Vagaries of a confused nation
The country off late seems to be bitterly divided on almost every issue and lack of any clear consensus seems to be holding us back, not allowing any changes in our old and rusted system of beliefs and practices. The country is ruled by a set of political parties who are not are not strong enough to take a stand on a sensitive issue and thenbe able to defend themselves. Everyone wants to play safe and flow along with the public majority so as to not risk their vote banks. We expect our politicians to take a firm decision on what they think is good for the country and then be able to convince the public of that decision. Instead what is happening here is that the ministers give in a small hint of what they intend to do and this itself triggers a series of attacks from the opposition and various other jobless religious and activist groups all over the country. Result: the issue is mired in controversy even before it gets tabled in parliament and the minister starts shitting in his pants as he is scared of loosing his kursi.
This sort of behavior can be seen in how the UPA II has been dealing with the rural development schemes, disinvestment, Class X boards issue, Section 377 and many others. The bare mention of some changes in either the manifesto or the 100 day action plan or some press note has led to such an uproar that we only see the issues being debated on talk shows day in day out and from the look of it, it doesn't look like they will make it to the floor of the house.
The NDA has lost the elections just because they grossly misunderstood the sensibility of the common man. It is time they understand that the people are bothered about what the govt is doing to provide them employement and not about how soon the foundation of the temple in Ayodhya will be laid. The politicians should realize that public sentiment should be moved by them and not by religious and extremist groups. I don't think I am asking for a utopian system by saying this. You see elsewhere, say in the US where both Bush ( funny but true) and now Obama managed to take the people along with them in every decision that they took/take. They consult the relevant experts on every issue and then stick to their decisions. Even in France, Sarkozy has talked about the ban of the burkha but before doing that he already had the head of the largest mosque in Paris in his pocket and thus avoided much hue and cry.
Owing to our multi party political system, the various important stake holders and their multitude of opinons consensus building is not that easy in India. Take for instance the reactions to the Delhi HC's judgement against Section 377. The only party openly supporting them were the communists, probably aiming to get some hold on their urban/liberal vote banks. UPA ministers, Veerappa Moily and PC, who were talking in support of it till the previous day suddenly changed their stances to one of being non committal. The BJP and others were were playing for so that they could formulate their response in accordance with the larger public view. Religious groups came out strongly against it, terming it as sacreligeous. Baba Ramdev has joined the bandwagon by calling homosexuality as a disease which he claims is curable. (I am all ears to listen to his ideas and yogic exercises for the same :P) Now with such a range of opinions held by the different leaders of the, how can we hope to come to a consensus.
The public wants to move ahead but the country is trapped in the web woven by these leaders, who by the way, are the only ones to gain from these controversies. In a nation where the majority is slowly breaking free from the bondage of meaningless customs and is open to free thinking, a nation which vehemently opposes the actions of Pramod Muthalik and those of policemen against couples in parks, which supports Pride marches in large numbers, rallies in support of Savita Bhabhi, deems unnecessary the conduct of Class X boards and rejoices as one ( well almost ) the judgement against Section 377, should the path of reforms be such a bed of thorns.
We deserve better but what else can we expect from our politicians, the same people who managed to delay the report of an open and shut case like the Babri Masjid for 17 years, hoping the nation would forget their evil acts. What we need today is a set of ambitious and sincere leaders who are committed to the cause of the nation. We need a govt which can take firm steps towards development and not get bogged down by the comments of a few misinformed critics. I feel Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil Sibal have set a good examples of the same with the new budget and the 100 plan of the HRD ministry and hope the other misfits take a cue from this and get their act straight.
This sort of behavior can be seen in how the UPA II has been dealing with the rural development schemes, disinvestment, Class X boards issue, Section 377 and many others. The bare mention of some changes in either the manifesto or the 100 day action plan or some press note has led to such an uproar that we only see the issues being debated on talk shows day in day out and from the look of it, it doesn't look like they will make it to the floor of the house.
The NDA has lost the elections just because they grossly misunderstood the sensibility of the common man. It is time they understand that the people are bothered about what the govt is doing to provide them employement and not about how soon the foundation of the temple in Ayodhya will be laid. The politicians should realize that public sentiment should be moved by them and not by religious and extremist groups. I don't think I am asking for a utopian system by saying this. You see elsewhere, say in the US where both Bush ( funny but true) and now Obama managed to take the people along with them in every decision that they took/take. They consult the relevant experts on every issue and then stick to their decisions. Even in France, Sarkozy has talked about the ban of the burkha but before doing that he already had the head of the largest mosque in Paris in his pocket and thus avoided much hue and cry.
Owing to our multi party political system, the various important stake holders and their multitude of opinons consensus building is not that easy in India. Take for instance the reactions to the Delhi HC's judgement against Section 377. The only party openly supporting them were the communists, probably aiming to get some hold on their urban/liberal vote banks. UPA ministers, Veerappa Moily and PC, who were talking in support of it till the previous day suddenly changed their stances to one of being non committal. The BJP and others were were playing for so that they could formulate their response in accordance with the larger public view. Religious groups came out strongly against it, terming it as sacreligeous. Baba Ramdev has joined the bandwagon by calling homosexuality as a disease which he claims is curable. (I am all ears to listen to his ideas and yogic exercises for the same :P) Now with such a range of opinions held by the different leaders of the, how can we hope to come to a consensus.
The public wants to move ahead but the country is trapped in the web woven by these leaders, who by the way, are the only ones to gain from these controversies. In a nation where the majority is slowly breaking free from the bondage of meaningless customs and is open to free thinking, a nation which vehemently opposes the actions of Pramod Muthalik and those of policemen against couples in parks, which supports Pride marches in large numbers, rallies in support of Savita Bhabhi, deems unnecessary the conduct of Class X boards and rejoices as one ( well almost ) the judgement against Section 377, should the path of reforms be such a bed of thorns.
We deserve better but what else can we expect from our politicians, the same people who managed to delay the report of an open and shut case like the Babri Masjid for 17 years, hoping the nation would forget their evil acts. What we need today is a set of ambitious and sincere leaders who are committed to the cause of the nation. We need a govt which can take firm steps towards development and not get bogged down by the comments of a few misinformed critics. I feel Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil Sibal have set a good examples of the same with the new budget and the 100 plan of the HRD ministry and hope the other misfits take a cue from this and get their act straight.
posted by Varun Khaitan at
11:26 PM
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