Quarrels of a groping Nation
Karan Kharb
Wintry fog and haze in Delhi
this year is accompanied by another kind of smoggy, hazy chaos. Delhi suddenly
seems drugged and blinded in the midst of ticklish issues, fishy options but no
solutions in sight. There is confusion and a strange kind of excitement all
over. Delhi elections are over but there is no Government yet in place. Times
were when political parties never lost opportunity and deftly cobbled up
majority and invented coalition governments turning their pre-election enmities
to avowed friendship and a willing power sharing consort. Amazingly, this time all
three - BJP, Congress and the debutant Aam Admi Party (AAP) – abhor power! Incredible
performance of AAP has not only befuddled the political pundits but also introduced
a unique paradigm in the Indian politics. Crusade against corruption, probity
in public life, transparency and accountability in governance and peoplising
the power of State were boldly paraded as prime issues that Arvind Kejriwal’s
outfit dared to espouse and declare. While they did take up the more tangible
issues like bijli, pani, their kind of campaigning had never been seen
before. Naming the Party as simply as ‘Aam Admi’, picking up the humble jharu
as a Party symbol, crowning a redesigned Congress topi (dumped by Congress long
since), fielding non-politician ‘aam admis’ and door to door campaigning
on foot was starkly opposed to the flamboyance of the giant rivals who went
about holding rallies and public meetings amidst dazzling hoardings, unending
rows of cars and bravura of splendour and awe.
Congress that had jeered and
castigated the new entrant AAP in the election fray now stands badly mauled and
smarting under a humiliating defeat. As
if moved by a newfound sense of piety and benevolence, Congress has come forth
to extend ‘unconditional support’ to AAP and encouraged them to form the
government. Now with 28 MLAs in a 70 member Delhi Assembly, Arvind Kerjriwal is
himself dazzled and faced by a perplexing dilemma whether to dare and step into
the Congress trap of ‘unconditional support’ that would add up his number to
the barest minimum majority number of 36 or to let the opportunity pass and
head for re-election.
Even as the
blame-counter-blame game goes on among all the warring political entities in Delhi’s
chaotic scenario, we find India’s angry old man Anna Hazare suddenly all praise
for the political regime he had earlier vowed to vanquish. Today he is friends
with his former enemies and enemy to his erstwhile beloved protégé Arvind
Kejriwal! On 18 December 2013, the Parliament passed the long awaited Lokpal
bill which undoubtedly remains short of Anna Hazare’s ‘Jan Lokpal’ bill from
which he had not budged until the Prime Minister and the Parliament gave formal
assurances to implement. Today he is celebrating a lesser Lokpal bill and
eulogises Rahul Gandhi for creating history. As Chanakya said long ago, “there
is nothing permanent in politics except the interests you espouse.” And when
‘interests’ become self-serving, humans are quick to adapt to altered
circumstances. The high point of public confusion is there is no knowing who is
right and who is wrong. And the quarrels
are only raging leaving the millions aspiring for a more caring, people
oriented dispensation in Delhi yearning and waiting.
If
you thought Delhi and urban India were not drugged and befuddled, here’s
another weird agitation that should convince you we are a nation lost in
bewilderment. There is another kind of uproar raging through urban India these
days – demonstrations against the recent Supreme Court Judgement upholding the
validity of Section 377 of the IPC and pronouncing the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual
and trans-gender (LGBT) sexual relationship as unnatural, against the order of
Nature and therefore within the ambit of the law as a criminal act. That a
miniscule section of society seeking legal and social sanction for their
deviant carnal indulgence in private lives should dominate and sustain their
hold on the national media obscuring bigger and more sensitive national and social
issues is even more appalling. Save in
the case of the savagery committed by the rapists in the capital a year ago,
the media has consistently failed to take up vital national issues with the
same gusto as has been recently on display for gay ‘rights’.
The
‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan’ slogan having been dumped long ago, the farmer
who feeds the nation is left to starve and languish in abject poverty
throughout the country. What a shame that as many as 2,84,694 farmers have
committed suicide in the past 18 years of a rising India! What is alarming is the
fact that the annual average farmer suicides (16,264 in 2012) has been
consistently rising since 2004 (The Hindu, Mumbai, June 29, 2013). What an
irony that the farmer who grows food for us but remains hungry himself. We buy
his onions at Rs 7/- per kg and sell it at Rs 90/- per kg. We buy his land at
Rs 30 lakh per acre and sell it at Rs 25000/- per sq yard (ie, Rs 12.06 crore
per acre)! A clearer, conscious view of the situation would be possible only if
the media, activists, and opinion makers came out of their stupor.
The story of the jawan who
fights and does not flinch from killing or dying so that we could live in peace
and safety, is no different. Consistently neglected and humbled by a stubborn
dispensation that does not move until pushed by revolt, violence and destruction,
the soldiers and ex-soldiers are unhappy to say the least. God forbid, if the
simmering anguish within the Forces ever erupted into violence, it would be
India’s saddest day in the history. Military role, culture and law are distinct
from all others. While soldiers have been always lauded for their prompt and
efficient performance in carrying out non-soldiering jobs in emergencies,
non-soldiers cannot replace soldiers in the latter’s role because soldiers step
in where all others have given up. Their requirements should, therefore, be
proactively foreseen, anticipated and met because a contented, happy and proud
soldier is an asset to the country. In the service and out of it, all military
personnel are today whining against the raw deal meted out to them by successive
Pay Commissions, especially in the post 3rd Pay Commission dispensation.
What is simmering within the Forces can be surmised by anyone from the rising
trend of suicides, insubordination, mutinies in units and a held-back response
even in the face of enemy ingress as has been seen in some recent border
incidents. Defence Minister AK Antony in a statement to the Parliament in March
this year confessed that 368 soldiers had committed suicide during 2010-12. Are
we waiting for the soldiers to give expression to their anger? A concerned
media should have awakened the national conscience for causes like these
because far from being ‘welfare matters’ these issues are in reality the core
issues of our national security.
When will the political Parties
and leaders start thinking seriously about matters of national
significance? There is a need and
genuine urgency to put these issues at the centres stage of national debate
before the country goes to polls to elect the new Lok Sabha – and a national
Government. Even the most laudable list
of issues espoused by Kejriwal’s AAP has missed out these vital issues. Hopefully, national security and military
preparedness shall find their deserved slot in the political manifestoes of
some parties if not all. Surely, for
media and rights activists too, these issues should become more vital in
national interest because other issues will have no meaning if we failed to
safeguard the vitals around us. Now, his Lokpal goal having been met, Anna
Hazare – a kissan and soldier himself – should also express his opinion
on these vital issues that affect the nerve centre of our nation and society.
__________________________________________
The writer is a defence
veteran, author and a social reformist who runs the NGO ‘Turning Point
India’.
