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A gigantic excuse for inaction

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Barun Roy New Delhi
Last Updated : Jun 14 2013 | 3:03 PM IST
The average Indian, brought up on myths of all shades and kinds "" religious, political, or cinematic "" seems incapable of confronting reality.
 
Whenever India and China are compared, with conclusions unpalatable to the former, people get angry. India, they say, is a democracy while China is not. In their skewed reasoning, this means India is destined to be a slow performer.
 
This was precisely the logic that was hurled at me with particular ferocity by "patriotic" Indians at home and abroad at a Net debate on my recent column criticising the government's "India Shining" claims.
 
In that article I quoted statistics to show India was lagging far behind China in three key development areas: roads, water supply, and electricity.
 
I wasn't criticising any government. I was only stating a fact that, in spite of starting out on its development race more or less about the same time, India was nowhere near China in the ground it has been able to cover.
 
And the "patriots" immediately pounced on me with the same democracy versus dictatorship argument that they have always advanced under attack.
 
But why? What has democracy got to do with it? Are people's basic needs any different or any less in a democracy than in a dictatorship? Must people, by definition, wait longer to be served in a democracy?
 
What are the great democratic principles involved in building an all-weather village road, providing a village home with electricity, or giving rural and urban people easy and dependable access to safe drinking water?
 
Does democracy mean that people must walk miles to reach the nearest health centre, schools must have broken walls or leaky roofs, there must be separate wells for touchable Indians and untouchables, or almost half the population must remain poor?
 
The problem is, that's what our leaders have always told our people and that's what our people have come to believe. Any criticism is taken as the reflection of a negative attitude; any questioning is regarded as unpatriotic.
 
The world's largest democracy has become the world's biggest excuse for inaction, procrastination, and under-performance, a gigantic cover for failures, inefficiencies, deceits, and shibboleths.
 
You can't expect results now because we are a democracy. You must always dream about the future because we are a democracy, and in a democracy, we are constantly reminded, things take time to evolve.
 
I am reminded of a Laxman cartoon from many years ago. A political leader was haranguing his listeners to tighten their belts now and make sacrifices for a better tomorrow.
 
Watching from the sideline, the Common Man in his striped coat and bushy moustache mumbled: "They used to say the same thing when I was a young boy."
 
That's classic Indian democracy in action "" leaders making promises, people listening in awe, nobody asking questions, and the nation moving from one future vision to another. It's all about sound and fury. The more vociferous one is, in making promises or shouting down critics, the greater is the glory of Indian democracy.
 
In this democracy, there are only two classes: the leaders and the led. The moment you mix up roles, the entire system will collapse. Don't bother about promises. They are meant to be broken so that they can be made again. Don't even feel bad that some people are always tightening their belts. As long as you keep loosening yours, our democracy will keep shining.
 
Of course, there are other democracies in the world that have achieved levels of prosperity that everybody admires. The US is one good example. Japan is another, having risen from the ruins of war to become an economic superpower.
 
Western Europe dazzles without having to advertise its shine. Even Thailand is able to do things faster than us. But what do our "patriots" care? We're different; we have a past going back 4,000 years.
 
We are the best because our leaders say so. And in this country we have been taught not to question our leaders just as we have been told not to question our gods. Our India is great. As one of our poets once wrote, "no matter where you search, you won't find another land like this."
 
Well, our poet might actually have been telling the truth. In the comity of nations, India is, indeed, unique. Others want to learn; we already know. Others listen to advice; we get angry. Others act; we lecture.
 
Others argue their points; we shout from the platform or demonstrate in the streets. Others admit to their mistakes; we justify ours. Others tolerate criticism; we take it as an attack on our nationhood.
 
God bless us! But wait. There's a problem with that, too. While others are happy with one god, we've 330 million, gods and goddesses together. Which one should one invoke?

 
 

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Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper

First Published: Apr 02 2004 | 12:00 AM IST

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