In Eastern Europe, Poland lit the fire nearly a quarter of a century ago, with Lech Walesa of Solidarity, an electrician from the shipyard of Gdansk. He led the Poles to defy the communist regime and, more importantly, the Soviet Union and was finally elected president of a non-communist Poland. Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and the German Democratic Republic quickly followed suit. And, finally, the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. With the exception of the Soviet Union, not a bullet was fired in Warsaw, Budapest, Bucharest, Prague, Sofia and East Berlin. Regimes that no one had challenged for four decades disappeared in four months. The domino effect swept communism away. Democratic elections were held, the press was freed and political prisoners detained on flimsy grounds were released.
Will the Arab world follow the example of these countries? Will history repeat itself? Will the undemocratic regimes of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and the Gulf states have their own Tahrirs? In most of these countries, the economy is doing well, but little else. In Egypt, the average age of the youth is below 25. And they are in a majority. What is unique about the Arab revolt is that it was mostly organised through Twitter, Facebook and the Internet. A totally new phenomenon. The mobile phone did wonders. The discipline demonstrated by people in Cairo was quite something. No one broke ranks and the army refused to fire on the protesters. It was Gandhism in a new form. What will be the post-revolution scenario — democracy or Islamic fundamentalism?
Also, nearly five million Indians live in West Asian countries. They keep away from any kind of political activity. Few have been given citizenship. They can be fired as easily as they are hired. So, can there be an exodus? One can only keep one’s fingers crossed.
The situation is volatile; the present is precarious and the future is a riddle. It took less than three weeks to put an end to the Mubarak regime. The Gulf states could fall like ninepins. The price of oil would shoot up, which will have a direct impact on our economy. One of the most deplorable features of totalitarian states is their near-total reliance on secret services, which serves neither the people nor the state. It serves only the dictator. As years turn into decades, dictators become complacent, flabby and out of touch. Ben Ali and Mubarak were fed on a dictatorial diet for so long that they feared no revolt, that they could oppress, brutalise, loot and live happily ever after. Power and profit mattered, not sacrifice and service. Brutal and cruel mediocrities preside over the destinies of decent, law-abiding and honest people. So, we in India should count our blessings for being spared this fate and bow down to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Rajaji, Maulana Azad and Jayaprakash Narayan.
Cricket chronicles
Cricket will be the flavour of the next six weeks. The game is entirely English in origin. The passion with which India has embraced it would leave the Marylebone Cricket Club gasping. Apparently, the first game of cricket was played in India in 1804 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) between Old Etonians and the Rest of Calcutta.
Who put Indian cricket on the world map? The House of Patiala. In his book titled Imperial Cricket P F Warner wrote in 1912, “His Highness the late Maharaja of Patiala was devoted to cricket, and collected from all India a team of cricketers who could practise together under his patronage and carry the Patiala colour to victory far and near. He used to engage English professionals like T H Hearne and W Brockwell to go out every winter at the end of the first class season in England, and coach the Patiala team...” The Maharaja’s name was Rajinder Singh; he died in 1898. It is hardly known that the great Ranjitsinhji (Ranji) was aide-de-camp (ADC) to Maharaja Rajinder Singh, whose son Bhupinder Singh took the first Indian cricket team to England in 1911. Ranji never forgot about his debt to Patiala. When Bhupinder Singh visited Jamnagar in 1930, Ranji said, “My personal connections with Patiala began during the rule of His Highness’ late revered father. I can never forget as long as I live the wonderful kindness, generosity, and hospitality I received during the years of stay with His Highness. That has left a deep impression on my mind, and I always felt that I owe a deep debt of obligation to the rulers of Patiala…” On Ranji’s death in 1932, Maharaja Bhupinder Singh donated £500 for a gold cup to start the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament. Lala Amarnath was one of his ADCs. Larwood, of Bodyline fame, spent a season in Patiala. Lala Amarnath once told me, “Without the generosity of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, I would have got nowhere.”
As for World Cup 2011, Tendulkar, Dhoni and Sehwag will do India proud.
Tailpiece
Dharma and adharma are two sides of the same coin; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh knows this better than most of us.
