Is it midsummer madness or plain and simple irresponsibility? Many in the public are bewildered and often aghast when leaders of all parties and hues speak or act. Listening to George Fernandes, our former minister of defence, attack the Haryana government and its handling of the brutal attacks from both the sides, reminded me of the time when he, protesting against the state of Emergency, had taught himself how to use dynamite to blow up rail tracks. The act amounted to an absolute disregard for national public property, setting all the wrong examples of how people should ?protest?. Small wonder that unruly, untenable idioms of protest are rampant in our polity. Surely in a democratic framework, protest and dissension do not mean using dynamite or lathis or guns.
It was equally odd to hear L.K. Advani ask for the resignation of the Union minister of home affairs because of what the Haryana police had done. He should know better than most that the state police force is a state subject and does not come under the jurisdiction of the Centre. I was reminded of the silent support meted out by the same Advani and the BJP to the Gujarat administration when inhuman and barbaric assaults were perpetrated on innocent citizens. He did not ask for the resignation of Narendra Modi, nor did the then prime minister, for a crime far larger in scale. Sadly, such actions by national leaders have endorsed warped values. Contemporary images speak of hypocrisy and a total abdication of responsibility towards India and its people.
How to protest
National leaders appear to be stuck in some inexplicable time warp. Their solution to the problems that face us is organizing a bandh or they demand an adjournment of Parliament. They have no care or concern about disrupting the lives of citizens who may not want to sit back and live on the dole. They believe in subsidies and not hard endeavour. They want to keep back educational and economic growth only to remain in power, to play annadata. Debate and discussion appear to be cumbersome for them. To activate the brain cells and think of fresh alternatives and methodologies are time-consuming. For them, to act and deliver on the ground is a dreary task. Deeply frustrated by this ongoing betrayal, the people of India hurl them out of power every so often, alternating one lot with the other for lack of a dignified and appropriate alternative. India has been held to ransom by its own leaders, not by any ?colonial? or alien invader.
However, the entrepreneurial spirit of India lives and thrives. Had our failed leadership, across parties, harnessed, endorsed and encouraged this strength, we would have been ahead of China. Instead, we were ?harnessed? like animals. Archaic thinking, stupid rules and norms suffocated us, and the rusted links in the chain held us back. Sadly, the left parties learned nothing from their fatherland. In India, they continue to haunt growth with stoppages, closures, strikes. It is their solution to every issue. The Congress has not shed its baggage either, of not knowing what it stands for, of indulging in petty politicking, something that has become its hallmark. The rest are busy mirroring the left and the Congress in some manner, shape or form.
What happened in Gurgaon is a foreshadowing of what is in store for India. The machinery of governance has broken down. Whichever party is in opposition misuses this weakness for its selfish ends. A recent example: the shameful sight of national left leaders kicking and shoving the barricades on the streets of the capital as they ?protested?. It was sick-making. I can not recall any image of Gandhiji indulging in such unacceptable acts, despite the worst of provocations. His satyagraha liberated us from British rule.
Maybe we need to start all over again.
