A new year is ahead of us, a year that could well be dedicated to restoration ? of values and ethics, of progress and energy, of dialogue and debate, of new thinking out of the existing frame and ideologies. Enough doddering about trying to carry forward the heavy baggage of the past, that has frayed considerably is weighing India down. The deep and profound frustration of 80 per cent Indians, as they live their lives with the complete absence of dignity and the rampant misgovernance by the administrators, laced with lashings of corruption, is untenable. Substantial cracks are very visible now and the edifice, so far nurtured and zealously protected by greedy, selfish and inappropriate politicians operating with their babus, seems to be falling apart. That is the good news. This horrific infliction on India cannot sustain itself, in its present form, much longer.

Whether it is West Bengal or Punjab, Kashmir or Kerala, the babu and his boss have managed to hold us all to ransom. They have exploited this nation relentlessly and with no sense of shame. To have our own indigenous administration exploit us in this ruthless manner is far more demeaning than having an external power dominate our lives. In 1947, when the British handed over power to Nehru and the band of brown babus, the colonial laws, executed to ?deal with? the natives were not revoked and replaced. The brown babu began executing those laws on his own people in an unacceptable way. The strong-arm tactics indulged in by the ?authority?, the threatening stances, the harassment if you were and are a dissenter, continued and continues in an aggravated form today, much like it did in the days of the raj. Needless to say, all these norms of functioning aid and abet exploitation of the people by the state. We remain akin to a colonial, autocratic state and temporarily become the world?s largest democracy when we go to the polls. That is the deathly dichotomy that needs to be rectified.

Law of appeasement

To endorse a parasitical political and administrative authority, regardless of party and ideology, to determine our lives and the future of our children, is no longer tolerable. When the Congress-led government in Maharashtra intervenes to stall the demolition of illegal structures in Ulhasnagar on the plea that those living there came as refugees and you cannot make them ?refugees? again, it is unacceptable to honest law-abiding citizens. If rampant corruption was prevalent and there was a nexus between the authority and the citizens based on bribery and corruption, the chief minister should resign as the leader of the team. He should set an honourable example. Likewise, the head of the Congress in Delhi, Ram Babu Sharma, should be removed from his post, expelled from the party for having arrogantly flouted all the laws in his territory. If Natwar Singh was forced to go on prima facie evidence, this man must go for being caught with all the proof ? a fait accompli. One wants to bury one?s head in shame when one looks at the leadership that is determining the future values and reality that our children will have to live with.

The silence from the apex political forum, the Central government and the parties in power, is eerie. Where is the voice of the hitherto holier-than-thou CPI(M)? Why aren?t they railing against the UPA for condoning illegalities? Why these double standards when it comes to appeasing ?constituents? who have defied the law, who have indulged in corruption? Why does a government, headed by Manmohan Singh, mock the honest by trying to save the dishonest? This year has proven that the executive has failed to deal with the problems that confront India and the judiciary has had to move in and restore some semblance of probity. A sad commentary on governance.