THE DEVALUATION SURRENDER

The devaluation of the rupee was correctly assailed by all democratic parties as an anti-national act, an act of treachery against the people.

Government spokesmen and their apologists continue to present it as just a purely economic measure taken to deal with a specific situation, the continued imbalance in our foreign trade. The Finance Minister has been glibly asserting that the step was taken to meet the foreign exchange shortage and citing in support the example of other countries where according to him devaluation has led to economic recovery and even prosperity. They, besides, present the problem as if it was one dealing only with things – exports and imports – and having hardly any impact on millions of live human beings that constitute the real country.

And, finally, they attempt to represent that government action was voluntary, that the decision to devaluate was India's own sovereign decision, and that there were no political pressures behind it. They want the people to forget the political context, the American blackmail that had been going on for months to secure this end and the surrender of the government before it.