Yet another close of the year! The year 2023 was quite remarkable for the Indian political landscape. We witnessed history in the making, albeit the trajectory suggests that we are tragically moving backwards while the world moves ahead. Significant events have marred the face of India, ranging from the attack on Kukis in Manipur to the parliamentary attack. Anyone can find the ruling government's prints on all of them, be they indications of being manufactured by the regime or as a consequence of their incompetence.

In a protest that lasted the whole year, several prominent Indian wrestlers, most notably Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, stood together against the BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing female players. After a hiatus where all activity was suspended, the India Olympic Association was asked to form a new body to conduct polls. In a blow to the protestors and against all morality, Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan, who holds significant clout in the WFI, won the elections with his support, following which Sakshi announced her retirement and Bajrang Punia decided to return his Padma Shri. The sports ministry disbanded the newly formed WFI body.

In a critical setback to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Enforcement Directorate arrested senior party leader Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on money laundering charges in its probe into the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. Arvind Kejriwal and K Kavitha of BRS are also under investigation.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP following his conviction in the criminal defamation case over his 'Modi surname' remark. Having finished the first leg of his "Bharat Jodo Yatra" and regained his membership in the Lok Sabha, he plans for a possible second walk ahead of the general elections this year.

Targeted violence against Christians rocked Manipur. Having premeditated the massacre, the government confiscated arms from the Kukis. They were then left to the Meiteis, who claim tribal status, to torture, rape, kill and pillage. Many of them wore police uniforms, taking advantage of the shoot-at-sight orders issued by the state government. The violence presented in the state-sponsored media as ethnic strife saw Manipur burn while the centre kept mum. A video of two women being paraded naked and subjected to blatant acts of sexual assault by a group of tribal men in Manipur went viral, triggering outrage across the country, but eventually, nothing came of it. The continued violence led to the deployment of troopers to maintain order in the state. It was the most extensive experiment after Gujarat.

Several opposition parties banded together to form the INDIA alliance to fight against the NDA in the upcoming 2024 general elections. It remains to be seen if they can rise above their agendas and internal strife to bring an actual challenge to the ruling government.

Amid opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Parliament complex, the temple of democracy, in May. Apart from the colossal waste of public money, the religious rituals held in its sanctum raise doubts about preserving India's secular sanctity. The project is part of the over 20,000 crore Central Vista initiative to revamp colonial-era buildings. Modi described the project as "evidence of a self-reliant India."

Forty-one construction workers were trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel after a part collapsed on Diwali, November 12. They were rescued primarily by rat miners after 17 days following the failure of the operations initially set in motion by the government. The incident was not wholly unexpected as there had already been more than twenty minor collapses before, revealing the extraordinarily dubious efforts by the government to show infrastructural growth despite precepts of common sense.

BJP cemented its power in the Hindi heartland by sweeping the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, contrary to the results of the exit polls. The Congress managed to save face by winning Telangana, while ZPM ousted MNF in Mizoram. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is now in power in 17 states and Union Territories. The NDA looks forward to sweeping the 2024 elections unless the INDIA block takes a few leaves out of the BJP's playbook and brings its game up to speed.

A recent IMF report underscored concerns over the escalating debt situation of India, coupled with a period of "volatile inflation," diminished employment, primarily within the informal sector, and the potential disruption of the global supply chain, leading to "growing fiscal pressures for India." The Indian government unsurprisingly refuted the report, pushing it into its skeleton closet. While the IMF emphasized the necessity for substantial investment, especially from India's private sector, to bolster the nation's resilience against climate stresses and natural disasters, the government emphasized that sovereign debt risks are limited.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the Union government's 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution on December 11. The judgment of the Supreme Court failed the very precepts on which the nation is built, which is an ample sign that it will not be able to safeguard the citizens from the pending onslaught.

On the 22nd anniversary of the Parliament attacks, in a shocking security breach, two men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery on December 13, raised slogans, and, inspired by scenes of the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh lobbing grenades, opened canisters that emitted yellow smoke, triggering panic among those present and raising questions of what if. The incident was planned and executed by six unemployed youths from various parts of the country, disillusioned with the current government's false promises. The government conveniently wrapped up the questions on the BJP's involvement in the incident without providing any answers.

The year ended with a first-ever suspension of a staggering 146 MPs of the opposition from parliamentary sessions. After the security breach, a demand from the opposition parties led to MPs being ousted helter-skelter from both houses over the next few days. Taking advantage of the absence, the government passed three new criminal code laws that completely overhauled India's policing system unopposed and unquestioned. The tiff only caught more steam when TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee was caught mimicking vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar, who did not miss the opportunity to add casteist colours to it as he could not add communal ones. The BJP made a hue and cry, forgetting that the Prime Minister's abominable comments on widows, among others, went unopposed.

It is possible to find significant patterns in these incidents that have, for those seeking the truth, shaken the foundations of the nation. Some may, aware of the truth or not, dismiss it as hot air, while those astute will see the erosion of the democratic system of governance that has been implicitly adopted by all the civilized nations. The government is now acting with impunity, as there is no one to question its motives behind the incidents happening around us. Bereft of employment, beset by poverty and driven by hunger, the citizens either become complicit in these grand schemes or totally ignore them because it does not affect them directly. However, how long will we remain untouched by these happenings? Unless everyone decides to face the truth and remind themselves of the secular ideals enshrined in the idea of India, we will soon be back in the dark ages. The government breathing down our necks while we live in squalor, unable to raise our heads for fear of the state inquisition.