As we enter another New Year, especially since it happens to be 2014, when another national government is due to be elected in New Delhi and we're only six years away from our self-proclaimed deadline of becoming an economic superpower, one thought keeps coming back like the drone of a nagging bee: why is it that India is still adrift like a rudderless ship while much of the rest of Asia is on a steady course towards a sound, predictable future?
It's a constant mystery. How can a nation with so much individual talent be such a collective dullard that it still can't find a way out of its perpetual patch of darkness, even 67 years after independence? Why can't it still provide its people with the basic human needs and dignity they all deserve, food that will raise them above malnourishment, education that will help them stand on their own, and services that will enrich their lives? Why should only one small fragment of the population enjoy all the fruits of development while the larger part is eternally condemned to living on the margins, begging to be served, bullied around by authoritarian officials, and left at the mercy of biased, feudal politicians?
As we prepare to celebrate another Republic Day, showing off to the world our military might, stoking our patriotism and telling the nation we're almost there, what actually is in store? Another inept ceremony, which, for the large masses of India, carries little conviction; more patronising assurances of a better tomorrow, which has been coming, coming, ever coming for the last 67 years; another indecisive general election to be followed by the usual scramble for opportunistic alliances; and another round of pre- and post-election promises that are never meant to be kept. The orchestrated manner and the hurry in which the Lok Pal Bill was hustled through Parliament in the face of a looming general election and the growing moral threat from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), only shows that politics in this country hasn't changed its colours and politicians with vested interests won't hesitate to band together to protect their immediate selfish ends.
We're still in search of a classless society, while always bragging about being the world's largest democracy. What's this democracy which gives everybody the right to free speech but not to equal services? What's this democracy where the vast majority of the population has always to be on the receiving end and can't demand to be served? What's this democracy where the poor and the ordinary can't expect security of their lives and property because the police have been enslaved by petty politicians? What's this democracy where tolerance has no value and criticism is viewed as a conspiracy and is often met with revenge, imprisonment, even murder?
India hasn't grown up as a classless, casteless democracy because that has never been a goal of the political class to the extent that economic growth has been. To aim for economic growth isn't bad, but the neglect of social empowerment of the poor has been a blunder. As a result, the benefits of economic growth have accrued mostly to certain privileged sections of society whose entire politics has rested on exploitation of the poor. These privileges are now too entrenched to change, despite all their sudden protestations against corruption, unless there's a fundamental change of heart and a genuine show of contrition.
The emergence of AAP is the first honest effort in independent India's history to bring about a fundamental change in the character of its politics and democracy. At last, there's something to hope and cheer for. But the battle is going to be hard and the wait is going to be long, because it's like starting from square one and the twin challenges of economic growth and social justice have to be met at the same time. One can be sure there would be strong opponents seeking every means they can think of to discredit AAP and derail its mission. But one would expect there would be equally strong supporters who would stand by its side and uphold its aims, because the fight is for regaining India's dignity and restoring its values.
To fail to do so would be an insult to the many famous Indians who enriched our history and culture in the past and continue to do so even now, in their own different ways and fields, against all odds, often outside the glare of publicity. It's because of them, not of its politicians, that India still enjoys the respect it does in the world. Unscrupulous politicians have had a free run of this country for far too long. It's time for all honest Indians, young and old, to come together and restore some of the lost glory. India doesn't deserve to remain in a permanent area of darkness.
rbarun@gmail.com
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