Let me begin by quoting from Barbara Tuchman’s book The March of Folly: “Mankind, it seems, makes a poorer performance of government than of almost any human activity. In this sphere, wisdom, which may be defended as the exercise of judgment acting on experience, common sense and available information, is less operative and more frustrated than it should be. Why does [sic] holders of high office so often contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests?”
Even for the best-run governments, there always comes a moment when the scenery collapses. For the United Progressive Alliance (UPA-II) government, that moment came at midnight on June 5. No amount of verbal sophistries can undo the damage the central government caused itself. From the unseemly rush to the airport by four distinguished Cabinet ministers to the appalling thoughtless midnight onslaught on unarmed sleeping individuals, this government cannot get a thing right. It became the butt of unkind jokes and sneer. No one bought the explanations and justification emanating from the loudmouths.
A senior Congress leader – an eminently level-headed one – called Mr Ramdev a “thug”, while two Cabinet ministers are now negotiating with the same “thug”. Clearly, there is some disconnect. This melancholy episode highlights the grim fact that the right hand (the government) doesn’t know what the left hand (the Congress party) is doing.
Mr Ramdev was already out-talking himself. A little more well-calculated patience would have taken the wind out of his yogic lungs. He is no politician. Nor does he have an organised mind. Instead of jumping off the stage and dressing up in women’s garb, he should have got himself arrested. That would really have put the cat among the pigeons.
The wise and weary Prime Minister declared that the police action was unfortunate but there was no alternative. Heavens above! One could give at least half a dozen options. I do not wish to burden the readers with the list of alternatives; even a university student can do that.
Not only does UPA-II have egg on its face, it has given the Bharatiya Janata Party a political blood transfusion. A party without a worthwhile programme was handed a readymade political knife. On almost every count the government fared poorly. That is a huge loss of credibility. In a democracy, a government must never take public opinion for granted. The ruling establishment continues to misjudge the temper of the times. That is a near-fatal error of judgement.
An extraordinary and welcome phenomenon is to see the youth joining Mr Hazare’s non-violent movement. This reminds one of the student revolt in France in 1968, which led to the departure of the great and good Charles de Gaulle, who, after all, had the machinery of state at his disposal. Mr Hazare has nothing but his passion for honesty, integrity and non-violence. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is his inspiration. What attracts people is his sparkling non-political candour and his astute employment of Gandhian vocabulary. He is no Gandhi – and he does not claim to be one – but his use of Gandhian techniques has made him a national icon of sorts. He reflects the public mood.
The late Pope John Paul once said, “If it does not happen on TV it does not happen.” Mr Hazare is a daily, hourly happening on TV. He occupies a huge portion of TV space. The entire media is with him. He is a non-intellectual who attracts intellectuals. He does not offer a 20- point programme. His is a one-point programme — get rid of corruption.
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For the last six months, the UPA’s performance can be summed up in four words — downhill all the way. This has decidedly serious domestic ramifications. But we cannot ignore international reaction. UPA-I was the toast of the world. UPA-II is anything but that. In New Delhi resides a large diplomatic corps. In normal times, high commissioners and ambassadors have little to do during the summer months. But this summer is different. Each head of mission would be sending long coded messages every day to his government. These would be pointing to a government that is in disarray and in a state of drift. Krishna Menon put it very well: “Even a drift has a direction.” The UPA-II government is in search of an elusive direction.
TAILPIECE
Mr and Mrs Kunchithappatham hosted a reception to celebrate the silver jubilee of their wedding, in their hometown, Gopichattipalium. Many friends attended the celebration. One of them went up to the couple and asked, “How does it feel, after 25 years of marriage?” Mr Kunchithappatham declared, “When I married Lalitha she was awfully simple. Now she is simply awful.”