Jyotsna Mohan :
The curtain falls on a year that has bled like an open wound not allowed to heal. 2024 re-defined conflict, where not only did the victor erase history and boundaries, Israel through its offensive in Gaza also mocked all humanitarian laws, written or understood.
45,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas October 7 kidnappings as death and devastation shadowed Palestinians, singeing homes and generations and Israel continues to stalk the innocent already deprived of all dregs of humanity. Children sheltering in schools, and displaced mothers taking refuge with their infants in hospitals all met a similar fate.
2024 will be remembered as the year of unimaginable pain, suffering and an overwhelming feeling that the world abdicated all sense of fairness where the ‘right to defend’ became unilateral.
Around 70 per cent of those killed in Gaza were women and children. Israel’s actions including in Lebanon were a grim chapter on how a nation with a traumatic past embraced interchangeable roles of victim and oppressor. The other conflict, Russia and Ukraine will enter its fourth year.
The return of Donald Trump, 78 capped off a year of global elections and geopolitics in a fractured world where incumbents were uneasy, and regimes toppled. Trump’s victory was overwhelming despite a polarised poll that saw him surviving an assassination attempt.
He will be sworn in as the 47th President at a time when the ‘American Dream’ is dodgy and shootings, consistent. If the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in broad daylight was shocking, the outpouring of sympathy for his killer has been equally troubling.
Trump has spelt out his focus on ‘America First’ although his foreign policy will be watched keenly for what he brings to the table with Russia and instability in the Middle East.
In a sign of how unpopularly Biden ends his presidency – including the controversial pardon of his son Hunter – Trump, has an unprecedented endorsement for his presidency 2.0. His biggest supporter remains Elon Musk who weaponised his social media platform X as a parallel campaign making it a shadow of its former avatar, Twitter.
Elections also took place in India where Narendra Modi returned to power for a third straight term. His tenure this time is different. Without an outright majority, the BJP is in a coalition and after a decade finds that the majoritarian narrative is exhausted. Modi’s strength lies in a tremulous opposition.
In the UK, 14 years of Conservative rule has ended. The Labour Party won an overwhelming majority bringing Keir Starmer to a post that has perhaps seen more churning in recent times than in any other country. Universally, economic growth remains the trending concern as nations count down to 2025.
Two countries, Bangladesh and Syria deposed their rulers with a timely reminder that nothing lasts forever, not even absolute power. In Dhaka, people ransacked the official palace of toppled prime minister Sheikh Hasina after her 15 years in power. After five decades of Assad family rule and a 13-year civil war, Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow as rebels took control.
From elections to search engines, 2024 was the definitive year of Artificial Intelligence. Health advice moved from WhatsApp forwards to ChatGPT and perplexity and while technology harnessed AI, it also challenged us.
Elections in countries like America and India faced its brunt as deepfakes made misinformation a gorging monster that chewed and spewed propaganda through images, audio and video. Polarised electorates scrambled to affirm fake information if it glorified their camp and experts flagging deceptive content were not quick enough for social media.
Political deepfakes though soon gave way to an inexpensive, quicker alternative ‘Cheapfakes.’ Videos were doctored, and memes were spread but with no stamp, source or pretence for research. ‘Cheapfakes’ don’t require intelligence, Artificial Intelligence or truth and gain strength from indiscriminate sharing of forwards on smartphones.
2025 comes with a word of caution as the ‘fakes’ industry may have peaked but is not low on demand. The disruptive face of next-generation generative AI will push through data privacy and cyber-attacks – including routine spam frauds – that keep the ordinary man on his toes. Alongside, the ethical debate will continue to resonate in classrooms.
With the high-profile case of rap mogul P Diddy also unravelling allegations of rape, kidnapping and drugging victims including minors, Gisele’s quick verdict reinforced the need for timely justice as the biggest deterrent.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were the sporting extravaganza we were all waiting for. A century after it last hosted the games, Paris brought a twist to the traditional opening ceremony by having contingents parade on a flotilla of boats down the Seine River that it had spent Euro 1.4 billion to clean up. The weather played tricks, but the rained-out parade was not an ominous sign.
The opening ceremony had some controversial moments, but on the ground, champions, likely, unlikely and infamous lined up. Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis’s only competition was with himself, Turkish Yusuf Dikec put one hand in his pocket and casually hit the silver target to become more famous than most gold medallists.
Dutch marathon runner Sifan Hassan – recently named Athlete of the Year – collected her gold medal while wearing a hijab in solidarity with French athletes who were banned from doing so at the Games. And then there was Australia’s Rachael Gunn who did all she could to remind IOA that the controversy over breakdancing’s inclusion was justified. Even bathroom dancers do better!
But the most baffling question remained how the world’s most populous nation India was once again a disappointment. The country did not win a gold medal in Paris but insists on putting its hat in the ring to host the Games in 2036.
(Jyotsna Mohan is the author of the investigative book ‘Stoned, Shamed, Depressed’. Courtesy: Gulf News).
