NEW DELHI, Mar 07 (DNA): Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh

said India’s situation is “very grim and morose”, warning that “wilfully

stoked communal tensions, gross economic mismanagement and an external

health shock are threatening to derail India’s progress and standing”.

In a strongly-worded op-ed published in The Hindu on Friday, Singh

maintained that currently, India was facing threats from “the trinity of

social disharmony, economic slowdown and a global health epidemic”.

Commenting on the deadly communal violence that swept through the Indian

capital recently, the former prime minister said: “With no checks, the

fire of social tensions is rapidly spreading across the nation and

threatens to char the soul of our nation. It can only be extinguished by

the same people that lit it.”

“Just in a matter of few years, India has slid rapidly from being a

global showcase of a model of economic development through liberal

democratic methods to a strife-ridden majoritarian state in economic

despair,” he wrote.

Singh called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convince the

nation not just through his words, but also through his actions.

“Every act of sectarian violence is a blemish on Mahatma Gandhi’s

India,” wrote Singh, who remained prime minister of India from 2004 to

2014 until he was replaced by Modi at the helm.

“Modi must convince the nation […] that he is cognizant of the dangers

we face and reassure the nation that he can help us tide over this as

smoothly as we can.”

“The India that we know and cherish is slipping away fast. It is time to

confront the harsh reality of the grave risks we face as a nation and

address them squarely and sufficiently,” he wrote. DNA

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