We...the literate herd of India...

November 22, 2007

And how often have I heard this…Politics is a pot-hole.

But I have a question here. Even if it is a pothole, how many of us are willing to take up the responsibility to clean this pot hole…none actually. And why…because we don’t want to soil our hands or because we simply don’t care.
People like us are more concerned about their monthly paycheck and yearly appraisals and onsite assignments than being bothered by the Indian politics. How many of us actually know the stories behind the operation Blue star in 1984 and the consequences of the riots in Gujarat in 2003. Thousands of people die every year due to these communal riots which are normally planned and guided by the ruling parties…the same people whom we elect as our representatives to rule our country. I keep coming across so many people who keep blaming Indian politics, conveniently predicting that this country is headed to be doomed. But tell me how many of, we so called educated people, are actually willing to do something about it. Forget being a part of this political pot hole, how many of us use our voting rights…very very few in fact.

Talking about politics in the South, here we are lead by Karunanidhi vs JayLalitha. Karunanidhi, who has been appointed as the CM of TN five times already. Politics in TN has been a paradox. The absence of political debate can be clearly seen in the election campaign of 2006, which was predominantly based on the fight that who could bribe the voters more outrageously. Karunanidhi won with his promise of providing color televisions for all households and rice at the rate of Rs 2 per kilo.
This kind of politics is encouraged since very few of the so called educated mass take part in the elections and the non-educated mass can be easily wooed by such temptations. And the worst part is, this bribe was given from the government treasure, i.e. the money the middle class pays as taxes to the government…which is expected to be spent on the benefits of the citizen of India and not for the hopeless politicians to bribe people for votes.
Where as in Bihar we have Laloo and Rabri, who need no mention.
As I know from history, the kings who ruled India, the power came with heredity. The king when dies, his son would take over the dynasty and it went on for generations. Things look no different to me in the democratic India. All politicians children are also politicians. Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi have all become presidents of Congress Party- consistently for five generations. Rahul Gandhi is now slated to become Prime Minister of India, no questions asked.

Being a part of the literate herd of India, are we doing our duties towards our country…if not, what rights have we got to blame the politicians if they don’t to their bit. The fact is, even we as the citizens of India are running away from our responsibilities and find it so convenient to put the blame on the system. As long as, we, the educated mass of India are not going to take a stand, the situation would never improve and most certainly this country is going for a toss. 10-15 years down the line, we would all be managers in our respective MNC’s, we would have earned enough dollars, we would have married the man of our dreams, have a dream house far from the city traffic which would have a luxurious terrace, where would be conveniently reading the morning newspaper with a hot cup of tea and cribbing…”THIS COUNTRY IS GOING NOWHERE…”. You bet!!!!

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