A leaderless nation stumbling from one crisis to another
A few days back, I learnt (via an NYT article) that Jodhpur – a beautiful city in Rajasthan, with a population of a 1.2million has only one traffic stop-light. In that article, Thomas Friedman talked about “leaders-who-will-not-lead“. Â After reading the news-headlines for the past few days. I now realise what he meant. Sample this…
In the south of India, a long-standing dispute centred on the Mullaperiyar dam threatens to snowball into a major flare-up between Kerala and Tamil Nadu…A few hundreds kilometers away, work on Kudankulam power plant remains stalled due to continued protests and concerns around the safety of the plant.  The first reactor was scheduled for Dec ’09.
In “distant Assam“, activists stop trucks carrying equipment marked for the largest hydro-electric project in India – the Subansiri lower dam project, saying that the government is not listening to their concerns. The project has already been delayed by two years.
In Manipur, a fragile calm prevails after the lifting of the longest “blockade” in recent history – 121 days. A local resident says:
“The lifting of blockade is a mockery of government as the two warring tribes (Kukis and Nagas) can hold the government hostage anytime they wish..It’s a slap on the face of government…It’s an utter failure of the state and the centre to control these recalcitrant groups”
A government headed by a PM mocked for not speaking up tries to bring in a series of controversial measures in one go: the bill on Communal Violence, a Quota within a Quota for Muslims…(not to forget, a Jan Lokpal that is satisfying nobody). A party which declared FDI as “anti-national” in 2002 now brings a bill in Parliament to allow 51% FDI in Retail.  Ironically, a party that had FDI in Retail in its manifesto in 2004 now says it should not be allowed under any circumstances.
The ruckus leads to Parliament being adjourned after 9-days of “heated arguments”.. but not before MPs manage to get Rs 50,000 for themselves to buy an iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Meanwhile inflation remains stubbornly above the 9% mark, we continue to spend enormous resources (Rs 50 crores) on a certain Ajmal Kasab even as a flash mob does a Rang De “dance” at CST – for the “pure joy of dancing” – in case you were wondering (what next? Flash mob at Jantar Mantar? I wonder),  a committee (!) that is examining ways to strengthen laws to curb black money gets a 2-month extension (even though it has been “examining” these issues for 8 months!) and the probe against Hasan Ali hits a dead-end.
Last year, in somewhat similar circumstances, I wrote:
Somedays it feels so dark..(and) so hopeless…
Today is another such day…Sigh.
Well put Sir. That the state of the country actually shows the utter failure of a democratic set up all together, can’t be evinced better than the set of events since 2009. A system where a persons ego rules over any kind of nationalistic fervor, giving free run to any tom, dick and harry a chance to govern us. And only in India do we have a dynastic set up enjoying the reigns of power inspite of the so called democratic set up. Can’t get bizarre than that. And every regional party heads now want to continue with that kind of strategy (DMK, DeveGowda and family etc.) all thanks, purely to the fact of a weak, meek and at times completely useless set of opposition parties who have for decades being busy in their own squabbles. Call it the shooting at your own foot syndrome. So while many a countries across the world have managed to move forward on every scale measurable, India has just stagnated, because of a few selfish politicians along with their cahoots and cohorts infecting every level within the Government establishment, ensuring they get a free run in their corrupt practices as well as keeping those so called “Above all suspicion like Ceaser’s wife” guys in their back pocket.
Someone asked me on Twitter:http://twitter.com/#!/malviyamit/status/142620575754498049
“FTI may be a great theoretical option. But is it going anywhere? If not, why? Will we hear off it for the next 60 yrs?”
My response was: http://twitter.com/#!/sabhlok/status/142812040992534528
“FTI is the only strategic way forward. Its success depends on YOUR competence. You get the govt you deserve.”
The truth is that educated Indians (particularly those who are economics literate) ARE CONTINUING TO SHIRK THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.
Why do we have such a hard time assembling a TOP NOTCH leadership team to oppose these nitwits who govern India?
As A.O.Hume (the one who proposed the idea of the Indian National Congress) exhorted:
Sons of Ind, why sit ye idle,
Wait ye for some Deva’s aid?
Buckle to, be up and doing!
Nations by themselves are made!
Even Vivekananda could not have said this more beautifully. We need CITIZENSHIP. People who are willing to CONTEST and FIGHT the backward looking socialist forces of India.
Its true.I haven’t seen India go through such crises before.What is amazing is that no one wants answers from..SG,RG,MMS,Montek…these are the people responsible for governance,officially or otherwise .
Only a divine intervention can bring about a change,else present set up may bribe its way through .
‘Somedays it feels so dark..(and) so hopeless…
Today is another such day…Sigh.’ Ditto.
But sigh not.There is hope, even more than hope.It seems we are living in times where we can make many of our best dreams become reality. Congress ka sitara doob raha hai.. agar wanhan koi sitara tha bhi. We are at a crossroads to be able to tap the anti-Congress, anti-corruption, anti-antidemocratic sentiments that is more than a wave now,and to get rid of the stifling predicaments that have been made prevalent for so long. We need a coherent unified voice and manifesto.We need people of principle, with a commitment to teamwork. Teamwork with and for Team India.The agenda and time-scale has already been set. The agenda includes immense efficiency and the time scale is to be ‘this lifetime’, to do the needful now, soon and in this lifetime.
So let the changemakers herald a vibrant and sustainable edifice, to replace the one that has become rotten to the core.
It is all possible…and it can happen in this lifetime.
We had to wait for Thomas Friedman to say it! All we need is a second traffic light in Jodhpur for today and a third one, tomorrow. The rest will follow.
Mind you, the priority should not be to look for leaders with principles and all such esoteric qualities. In fact, the less we talk about such ethereal stuff, the better. We merely need a second traffic light in Jodhpur to begin with.
@Ganesh: Well said…Our single biggest problem is a complete detachment of people with some sense of values, integrity and nationalism from the arena of politics. Power abhors a vacuum and this absence leads to a situation you see today in Bharat. Tragic really.
@Sanjeev, well said: The truth is that educated Indians (particularly those who are economics literate) ARE CONTINUING TO SHIRK THEIR RESPONSIBILITY.
@Sh Chowla: I hope we don’t have to wait for divine intervention..
@Sudha: Yes, I do believe “There is hope, even more than hope..” and that “It is all possible…and it can happen in this lifetime.”
@Prakash: I wish talking about “leaders” was really ethereal! It is not, unfortunately..The way things are, we seem to be in a national paralysis
“In the south of India, a long-standing dispute centred on the Mullaperiyar dam threatens to snowball into a major flare-up between Kerala and Tamil Nadu…A few hundreds kilometers away, work on Kudankulam power plant remains stalled due to continued protests and concerns around the safety of the plant. The first reactor was scheduled for Dec ’09.”
Both these issues are inter-related. you have to just look at the actors behind these to understand that.
‘We the people’ are often oblivious to the problems Indian leaders face. India is a vast country. With 500+ MP’s for a 100 Crore(1 billion) members’ democracy, an ordinary MP represents about a million adults on average. UK, with about 1/20 of the population has about the similar number of MPs’. Further, with multiple active languages and regions, it is impossible for any Indian to reach a position of being a natural leader of all the Indians or even most of the Indians. It is no coincidence that the president of the most powerful party, the PM, and a top opposition leader are all ‘foreign’ born.
Just consider this example. What is the national image of a leader like Sharad Pawar who makes it a point to read newspapers the first thing in morning, who works a long day, and who is a capable minister? The slapping incident of last week gleefully reported by media tells you all about it. Similarly, so many have made it a mission of their life to tarnish the image of Modi who has achieved an extraordinary rate of progress in Gujarat. One can only imagine the problems the lesser leaders must be facing. Common Indians need to have a little more sympathetic understanding of our leaders. Unfortunately, one rarely witnesses it in what people write and think.
Yes, definitely leaderless. And look at those around the leader.. http://www.wahsarkar.com/2011/12/neta-profiling-party-wise/
@Seema: Pl avoid posting the same comment multiple times on different (and unrelated) threads. Hope you understand. Thanks