Political Diary
New Delhi, 24 July 2010
Aaj Ke Rajnetas
ARE THEY WORTHY OF
US?
By Poonam I Kaushish
From “politics of direct sale” to rule by law, Indian rajneeti has
it all. Today it has another earned another ignominious feather: democracy of
convenience. That entails using, misusing and abusing power through political
weapons at one’s command to fix rivals, making allegations, even it they border
on the ridiculous, to get the better of adversaries, create mayhem to get one’s
way and say et al. All employing individual meanness for the public good! Sic.
Four tales which ‘showcase’ the ugly, uglier and the ugliest
of our aaj ke rajneetas. Story I: In Gujarat
alleged terrorist Sohrabuddin and his wife are killed in a fake police encounter,
November 2005. The Supreme Court orders CBI to probe the case as the State’s
investigation was unsatisfactory. The agency summons State Home Minister Amit Shah
who seeks time which is refused and a CBI special court refuses him anticipatory
bail. Chargesheeted for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder Shah resigns
but is in hiding.
The BJP goes to town yelling blue murder even cancelling the
Prime Minister’s customary lunch prior to Parliament’s monsoon session. It accuses
the Congress-led Government of misusing the CBI and wanting to break the
Opposition’s new-found bonhomie. Challenging
the Centre to file a case against the Andhra police and the State’s Home
Minister for the killing of a senior Naxal functionary and a journalist in an
encounter recently.
Clearly, the chargesheet holds out ominous portals. On one
hand many find fake encounters abhorrent but desist from questioning Maoists
killed in suspicious manners. Not a few argue that the security forces might
adopt a “hands-up” policy in eliminating terrorists fearful of future
allegations being heaped on them for political expediency.
Some contend that with the breakdown in the law-enforcing
machinery, corruption and slow judicial process the only way to eliminate bad
elements is to resort to fake encounters. Arguably, killings cannot be
selective if terrorism has to be eliminated. Recall, innocents paid a heavy
price to ensure a militant-free Punjab in the
90s. The then Governor late Dharma Vira believed in the dictum: there is no
place for a live dacoit.
As for the CBI’s role, all know that it is the hand maiden
of the Government of the day. Be it the Congress, BJP, NDA or UPA. In recent
times, UPA’s statecraft demanded that the investigative agency goes slow in cases
against three regional satraps, BSP’s Mayawati, Samajwadi’s Mulayam and RJD’s
Lalu. As did the BJP when it sat on India’s Raj gaddi.
Politically, the Sohrabuddin case has turned into an ugly
war between the Congress and the BJP. Wherein Shah’s exit could stall Gujarat
Chief Minister Narender Modi’s ambition of occupying BJP’s centerstage and lead
the NDA. Notwithstanding, that it would help the Party in the State. Even as
the Congress gloats over its victory of cornering its opponent it has to contend
with the fact that the case has less to do with upholding the rule of law and
more to do with scoring political brownie points.
Moral of story: Let
parties continue misusing the CBI
Story 2: The Jnaneswari Express collides with another train in West Bengal leaving 66 dead last
week. The second accident in two
months. Predictably, the Opposition demands Rail Minister and Trinamool Chief
Mamata’s resignation regime as over 200 accidents have taken place since she
took over 14 months ago.
.
Leading to a bellicose war of words between Mamata and arch
rival CPM. Asserted she: “The CPM has been planning sabotage…. opening clips on
tracks… They are letting cockroaches into food…."I am prepared to resign
if the CPM guarantees that it will not indulge in sabotage…. It is time for the CPM to go. Countered the
Red brigade, “Mamata is politicking a serious mishap. No conspiracy theory can
explain how 400-plus lives were lost in these accidents.”
At one level it is an appalling reflection on the standards
of safety in the Railways and a heartless attitude towards loss of human life.
Particularly as it runs 9,000 passenger trains carrying over 18 million
passengers every day. On the other, it showcases Mamata’s cavalier attitude to
her portfolio. Shockingly, over 90,000 safety-related posts have been lying
vacant for want of official sanction and it needs vital technological upgrade vis-a-vis signalling and track
maintenance for minimising human error.
Undoubtedly, much of the criticism is warranted. Instead of
ensuring safety measures Mamata is more interested in securing the political
ground in her home State and becoming the Chief Minister in the forthcoming
Assembly elections. The Cabinet berth at the Centre is only a means of distributing
patronage to her vote-banks to achieve that goal.
Worse, she merrily plays on the Congress’s political
compulsions which dictate her indispensability from the Rail Ministry. No
matter that passengers are paying daily with their lives. Not only that. By
trivialising the deaths she underscored that in her scheme of things the buck
cannot stop at her doorstep. Thus, drawing a new line on ministerial
accountability.
Moral of the story: Today’s brand of politics is all about
muck-raking, name-calling, shrill rhetoric and shoddy public spectacles.
Story 3: A CAG report alleges financial irregularities in Bihar
and all hell breaks loose. Disobeying the Speaker’s directive to let the House
function, 80 Opposition MLAs overturn desks and chairs, break microphones and
virtually came to blows with ruling JD(U)-BJP members. They also spend the
night in the well of the two Houses of the State legislature. Obviously, taking
a cue from their Opposition counterparts in Karnataka who had a five-night
sleepover in the Assembly earlier this month to protest against the illegal
mining scam allegedly masterminded by two ruling party MLAs.
The next day, 67 of the MLAs are suspended by the Assembly
Speaker for the rest of the monsoon session for unruly behaviour and marshalled
out. In the prevailing chaos a slipper is flung at the Speaker and outside the
Assembly and the Legislative Council a hysterical woman Congress MLC animatedly
threw flower pots around. In the free-for-all RJD members accuses Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar of “losing his mental balance,” and JD(U) dubs Lalu “the epitome
of corruption.
PS; The slipper throwing resonated in Delhi’s Municipal
Corporation as a Congress member gave vent to his angst against the BJP. Indeed,
politics is going to pot and has come a long way from ‘shoe-cide’ to ‘slipper
politics’!
Moral of the story: Legislatures are supreme. But it helps
if one shows muscle power.
Story 4: It all started with a bumptious Congress Pune MLA
ticking off a newspaper security guard, “Don’t you know who I am?” On receiving
a negative reply, the MLA abused and beat up the guard and reprimanded him for daring
to talk to him. Later, the blasé MLA
argued that he had done nothing wrong. “I am a VIP” and should get respect, he
reportedly averred.
There is no gainsaying that VIP is three grimy words that underline
all that’s wrong with our powers-that-be. In a milieu flooded with loutish and
loathsome VIP culture where a simple query is construed as an impertinent affront
and challenge to the all-important person. Unlike the aam aadmi they profess to serve, they refuse to conform to rules
instead rule by law. No IDs’, no
frisking and long queues, show ID, brushing away bans etc. God forbid, if
anyone questions their misdemeanor be prepared for open fury.
Moral of the story: Keep abusing power. Some men are more
equal than others.
Importantly, these fables portray India’s tragic reality.
True, we get the leaders we deserve. But at the same time are the netas worthy of us? The time has come to
bell the political cat of convenience. And bring probity and morality into our
national life. Any takers? ----- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
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