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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local....

Festive Surge

India’s bazaars have glittered this Diwali with the unmistakable glow of consumer confidence. The country’s festive sales crossed a staggering Rs. 6 lakh crore with goods alone accounting for Rs. 5.4 lakh crore and services contributing Rs. 65,000 crore. More remarkable still, the bulk of this spending flowed through India’s traditional markets rather than e-commerce platforms. After years of economic caution and digital dominance, Indians are once again shopping in person and buying local. This reversal owes much to policy. The recent rationalisation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which trimmed rates across categories from garments to home furnishings, has given consumption a timely push. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s September rate cuts, combined with income tax relief and easing interest rates, have strengthened household budgets just as inflation softened. The middle class, long squeezed between rising costs and stagnant wages, has found reason to spend again. Retailers report that shoppers filled their bags with everything from lab-grown diamonds and casual wear to consumer durables and décor, blurring the line between necessity and indulgence. The effect has been broad-based. According to Crisil Ratings, 40 organised apparel retailers, who together generate roughly a third of the sector’s revenue, could see growth of 13–14 percent this financial year, aided by a 200-basis-point bump from GST cuts alone. Small traders too have flourished. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) estimates that 85 percent of total festive trade came from non-corporate and traditional markets, a robust comeback for brick-and-mortar retail that had been under siege from online rivals. This surge signals a subtle but significant cultural shift. The “Vocal for Local” and “Swadeshi Diwali” campaigns struck a patriotic chord, with consumers reportedly preferring Indian-made products to imported ones. Demand for Chinese goods fell sharply, while sales of Indian-manufactured products rose by a quarter over last year. For the first time in years, “buying Indian” has become both an act of economic participation and of national pride. The sectoral spread of this boom underlines its breadth. Groceries and fast-moving consumer goods accounted for 12 percent of the total, gold and jewellery 10 percent, and electronics 8 percent. Even traditionally modest categories like home furnishings, décor and confectionery recorded double-digit growth. In the smaller towns that anchor India’s consumption story, traders say stable prices and improved affordability kept registers ringing late into the festive weekend. Yet, much of this buoyancy rests on a fragile equilibrium. Inflation remains contained, and interest rates have been eased, but both could tighten again. Sustaining this spurt will require continued fiscal prudence and regulatory clarity, especially as digital commerce continues to expand its reach. Yet for now, the signs are auspicious. After years of subdued demand and inflationary unease, India’s shoppers appear to have rediscovered their appetite for consumption and their faith in domestic enterprise. The result is not only a record-breaking Diwali, but a reaffirmation of the local marketplace as the heartbeat of India’s economy.

Dangerous Trend

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

In a troubling display of misplaced priorities, several political leaders and parties in poll-bound Jammu & Kashmir, including Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC), have recently shown ‘solidarity’ following the death of Hassan Nasrallah, the militant Hezbollah leader killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. This episode raises a fundamental question: why do sections of India’s political and intellectual elite, who proclaim allegiance to liberal values, often end up pandering to militant causes and championing individuals with a violent, anti-Indian agenda?

Nasrallah, a symbol of Middle Eastern extremism and global terrorism, was responsible for years of violence grounded in hate for Israel and the West. One would expect Indian politicians, especially those claiming to represent the aspirations of Jammu & Kashmir’s beleaguered population, to maintain a prudent distance from such figures.

This is not an isolated instance. For years, prominent members of India’s so-called ‘liberal’ intelligentsia have extended their support to individuals like Yasin Malik, a separatist leader with blood on his hands. Malik’s long record of violence, including involvement in the killings of Indian Air Force personnel, did little to tarnish his image among certain political circles. Even as he was being tried for terrorism, sections of the media and academia feted him as a ‘freedom fighter,’ turning a blind eye to the victims of his crimes.

The double standard is stark when compared to democracies like Israel, where all major parties agree that terrorism is never justified regardless of fierce ideological divisions. This consensus has enabled Israel to decisively deal with its security challenges, even when doing so requires difficult decisions.

Political opportunism still plagues Jammu & Kashmir, where leaders often pander to populist sentiment instead of upholding peace and pluralism. The recent display of solidarity with Nasrallah exemplifies this duplicitous strategy—a cynical bid to appease hardline factions that sympathize with militancy.

It is not just the political class in Kashmir that is at fault. Intellectuals in metropolitan India, many of whom are quick to condemn military excesses or human rights violations by the state, are often conspicuously silent when it comes to acts of terror committed by separatists. They couch their arguments in the language of ‘resistance’ and ‘liberation,’ overlooking the fact that militant leaders like Yasin Malik or Burhan Wani seek not justice but the disintegration of India. India’s leaders must take a page from Israel’s playbook. Terrorism is not an issue that can be tackled with half-measures or soft rhetoric. It requires a resolute stance, not only from the state but also from society at large. Political parties that support or sympathize with terrorists, either overtly or through implicit endorsement, must be called out and held accountable.

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