1998- 2013: Chavez presidency

In 1922, oil was discovered in Maracaibo basin of western Venezuela, considered to be the world’s largest oil reserve. The then dictator allowed more than 100 foreign companies into Venezuela to extract the reserves and by 1928; the country became the world’s second-biggest petroleum exporter. The nation’s economic development was based on rising prices and profits in oil reserves. But in the 1980s, as the world was facing the worst oil crisis, the global oil prices fell and the Venezuelan economy collapsed; the country faced a massive foreign debt of 33 billion dollars. Ultimately, it was forced to accept an International Monetary Fund Bailout and impose austerity measures that resulted in sharp rises in the price of consumer goods and fares for public transport.    

In 1998, Hugo Chavez was elected as the president of the country and he promised to use the country’s oil wealth to improve the lives of the poor. He expanded the social services and spent huge amounts on social programs such as education, health care, food and housing problems, at one point, even provided free heating oil for impoverished Americans.  Though Hugo wanted to diversify the Venezuelan economy, his expensive strategy only increased the dependency upon the exported oil.  As corruption was still rampant, a steady decline in the oil production reduced oil reserves and increased the government debt.  To deal with the dire economy, Hugo introduced a lot of economic reforms such as currency devaluation and price controls but nothing was effective. He also declared an economic war due to the increasing shortages in the country. In 2013, after ruling for 14 years Hugo died of cancer at the age of 58, his chosen successor vice president Nicolas Maduro narrowly won the elections and became the president.

2013- 2020: Maduro presidency

After the demise of Chavez, elections were held and Maduro won the elections with a 1.5% margin. With inflation at more than 50% a year, the national assembly gave Maduro emergency powers for a year. Still, by 2014, the country had entered an economic recession and by 2016, the country had an inflation rate of 800%, the highest in its history. The healthcare system lacked funding, once-eradicated diseases like cholera and malaria returned causing the death of thousands of children due to hunger and malnutrition. The rate of unemployment increased at an alarming rate and the prices of goods rose to an unexpected level causing a situation of hyperinflation in the country.                                              

In 2017, Maduro’s government created a new legislative body, which gave him the right to pass laws and he disavowed the National Assembly in 2017 leading to the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis. Following the constitutional crisis and the push to ban opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles from politics for 15 years, protests grew to their most combative since they began in 2014. The government failed to handle the matter in a peaceful manner and started oppressing the mobs by using violence, which led to the death of about 6000 civilians by the special action forces.

With these ongoing social and economic crises, in 2018, Maduro won the presidency again in a low-turnout election that was seen by many countries as fraudulent because of low participation by opposition parties.                                                  

Soon after the elections, to tackle the situation of hyperinflation, the government slashed five zeroes from the face value of its old currency and tied the new “sovereign bolivar” to a cryptocurrency that can’t be traded.  Despite various economic reforms by the government, nothing has helped the country’s economy to recover. Years of this economic and political instability in Venezuela have caused the largest population outflow in Latin America in recent years; about 5 million Venezuelans have left the country seeking food, work, and a better life since 2014.                                                       

In 2019, the opposition leader and head of the National Assembly, Juan Guido declared himself to be interim president according to the constitution. He is recognized as such by the U.S., Canada, and Venezuela’s Latin American neighbours.

In 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic spread in Latin America, border closings and the collapse of global oil prices have made life even harder for the Venezuelans.  Child malnutrition has reached crisis levels in Venezuela, reports the U.N. children’s agency. The country’s GDP (Gross domestic product) has dropped by 25% in 2019 which is the largest since the Libyan Civil War began in 2014. The inflation rate has reached 10,000,000% making it almost impossible for people to afford even the basic services like food for their survival.  The country is facing the worst economic and social crisis of all time with the high level of corruption, increasing poverty, no food and water, no proper healthcare system, increasing mortality rate, massive housing shortage, increasing crimes and illegal detentions, increasing unemployment, increasing hyperinflation and sinking of the oil reserves. 

Conclusion

The country which was once considered as the richest in Latin America, due to the largest oil reserves in the world, is now facing the worst economic crisis in the history of the world. It is marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, increasing unemployment and a shortage of a proper healthcare system which has led to increased malnutrition and mortality rate. Due to the declining oil reserves and poor governance along with high corruption the economy of the country collapsed.  The country is in a very dire situation with people lacking even the basic needs for survival.  Various countries such as China and Russia are sending aids for the Venezuelan crisis; Russia sent tons of food and medical supplies in Venezuela in February 2020. The European Commission (EC) is the largest donor to organizations working inside Venezuela in 2018, according to the database. It has been sending humanitarian aid to Venezuela since 2016. The EC focuses on projects to improve access to food and nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation for people in Venezuela.  The United States and regional partners should also provide humanitarian relief and security assistance and accelerate change to a post-Maduro democracy.  As Venezuela is floundering, these humanitarian aids by countries come as the only hope that the country, which was once considered as one of the richest countries of the world, can still overcome its crisis and improve the economic, political and social situation of the country. 

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Political Conditions

Lebanon is a country that divides its political power along with religious and sectarian rights. Power-sharing is a whole different thing in Lebanon, with the stated intention to give every group an equal say in the political affairs of the country, the system has tried to maintain a fragile peace. This unique decayed and mismanaged sectarian political system is one of the most important reasons for the protests. This system was formed under the Taif agreement in 1989 and is perceived as exploited by the current Lebanese politicians.                                                                                                                                                  

Due to this faulty system, the government has failed to provide even the basic rights to the citizens. Since 1975, there has been no stable 24- hour electricity in the country. The people have no access to drinking water except through purchasing bottled water through private companies. The country even suffers from deficient sanitation and sewage infrastructure, which led to the 2015-16 protests as against the “garbage crisis”. Thus the political conditions in the country were in a dire state with the lack of basic rights and no plan of action for solving the problems

Economic Conditions

From 1997, the Lebanon government has tried to maintain a pegged exchange rate between the USA dollars and Lebanese pounds.  Yet its economic fundamentals are among the worst in the world. It is one of the most indebted nations; its government debt is estimated at 155 per cent of gross domestic product. The country imports vastly more goods and services than it exports and the government budget deficit was around 10 per cent of the GDP in 2019. The excessive borrowings of the government had inflated the politically well-connected banking sector that lends to the state at high-interest rates.                                                 

Also since the country depends on imports, currency devaluation raised prices for imported goods and eroded the living standards. Lebanon’s unproductive economy which revolves around banking and real estate even created great income inequality. The burden on financial institutions was light, while indirect taxes paid by everyone, such as value-added tax (VAT), were continuously increasing. While the wealthy and politically connected earn state-induced banking profits, the state was drained of the resources to tackle social and environmental crises. Thus the economy was in a stagnant state, unemployment had reached 46% in 2018, and endemic corruption was prevailing in the public sector. All these factors further escalated the protests of 2019-20. 

Protests Against the Government 

Due to the prevailing political and economic crisis in the country, protests against the government authorities began in October 2019. The initial reason for these protests was to fight against the new tax policies introduced by the government and though the tax reform plan was quickly scrapped yet the protests continued. They expanded it for a much significant cause and long-standing grievances such as increasing level of corruption, dire level of the economy, high unemployment rate, and lack of basic rights. As violence continued, the prime minister tried to defend him and blamed the rival groups and his government for blocking reforms. Prime minister blamed his coalition government for obstructing reforms to unlock 11 billion dollar aid pledged by international donors. To tackle the ongoing situation, the cabinet of ministers introduced a lot of economic and political reforms and even formed an anti-corruption panel. Yet still, the people weren’t satisfied and they demanded the resignation of the government.                                                          

Finally on 21 January 2020, the prime minister announced the formation of a new cabinet of 20 ministers, bringing an end to several months of riots that have left the country in a deepening economic crisis. On 27 January, the Lebanon Parliament passed a 2020 budget, amid the debilitating financial crisis. The budget was highly criticized by the citizens and though the government claimed that the newly formed ministers were experts and academics, protesters still accused the political groups of participating in forming the new cabinet.                                                                                      

With these ongoing crises in the country, came the coronavirus pandemic which worsened the situation. Due to lack of resources and health care workers, the county’s health care system turned out to be a failure. The lockdown situation led to further weakening of the economy. The people continued these protests but with more precautions and fewer in numbers. But on 4^th august 2020, the capital of the country Beirut was hit by a massive explosion.

Beirut Explosion and Government Resignation

On the afternoon of 4th august 2020, two explosions occurred in Beirut, causing at least 220 deaths and 6000 injuries. About 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been confiscated by the Lebanese government from the abandoned ship MV Rhosus and then stored in the port without proper safety measures for six years has led to the massive explosion.  As a result of this disaster, the Lebanese government declared a two-week state of emergency.                           

On 6^th August 2020, as an aftermath of this event, protests erupted in various parts of the counties against the government for their failure to impede the explosions. As violence increased and more and more people started protesting against the government, Prime Minister Hassan Diab and his cabinet resigned on 10^th august 2020. In his last speech as the prime minister, he blamed the country’s ruling class for hindering the reform plans and worsening the economic crises. Then he proceeded to the presidential palace where President Michel Aoun approved the resignation of his cabinet. Despite the fact that Diab’s government has resigned, protests in Lebanese are still going on against the economic crisis that the country is currently facing.

Conclusion

The protest which initially began as a rebel against the tax reform policies of the government later became a fight against a high level of corruption, lack of basic rights and economic crisis ultimately led to the resignation of the government. People might consider this as a victory for the Lebanese people but in reality, the economic and healthcare situation in the country is still in a very detrimental state. People lack even the basic necessities like water, sanitation, and electricity. The coronavirus pandemic has made the situation in the country even worse and has led to the death of thousands of people. Adding further to this, the country was hit by the Beirut explosion which wrecked the entire state. The country is in a very poor condition with a lack of healthcare workers and increasing economic crisis. Various countries are trying to help the country deal with such a crisis but yet recovery in the near future seems quite impossible for the Lebanese people.

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De-Facto Division

In the earlier 20^th century japan was a big imperial power, conquering all the territories surrounding its island. In 1910, japan deposed the king of Korea and occupied the kingdom of Korea. They ruled as a very oppressive regime for over 35 years and tried to eradicate the complete culture of Korea. In 1939, World War 2 began and japan was a very crucial part of the war. It continued for about 6 years when finally in 1945, USA bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, thus bringing it to an end, with Japan losing the war. Soon after this, the Korean peninsula was taken over by the USA and USSR troops. The USSR army entered from the north and USA troops from the south and decided that they will stop at 38^th degree parallel. This is the initial reason for the division of the Korean peninsula, known as de facto division. Both the armies divided the country into north and south but planned that they will reunite this area after 5 years. 

Contrasting Political Ideologies

The North part of Korea became a communist state under the communist influence of USSR whereas the South part of Korea was becoming a pro-western country, and though the people were against the USA yet the leaders were trying to instil a sense of pro-western culture in this area. Till 1948, both the areas of Korea were ruled by the occupying army of USSR and USA. After that elections took place in the south regime and though it was alleged that they weren’t fair and were ricked, a leader named Syngman Rhee came to power who was pro-USA. While in the north, no elections happened and the USSR made Kim II sung the president as he was a strong abider of the communist ideology.

Both these leaders came into power almost at the same time and were totally against each other as they didn’t believe in each other’s political ideologies. Syngman Rhee was an anti-communist whereas Kim Sung was against the pro – USA ideology. Both the leaders wanted the country to unite but with their own respective government as the leading government. This difference in the political ideologies of the two nations is considered to be the most important reason for the Korean conflicts. Till date, North Korea is a communist state whereas South Korea from 1987 is a democratic state.

The War of 1950-1953

From 1948 onwards Small border clashes and conflicts had begun in between both these countries resulting in fire and bombing at certain places. By 1950, North Korea with its strong military was ready for a war against the South. On June 25, 1950, they invaded the south so as to unify the Korean peninsula. As soon as this invasion began, the UN passed a resolution to help South Korea; this was the first time that United Nations (UN) intervened militarily anywhere in the world. The USSR though a permanent member of the Security Council could have used the veto to ensure that the resolution cannot be passed, but they didn’t as they were boycotting the UN at that time.

The northern army attacked the southern region and overran almost the entire peninsula up to Busan. Soon after this, in September 1950 there was an outflanking manoeuvre by the US troops which was led by Gen Douglas MacArthur, thus resulting in amphibious landings at Incheon and reoccupying Seoul. The UN forces even reached the Yalu River thus breaking the de facto division agreement of stopping of armies at 38^th degree parallel.      

Soon after this china entered the war on October 1950 and pushed the UN forces back and even captured back Seoul by January 7, 1951. Even USSR supported china by sending in air force armies and helping them gain a wider region. Now the fight wasn’t just between the south and north armies but between the Chinese army and the UN troops.                                    

In April 1951, the UN army once again pushed back the Chinese forces and recaptured Seoul. After this, for the next two years there was a stalemate around the 38^th degree parallel as neither the Chinese nor the UN forces had the resources to push back and start a war, and so the fight continued around this region only.                                                                                  

This war had a lot of war crimes from both the sides, thus causing the death of around 2.5 million civilians and 1 million military deaths.  Though this war was such a drastic war yet there were no major changes in the geographical, political and administrative areas of the states, hence it is often known as the forgotten war.

The Armistice 

On June 27, 1953 an armistice was signed between both the regions, thus ceasing all the violence and bloodshed. India played a very important role in these negotiations; general Thimayya of India played a crucial role in the repatriations of prisoners of war.

After this both the armies moved 2 kilometers back, thus creating a 4 km exclusion zone at the border known as the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Though both the armies cannot officially send their troops there yet the demilitarized zone has heavy military around it and the area is full of land mines and barbed wires. This wasn’t a peace treaty but was a temporary agreement for controlling the situation until any final decision was made. 

Sunshine Policy 

The end of the war brought an economic crisis in both the states, while South Korea was able to deal with the losses by taking proper actions, North Korea failed. In South Korea, an economic boom and democratic revolution happened in 1987 leading to a path towards a developing country. Whereas in North Korea, no such action was taken and till date, it is considered to be a very backward state with its economy in a dire state and almost no trade with other countries.                   

In December 1991, both the states made an agreement on reconciliation, pledging peace and cultural and economic exchanges. Soon after this in 1998, the South Korean president announced a sunshine policy towards North Korea. It basically had three principles:

1. No armed provocation by the North will be tolerated.
2. The South will not attempt to absorb the North in any way.
3. The South actively seeks cooperation and promotes reconciliation.

This policy was established in pursuit of more peaceful relationships with North Korea. It was actively supported by the other leaders too, but in 2010 it was formally abandoned thus creating a more hostile relationship between the two states. After this, both the states were at a cold war, which created a lot of tension at the border; at times it was escalated to such a high level that led to firing and even bombing in certain regions. This situation prevailed till 2018. 

2018: A year of Relief 

From 2017 onwards the relationship between both the nations started thriving, with the South Korean president promising the people that he will bring back the sunshine policy. In 2018, Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader proposed to send in a delegation to the winter Olympics which were to be held in South Korea; both the states marched together in the opening ceremony of the winter Olympics. Soon after this on 1 April, the South Korean k-pop artists performed in North Korea for the first time after 2005, this event was attended by Kim Jong and his wife. Following this, on April 27 summit took place between Moon and Kim in the South Korean zone of the Joint Security Area. This summit ended with both the nations vowing to officially end the Korean War within a year. The two countries signed the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, which was submitted to the United Nations general assembly on September 6, 2018.This declaration was to end the Korean conflicts and to begin a new era of national reconciliation, peace, reunification and prosperity and improvements to inter-Korean communication and relations. 

2019-20: A Period of Diplomacy 

On 30 June 2019, Kim and Moon met again in the DMZ, joined by US President Trump who initiated the meeting. Meanwhile, The US and South Korea took part in joint military drills in August, which was later criticized by the north. Despite all these small disagreements, Kim and Moon continued to have a close and respectful relationship.                            

But on 9 June 2020, North Korea began breaking of all of its communication lines with South Korea, which substantially diminished the agreements which were made in 2018. On June 16, the North Korean government threatened the South to send back the troops that had been withdrawn from the border. Later that day, the North Korean government bombed a joint office in Kaesong causing a lot of damage. On June 21, South Korea urged North Korea to not send propaganda leaflets across the border. The request followed the North’s statement that it was ready to send 12 million leaflets, which could potentially become the largest psychological campaign against South Korea. The reason behind this arbitrary whim is still not known, but it has once again wrecked the relationship of both the states.

Conclusion

The Korean conflict, which is said to be the longest-running conflict of the modern age, highlights the diplomatic and sensitive relationship that two nations of the Korean peninsula share. The conflict which began as disapproval of each other’s political ideology, with the main aim to unite the nation has somewhere lost its essence of uniting the nation. The never-ending cold wars between the two nations have impeded the peace process. The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula signed in 2018, was considered to be the end of the longest war but the diplomacy shown by North Korea in 2019-20 has tampered that agreement too. Both the nations have suffered a lot due to this internal conflict and it’s time that they ponder upon the importance of ending this war, and co-existing peacefully without harming each other. 

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The Balfour declaration

The Balfour Declaration was signed in 1917 and was initiated by the British. During World War 1, when the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of losing, the British foreign minister Arthur Balfour promised that the British will help the Jews to establish their national home in Palestine. Not only this, the British secretly even promised Palestine to Arabs. The Arabs were against the Ottoman Empire, thus, the British asked the Arabs to support them against an ottoman and in return promised Palestine. This is considered to be the beginning of the Israel Palestine conflict. 

After the World War 1, the Jews population rose from 3% in Ottoman Empire to 30%. Jews started buying land from Arab people and then they evicted the local Palestine Arabs. Jews settlements were established in large numbers. A new organization, known as British mandate of Palestine was formed. The British adopted the divide and rule policy by making different legislations for Jews, Arabs and Christians.

In 1936, Arabs started revolts and protests against the British. To suppress this, the British encouraged the formation of Jewish militias. Jewish militias aided the British and helped them fight the Arabs. This incident, in turn, forced the British to rethink their policies. To ensure peace with Arab, the British decided to restrict the Jewish migration. As a result, the Jewish militias turned against the British.

With this going on came World War 2 and then the holocaust took place in Germany. More than 4.2 million Jews were killed in gas chambers, leading to genocide against them. Jews people ran from Germany to nearby places so as to protect themselves. This worsened the Israel situation and so the British gave the matter to the United Nations. 

UN resolution

The UN resolution for Israel-Palestine conflict was passed on November 29, 1947.

• It Recommended partition of Palestine leading to an equal division of areas between a Jewish state and Palestine Arabs state.  
• International status was given to the city of Jerusalem. That is, it was given under international control.

Arab Nations v Israel 

The first Israel war (1948-49) 

Just after the UN declaration, neighbouring Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Trans Jordon attacked the newly created state. They started the first war against Israel. Israel defended itself and even won the war by extending its boundaries and occupying more land than they were given in the 1947 declaration. About 7 lakh local Palestine Arabs fled the land and went to other countries as refugees. After this war, Gaza was occupied by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan. Other areas of Palestine were occupied by Israel. The Palestine state which was formed by the UN was wrecked. But the war turned out to be successful for Israel. 

Six day war in 1967 

After the first Israel war in 1948, a six-day war started again in 1967. Egypt, Jordon, and Syria‘s relationship with Israel were in a dire state which this created a lot of tension amongst them. These three countries decided to secretly attack Israel. Just as Egypt’s army was about to attack, Israel did preemptive strike and defeated the Arab nations. It even captured the Golan Heights from Syria, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the west bank from Jordon and thus tripled its area after this war. 

Yom Kippur War in 1973 

Egypt and Syria once again attacked Israel on the day of Yom Kippur, considered to be the most important festival for Jews, to regain Sinai and Golan. Initially, Israel suffered a lot and incurred losses but eventually repulsed the attack. To handle the matter peacefully, Egypt and Israel decided to talk.                                                                                                                In 1978, in Camp David an agreement was signed between Egypt and Israel. Israel returned Sinai to Egypt and in return got its recognition as the state of Israel. This recognition was important for Israel as it was the first time it got recognized as a state by some other country. Slowly most Arab states made peace with Israel. 

1st Intifada (1987-93)

• Though Arab nations made peace with Israel, yet the Israel government did not give equal rights to the Palestine Arabs. The military control in the West Bank led to protests and boycotts.
• The Palestine Arabs even attacked the Israel military, which resulted in large scale violence leading to the death of about 100 Jews and 1000 Palestinians.               
• Two important organizations came into notice during this intifada. The first one was The Palestine liberation organization (PLO), formed in 1964, which carried struggle for independent Palestine using both political and terror tactics. PLO was also famous for plane hackings. 
• The other one was Hamas, which was more nationalist and extremist. PLO wanted peace with Israel and demanded a separate state of Palestine. But Hamas was an extremist organization which didn’t consider Israel as a state. They claimed that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist in an Arab land. 

Oslo accords 1993

• After the secret negotiations in Oslo, an agreement was finally signed in Washington, dc between Yitzhak Rabin led Israel government and Yasser Arafat led PLO in 1993.  
• This agreement gave recognition to Israel as a state by the PLO, as well as gave recognition to PLO as the representative of people of Palestine by Israel.                                                                    
• They agreed to not have any war and to cease violence for 5 years, after which would lead to resolved conflicts between the two states.                            
• A Palestine authority was formed for self-governance of Gaza and west bank, which were earlier under Israel’s military control. But in 2000 in Camp David II, the talks failed since both the states couldn’t come to a common ground. As a result, the peace process broke down. 

2nd INTIFADA (2000-05)

• The triggering factor of the 2^nd Intifada was the fact that Ehud Barak, the president of Israel at that time, went to the temple mount, considered a holy place by both Arabs and Jews, with around 1000 military men. This led to belligerence among the Palestine people and thus led to more violence. 
• As a result of this, about 1000 Jews and 3200 Palestinians were killed. Continuous terrorist attacks and bombing in the state took place, especially in buses, resulted in the demise of thousands of people.

After the Intifada II, there were plenty of changes in the policies of Israel and a rightward shift in the idea of politics. The Israel government focused on managing the conflict rather than solving it. Many Israel settlements on Gaza were removed and Israeli Defense forces were also withdrawn from the Gaza strip. Soon after this, Hamas won the election in Palestine and became very influential after 2006.  Fatah – PLO was against Hamas and they didn’t want them to be a part of the Palestine government.                                                                                                                                                              

In 2007, Hamas occupied the whole Gaza strip and became even more powerful. As Hamas came into power, they started launching rockets into Israel. As a result of which Israel decided to blockade the whole Gaza strip. Nothing could now enter Gaza without getting approval of the Israel government, leading to tons of problems for people of Gaza. There is no electricity and water in their houses and the unemployment rate in Gaza have soared to 45%. Three wars in 2008, 2012 and 2014 happened in Gaza between Hamas and the Israel government, completely destroying the public infrastructure there.                                                                                               

Tunnels were made by the members of Hamas so as to enter Israel. They entered Israel through these tunnels, attacked the people there and then secretly went back to Gaza through these tunnels.  Though violence against civilians by the army is prohibited by the Geneva convections yet civilians continue to get attacked by both Hamas and Israel defence forces.

Major issues 

State of Jerusalem                                                                                                                                                      

Jerusalem is a very important state for Muslims, Jews and Christians. It is considered to be the Holiest state for Jews, the 3rd holiest place for Muslims and very important for Christians as it is considered to be the place crucification of Jesus took place. Its’ East part belongs to Muslims and West part to Jews. Between these, in the center are all the holy shrines. Israel controls the whole city and at times restricts access to holy sites; even Jews are not allowed to visit the most holy place of their religion so as to avoid religious conflicts.                                                                       

Though Israel claims Jerusalem to be its capital yet it is not internationally accepted by many countries. The USA was the first country to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2018. 

Palestine refugees                                                                                                                                        

Syria, Jordon and Egypt gave shelter to a lot of these refugees after the 1948 and 1967 wars. Around 5 million people suffered as a result of this. Even today, these refugees are living in camps. The biggest refugee camp of Syria is now stuck between the fight of Syria and ISIS.                                                                                                              

Palestine demands that when the fight between Israel and Palestine is resolved these refugees should be allowed to come back to Palestine. But Israel did not agree to this and stated that if 5 million Arabs came back to Israel then it will be a threat for the Jews.  

OTHER ISSUES                                                                                                               

• Israel’s security concern over terrorist attacks against Israel by Hamas as well as civilian attacks.
• Israel’s military occupation of the west bank is not supported by the Palestinians. The blockading of Gaza is criticized.
• An illegal Israeli settlement in the west bank, as the area is allocated to Palestine by the UN.
• Since Israel is a desert country, thus there is a shortage of water in the state. To reduce this problem, Israel uses water belonging to the Palestine area.                                                                                                             
• The west bank wall is being constructed from 2002 so as to block the whole west bank. Though the Israel government claims that they are constructing this wall for security purpose, to protect themselves from terrorist attacks but this wall restricts the movement of Palestinians, thus leading to conflicts and violence.

Current situation

The Gaza strip which is densely populated with Palestinians has been under blockade by the Israel military forces. Palestine at this movement claims over west bank, the Gaza strip and the historical city of eastern Jerusalem but Israel’s settlements are increasing in that area.  Both Israel and Palestine have laid claim that Jerusalem is their capital. 

In July 2020, the Israel government decided to implement Trump’s Middle East peace plan but it has been delayed. This plan recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital as well as accepts its demand of occupying Golan Heights and parts of the west bank. This plan creates a separate Palestine state but with the reduced territory and without its core demand that is Jerusalem as their capital. 

Conclusion 

All the experts and important leaders claim that this conflict can be resolved only by a two-state solution that will lead to the formation of independent Israel and Palestine state. If Trump’s Middle East plan will be implemented then both Israel and Palestine will become independent states. But Palestine will be left with the reduced territory and without its primary demand for Jerusalem. Hamas has already declared that implementation of this plan means declaration of war. Israel is somewhere ready to give the land but is a little concerned about its security. 

Both parties can be considered right on their part. The Israel people were tortured and killed in Europe and so their demand for a separate Jew nation is valid. Similarly, the Palestine people are right about not wanting to leave their native land. The Palestine refugees have a right to come back to their own land. This problem can only be solved if both the parties understand the legitimacy of each other narratives and try to reach a common ground.  Presence of hawks and doves among the stakeholders on both the sides are somewhat delaying the peace process. If this controversial conflict is resolved in the near future then it will be a win-win situation for the whole world.

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Jayaprakash Movement 

As the Gujarat riots resulted in coerced resignation of the Gujarat government; a similar student protest, which came to be known as the JP movement, began in Bihar. The opposition parties gave their full support to the movement and even announced a statewide strike from 1973. As a result of owing to their involvement in the Bihar movement, 8 students were killed in police firing in Bhopal. The government was not able to handle the situation properly and this incident provoked the protestors. On 18 February 1974, students union of Patna University invited student leaders from different states for a meeting.  They came together to form a Bihar Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti (BCSS) to spearhead the agitation. Lalu Prasad Yadav was elected as the president of this committee. Sushil Kumar Modi, Ram Vilas Paswan, Basisth Narayan Singh were among the many contemporary youth leaders who were a part of this. The demands were to improve the education system in India as well as to improve the quality and taste of food in hostels. 

During a budget session on 18 March 1974, the BCSS decided to ‘gherao’ the assembly. They blocked each and every road to the assembly and dented government properties. The chief minister convinced the students that he would look into the matter, but still, the protests and the damaging of government property continued. In order to suppress the protests, the police opened fire. As a result of which, few protestors were killed, thus angering and provoking the students across the whole country. It eventually became a national level movement, people from different states started supporting the cause; it was not only bounded to students now. Jayaprakash Narayan emerged as a very important and powerful leader during this movement. He was earlier a part of national congress but after independence, he left it as he was not in support of the new polices. He decided to lead the movement. He demanded the dissolution of the state assembly and the government resignation due to the prevailing inflation, unemployment, economic crisis in the state at that time.  

In May 1974, the biggest railway strike in the history of India took place. More than 70% of the railway workers participated. It was a fight against the low wages, harsh working conditions and long working hours. The strike was brutally suppressed by the government with thousands being sent to jail and losing their jobs. This led to more aggression amongst the people and more and more people started joining the JP movement.

On 5^th June 1974, Jayaprakash organized a rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna to achieve total revolution. He expressed his concerns about the lack of freedom of speech and the increasing economic crisis in the country. He wanted a social transformation by the participation of youth in social activities. Students in various colleges boycotted their exams to show support to the movement. The government was trying its best to suppress the movement and even lathi-charged a lot of protestors. In November, Jayaprakash met Indira Gandhi and demanded to remove the Bihar government. Unlike in Gujarat, Indira Gandhi did not cave in and kept Bihar’s chief minister in position. Then the movement took a turn and demanded the resignation of the central government and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Soon after this Jayaprakash realized the importance of fighting within the democratic system, and formed a party known as Janta party in coalition with the opposition parties. 

State of Uttar Pradesh VS Raj Narain 

While Indira Gandhi was facing the JP protests, in June 1975 came a verdict on the state VS Raj Narain case in which Indira Gandhi was directly involved. This was related to the petition filled in 1971 by Raj Narain alleging that Gandhi used bribery, government machinery and resources to gain an unfair advantage contesting the election. The court found Indira guilty on charges such as misusing government machinery, availing her of the services of a government officer and use of electricity from the state electricity department. Serious charges such as bribing voters and election malpractices were removed. The court declared her elections null and void, unseated her from her seat in the Lok Sabha and banned her from contesting any election for an additional 6 years. Indira challenged the high court’s decision and went to the Supreme Court. 

On June 24 1975, the Supreme Court upheld the judgment of the high court. It ordered all privileges Gandhi received as a Minister of Parliament to be stopped and that she be debarred from voting. However, she was allowed to continue as the prime minister, pending the complete resolution of her appeal. 

Emergency: The Other Side of the Coin

Indira was not only facing the court pressure but there was a lot of moral pressure too. The JP protest was gaining more and more support and people were forcing Indira to resign.  In July a rally was organized in Delhi to coerce Indira Gandhi to resign. Jayaprakash gave a speech to persuade the police to reject the government’s order based on moral and ethical grounds. He legitimized the actions of the protestors and defended them. This alarmed Indira Gandhi. In the face of massive political opposition, desertion and disorder across the country and party, Gandhi stuck to the advice of a few loyalists and her younger son Sanjay Gandhi, to impose an “internal emergency”. After a quick question regarding the procedural matter, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared emergency upon the prime minister’s advice on the midnight of June 25, 1975. 

Gandhi asserted that the emergency was proclaimed because there was an internal disturbance in the country which was a threat to the security of India. After the drought, war and oil crisis of 1973, the economy of the country was already in a very bad position. The government claimed that the strikes and protests had paralyzed the government and further destroyed the economy of the country greatly.

 Since the prime minister got the president to issue ‘ordinances’ – a law-making power in times of urgency, invoked sparingly; completely bypassing the parliament, it gave her the power to rule by decree. She now had the right to make her own rules without any approval from parliament. 

Some harsh measures were taken during the emergency. Leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Advani, Ashoka, and Vajpayee were arrested and were put behind bars. Anyone who opposed the decisions of the government was jailed. Almost all the leaders of the opposition parties were punished and put in detention. Political detainees were tortured. There was a purge in the country. Not only the political leaders but common people were also a part of this suffering. The fire was opened on slum dwellers in Delhi to suppress a movement which was initiated against the prime minister. Forced sterilization campaigns were introduced.

Press censorship was imposed. A student from Kerala was put behind bars for publishing an article against the government. He was tortured and eventually died in jail. All the fundamental rights, including article 20 and 21 were suspended. Numerous laws and ordinances were rewritten. The judiciary was subverted by the fear of incarceration. There was no freedom of speech and democracy in the country. Indira Gandhi herself claimed in an interview that things went out of control once the emergency was announced.  Due to a lot of international and national pressure, after more than a year, in March 1977, the emergency was finally revoked.  Soon after this, the general elections were held and Congress lost to Janta party, for the very first time in the history of India. 

Despite everything that took place from 1975 to 1977, Janta party was dissolved and Indira Gandhi rose to power yet again in 1980. 

Conclusion 

This whole incident showcases the power that the people hold in a democratic nation, where their movements and protests alone led to the dissolution of the ruling party.            

At the same time this whole incident highlighted the irony of the situation where despite their eventual success, the people had no other option than to re-elect the government they fought against. It may be because of the lack of leadership and the strong political hold that the Congress government had at that point in time. Perhaps it’s time we ponder upon on how these series of events shaped the Indian politics and the constitution as we know it today.

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