Best of BS Opinion: The illusion of healing, the persistence of hurt

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

You know the kind of cut that looks like it’s closing, a fine pink line stitching itself across the skin, fooling you into thinking it’s better and the infection is gone? But press a little, and the throb is still there, a hidden infection spreading deeper. That’s how societies also often heal — a stitch here, a bandage there, enough to keep the surface neat, even as the infection spreads underneath. The world currently appears like those wounds: Progress written in clean lines, and yet there is an ache underneath that refuses to go away. Let’s dive in. 

The Nabard Rural Sentiments Survey mirrors this fragile scab. Rural finance appears sturdier as more than half of households borrow only from banks now. But probe a bit, and the wound unravels. Nearly a quarter of rural households are still tied to moneylenders who charge over 20 per cent, while women eager for credit are cut off by documents and collateral they cannot produce. Aadhaar-enabled loans and fintech scoring may smooth the surface, but without trust and truly inclusive systems, the infection of high-cost debt lingers, notes our first editorial. 

Meanwhile, Delhi’s falling sex ratio reveals another scar. On paper, prosperity and literacy should have brought healing, but the count of girls has slipped to 920 per 1,000 boys. The government stitches the surface with tighter genetic test rules and stricter reporting. But the infection of preference for sons in families with fewer pregnancies festers unseen. Our second editorial highlights that campaigns and laws can bandage, but only a cultural shift can cleanse the wound of deep-rooted biases. 

IInflation carries the same tension too, as Ajay Tyagi notes. The RBI’s inflation-targeting framework is the neat stitch that reassures markets. But prices repeatedly breaching 6 per cent, coupled with unpublished reports to Parliament, shows the wound hasn’t sealed. Narrower tolerance bands may look like stronger thread, yet, without fiscal coordination, the deeper infection of persistent inflation is left untreated. 

Rama Bijapurkar points out how GST cuts will act like a cooling ointment. Households stretch purchases, companies fuel demand, rural buyers join the surge after good rains. The skin looks healthier. But fragility beneath — of shaky incomes and fragile confidence raises the question of whether the healing is real or just temporary cover. 

Finally, Farhatullah Babar’s memoir of Zardari’s presidency, reviewed by T C A Raghavan, is steeped in the same imagery. In The Zardari Presidency (2008-2013): Now it must be told, Babar recounts how civilian stitches — of resilience against Mumbai attacks, Bin Laden’s killing, MemoGate, and judicial showdowns — barely held, while the military’s infection seeped into every pore of politics. The book shows Zardari’s endurance: A man who survived not because the wound healed, but because he learned to live with the pain. 

Stay tuned!