We can’t become a republic of noise
Instead of rushing to a trouble spot, netas and babus must invest time in making better policies
F or the last one week, you must have seen images of people sobbing and complaining in newspapers and on television. Loved ones of those infants who perished in the Gorakhpur tragedy, middleclass victims of builders such as Jaypee and Amrapali in Noida, farmers driven to kill themselves despite loan waive rs, family members of victims of political killing sin Kerala… Is this the sum total of our earnings over the last 70 years?
This is a time where the merchants of sorrow and out rage are out to make a killing. But one must not lose hope in an evolving democracy. Keeping this logic in mind, let me share a personal experience with you.
This tragic incident took place 25 years ago. I was sitting at my newspaper’ s office in Ag ra. I heard that the health of the residents of K hati kP ada was deteriorating because they had imbibed contaminated water. By the time I could comprehend what was happening, 21 people had lost their lives. The sick were taken to the local medical college but within a week another 11 people died. An investigation revealed that the tank near San jay Place from where people drank water and fell ill contained carcasses of dogs and other animals. Since the tank was not cleaned regularly, the water had turned poisonous. This departmental lapse had claimed the lives of more than two dozen people. Most of these were Dalits.
On reaching the spot I saw one district official and a few police personnel consoling the people. The collector at that time was an extremely capable officer. On the evening of the tragedy, I asked him with some amount of out rage where he was when the children were dying? “Should I have got my picture clicked by reaching the spot or stayed in my office to activate the government machinery to make necessary arrangements?” was hisreply. He was correct. God forbid, if such an incident were to happen today, some people will term it as a conspiracy against the Dalits, others will call the entire government in efficient and those who were rooting for a war with China and Pakistan till yesterday will be quick to brand our entire system dysfunctional.
That is why the chief minister ofUttarPradesh has to drop all other business and spend two days in Go rakh pu rand Union health minister JPN add a alter s prior engagements to reach the spot. Groups of minister sand senior bureaucrats are converging at Gorakhpur. Why don’t they understand that to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, people will have to sit in their offices, evolve a strategy and implement it on the ground? Panic and anxiety has fostered a culture to show-off than work on the ground. This is dangerous for the common man.
Those beating their chest over not getting a flat in Noida have also fallen victim to this tendency. Those builders who were helping politicians dispose of their black money and ben ami property have now begun to rob common people. Those politicians who brought out advertisements boa sting of good administration were their partners in crime. The case is similar with farmers. Governments may waive off loans to remain popular but that leaves the coffers empty and they are left with nothing for development projects.
There are numerous other examples which prove that for the sake of ephemeral name and fame, actual work has been put on the backburner. Our democracy had turned into a mobocracy long ago. Why are we bent upon turning into a republic of noise?
I know that a number of questions will be raised in response to my question but where does this leave the average citizen? Consider these two examples. When a nuclear power station was water logged during the Tsunami in Japan in 2011, power supply to a large section of the country was cut off. Trains were cancelled and life came to a standstill in megacities such as Tokyo. In a place where you have 60-70 storey buildings and people commute to work for 50-60 kilometres, you canimagine the plight ofthose without elevators and public transport. The citizens were feeling shackled without fetters. Even during such an awkward phase nobody cursed the government. Let them work for now, we’ ll ask them questions later, was the prevalent sentiment. That is how the people of Britain re acted after the London bomb explosions.
Asking questions and giving a verdict on politicians during the elections is our right, but creating a clamour to disrupt their work can be suicidal. We need to understand this basic difference.