Kannur: Economist Parakala Prabhakar has said that no one is safe in India under Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sounding an alarm, even a Kerala cannot claim it would not be affected by the 'virus'.

Prabhakar, the husband of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who is seen forcefully promoting the Modi government's economic agenda, issued the warning while delivering the keynote address at a seminar organised by the Save Public Sector Forum on the topic ‘Contemporary India; Repeating lies and untold truths’ here on Saturday. 

Without naming the Hindu right-wing outfit RSS a 'virus', Prabhakar said it may lie dormant in many places for months, years or decades; but it would eventually come out. "Even in Kerala, people are not in a safe zone. Here (in the state), people feel that ‘something is happening somewhere' and that it would not affect them. But, we can see the virus symptoms here too in the form of violence and mass lynching,” he said.

Prabhakar said the virus will wait for 10, 50 or 100 years in Kerala. “And, when the immune system becomes weak or people are not alert, it will definitely attack. Hence, don’t think you are safe here”, he added.

He, however, said he was optimistic about youths and the younger generation. "Kerala's youth are politically aware and they know what is happening here. I feel they would not allow the fascists to continue," he added

From an economic point of view, Prabhakar said India has become an unsafe country for investors too. "The private investments have come down from 30 per cent in 2014-15 to 19 per cent now. Industrialists only invest when they are confident about a country. The Central government is not implementing any of their projects with dedication. They spend more money on advertisement bills for their propaganda. Around 80 per cent of the fund allotted for projects goes to advertisement," he alleged.

“High-network individuals are leaving India. In 2022, 2.25 lakh HNIs left the country. The number was 1.67 lakh in 2021. These people have moved to Singapore, Hong Kong or other places as they don’t feel safe to invest here. At the same time, one after the other, all the public assets which were built in 50 or 70 years are being given away to his (Modi’s) friends under the 'New India' tag,” he added.

According to him, the BJP-led Central government is manipulating all data to falsely claim the country is growing. "At the same time, the government has no data on many important matters. If anyone asks about the number of COVID-19 deaths, or number of ventilators available in government hospitals, or the number of migrant labourers who died, the government will say that no data is available. This is ‘New India’, he alleged.

CPM state secretariat member P K Biju inaugurated the seminar held at Jawahar Auditorium. CPM Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan presided over.