Anybody dare to nail the netas?
Chinese intrusion into Indian territory in Ladakh. We are ignoring the seething rage expressed by a deeply distressed and disillusioned Sikh community which can lead to further alienation in Punjab.
Add to that the growing problem of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, simmering resentment in Sri Lanka (will the prickly Tamil issue ever be solved?), and we have an India that is effectively gheraoed on all sides by neighbours who loathe us and distrust our every move. This is an awful situation to be in. And to think we have brought it upon ourselves.
The thing is, even if Manmohan (Fevicol) Singh finally listens to the raucous chorus of critics who want him to resign forthwith, and quits, will that solve a thing?
Day after day, we demand resignations from our leaders. By doing that, we are, in fact, letting them off the hook a bit too easily. There is nothing heroic about resigning. If anything, it’s a cop-out. A resignation that culminates in a fair trial has some matlab. But just a token throwing in of papers is meaningless. When leaders are accused of misdemeanours and crimes, they are obliged to explain. Same as everyone else.
The problem in India is nobody dares to nail netas. Who has the guts to nab even one of the Big Boys? An Arvind Kejriwal can name names and get members of his team to bring up issues and personalities on television. But Arvind has zero clout. And no resources to fight the powerful. He may have public support. But that’s never enough. Going after even a chhota-mota player, forget the Prime Minister, requires enormous will and more importantly, pots of serious money.
Today, there is really no difference between our various political parties or leaders. They are all terrible.There is no ideology. No commitment. No vision. And worst of all, there is no “sharam”. When levels of shamelessness are this high, every crook and scoundrel in and out of government is protected. That being a given, nobody is scared. The culprits know that after a few weeks of protests and demands for resignations, it will be back to dirty business as usual.
Every neta has dope on every other neta. They also have dope on journalists and media owners. Whether it is the self-righteous BJP persons or the complacent Congresswallas, both operate on the same principle — you open your mouth and I’ll open mine. The interests of the country be damned!
But despite widespread cynicism, mercifully there are still a few untainted, independent voices left in the country. Occasionally, one gets lucky and hears them. Those voices are pretty confident there will be a genuine and major parivartan (not the Mamata variety) soon.
The abominable and high-handed handling of both the Sajjan Kumar and Sarabjit Singh cases may prove to be the tipping point. With the Sikhs on the boil and Punjab once again on the brink of revolt, some instant and convincing damage control is desperately needed. If that requires Manmohan Singh to show the way and step down with what’s left of his tattered dignity, it would be worth doing. Before it’s too late for him. And too late for India. Readers can send
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