leading to shunning of individuals, often a celebrity who is deemed to have acted or spoken in an unacceptable manner. If a section of the society hailed 'AltNews', the majority preferred 'AltViews' of history.

Swara Bhaskars and Kamal Hasans did not exactly paint themselves in glory by their anti-Hindu remarks leading to the fall of 'Lal Singh Chadha' while 'Kartikeya 2' became a box-office hit. The message of 2022 – Don't continue messing up with our faith and belief.

This new assertive Hindu of 2022 is not a result of Modi's machinations but he is a product of years of getting pushed into a corner in his own country. His anger and frustration are finding an expression now.

The fact that Mamata Benerjee doled out more funds for Kali Puja this year, Kejriwal recited Hanuman Chalisa often and Rahul Gandhi's Hindu identity was on full display during his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' while his party continued to be rocked by dissidence and desertions, only proves the point. All these are the very same who supported a different set of voices throughout.

Religious identity has become an integral part of Indian politics in 2022 and nobody feels ashamed of it. We also saw some self-styled intellectuals dabbling in subaltern research to segregate Hindus and non-Hindus.

The Opposition has become even more irrelevant to the nation with its out of focus priorities. Did they really pay attention to the macro picture relevant to the world situation, national implications and long term goals?

A propensity to use religious scanners to evaluate the actions of Modi led to a greater criticism within and it also was orchestrated, often in tandem, with the foreign media. An unfortunate development was the use of 'bulldozers' but it was justified by some governments. If Nupur Sharma was wrong and so is the 'Sar tan se juda' slogan. The PFI activity on the alibi of securing democratic rights to the powerless, came under greater scrutiny due to its alleged involvement in anti-national activity and finally, it has been banned in the country.

But, is India's story only about being centred around religion? Year 2022 seems to have made it so. Isn't it? Let us call a spade, a spade (bias), be it in favour of something or against. Indians have been taught by 2022 that if being anti-Modi is intellectual, then getting pro-Modi is also okey-dokey.In fact, it has become savvy also. The 'intellectual secular and liberal society of 70 years' became more offensive but trolled heavily for its selective amnesia and for its sanctimonious attitude.

Congress won Himachal Pradesh but the credit will not go to Mallikharjuna Kharge, the new president of AICC anyway. Again, its erosion in Delhi and Gujarat should overshadow its joy of HP.

This year also makes us wonder why no one made unemployment a major argument to take on the BJP despite some glaring statistics? Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) puts the overall unemployment rate for India at 7.8 percent in October 2022. This in itself may seem high — until we see that in March 2022 only 10.4 percent of youth (age group 15-24) were employed; worse, the figure has fallen steadily over the past five years, from 20.9 percent in March 2017. Regional disparities are huge: in October 2022, overall unemployment was 31.8 percent in Haryana and 30.7 percent in Rajasthan, but only 1.7 percent in Gujarat and 1.1 percent in Odisha. Maharashtra and UP were both at 4.2 percent.

Allegations of political horse trading continued with the Congress, the AAP, the Shiv Sena and the TRS accusing the BJP of trying to destabilize their governments in States, while the Mahagathbandhan government in Maharashtra actually fell due to a splinter in the rink and file of Shiv Sena.

Nitish Kumar of Bihar dumped the BJP alliance and joined hands with the RJD in search of an elusive next term and in neighbouring UP, Akhilesh Yadav lost the guidance of his father, Mulayam Singh, in his passing away. Ghulam Nabi Azad, long term Congressi, floated his own party in Kashmir.

Punjab slipped more into a vortex of drugs and lawlessness and TRS is attempting to become BRS making its voice more stridently anti-Modi. Mamata mellowed down a bit with scams and scamsters weakening her integrity while Stalin kept a safe distance from Modi unlike some of his counterparts. Jagan Mohan Reddy was busy with his 3 Capitals issue and in taking on the judiciary almost on a daily basis and N Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan continue to explore the viability of their bond. The BJP in AP is all at sea as it has been in the past. Shinde vs Thackeray fight continues for ownership of SS.

The Left is left out even in West Bengal and in Kerala where it is in power, it is also making amends to his appeasement policies.

Judiciary in the country began facing multiple onslaughts from various levels and its very collegium system is being attacked. Its war of words with the Centre continues to fester.

This year should go down as yet another misogynist year for India whose first person, Draupadi Murmu, the first Tribal woman to ascend the highest office of the country, came under attack from the Congressmen repeatedly.

We also faced the ignominy of Gujarat government giving a good conduct certificate to all 11 who raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members. They were also celebrated after their release.

All in all, India remained what it is in 2022 too, an enigma to the world!.