Targeting left parties for INDIA Alliance failure is dangerous and detrimental for Congress

Vidya Bhushan  Rawat 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi remains in the news all the time. The 'experts' are divided between his adversaries or supporters and there seems to be no space for any one who disagree with both. Long back, Congress Party was accused of creating a situation where all the non BJP forces had to ultimately come to it in the name of threat from 'Hindutva'. Now the netas decided to do away with it and BJP seems softer option for many. Ultimately, power means everything for the society where people have been subguated and oppressed in the name of their identity for centuries.

Anyway, a couple of comments raised outrage recently. One was made by Ramchandra Guha who had been a critique of Gandhi family and felt they are responsible for everything that India is today. He felt that Rahul Gandhi is not 'qualified' to become India's prime minister. Now, we know very well that there is nothing called qualification in politics particularly in democracies and that is why we get clowns to lead us. It is not merely an Indian crisis. Democracy is throwing highly undemocratic people and mediocres to lead and I have mentioned it many time that today this Westminster model of government is now basically corporate control and ensure that corporate gains from this model. It has resulted in degenration of leadership in the name of people's choice. The result is Russia, China, Iran, North Korea are showcasing better diplomacy and democratic practices than these so called democcracies. You agree with Rahul Gandhi or not but he is certainly qualified to become Prime Minister of India if people elect him. Nehru was in the nationalist movement since 1912 after his return and then joined Home rule league in 1916. He became an active part of Gandhi's movement after 1920. From 1912 to finally 1947 took Nehru almost 35 years to become prime minister of India. Back home, Atal Bihari Vajpayee contested in 1957 but he became prime minister in 1996, almost after 40 years of being in public life. Similar thing happened with Chandrashekhar. Many illustrious leaders such as Ram Manohar Lohia, Acharya Narendra Dev, Jai Prakash Narayan, K Kamraj, E M S Namoodaripad, Jyoti Basu could never become prime minister of India but that does not mean they did not exists or have not contributed for the growth of India. So, nobody has a right to give this sermon to any one whether one can become prime minister or even minister of India.

One can agree and disagree with political leaders, their ideological positions and working pattern but personally it is unprofessional to suggest one can become or not become the prime minister. After all, we are the 'speical' qualifications of those who have become Prime Minister. Let us see what is special about Narendra Modi ? Yes, his critique will only emerge after him and not during this period and it indicate unambiguously how India's is enjoying 'press freedom' as well as 'intellectual autonomy'. The fact is that Modi and BJP's criticism is 'acceptable' if you hit Congress particularly Rahul Gandhi and Gandhi family crudely and humiliate them in the name of humour and criticism. Whether one agree or not, Rahul Gandhi is the biggest challenge to BJP and RSS and they know that is just the Gandhis who keep Congress going and once they are humiliated and kept out of the power structure of the party, it would be easier for the BJP to fulfill its dream. The entire project to defame Nehru and Gandhis actually have the simple idea to disorient Congress party which still have its presence all over the country. The RSS knows well that no other party is in a position to challenge its hegemony except Congress which still has a huge network in almost every state of the country. It is another factor that Congress leadership today is unable to renergise those Congress people so far who are by heart congress men for generations and have not joined it merely for the sake of power.

Rahul Gandhi is trying to experiment new things in the party which make him different than other politicians. It shows his sensitivity too. Meeting people, giving them comfort or raising the issues of different sectors is good but how much will they succeed, will have to be seen in future. It is true that a huge number of youngsters who used to mock at him earlier have realised that they were wrong. The video that Rahul Gandhi posted related to 'Great Nicobar' Project on the World Environment Day was simply superb and made this issue international as millions of people watched it on youtube and other social media networks. Whether Ram Guha or Shekhar Suman, finally their humour and 'criticism' will attempt to damage the opposition more than the ruling party.

After the recent elections, there is a new 'energy' in the Congress and the regional forces seems to be down. INDIA alliance organsied its meeting and Rahul Gandhi gave a 'historic' speech. There are several serious questions emerging from this. The first one is that the Institutions that ensure free and fair polls and level playing field essential for a democracy dont exists today or are thoroughly compromised. Rahul has raised this issue in the past also particularly related to SiR and how the electoral roles have been manipulated. It is a fact that he said it about Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Bihar. It is also a darker reality that INDIA alliance members actually did not take this issue seriously. Even the Bengal Bihar Yatra that Rahul Gandhi undertook before the Bihar polls focussing on Vote-Chori never got support either from Mamta Banerjee or RJD and Tejasvi Yadav. Everyone felt that Rahul Gandhi and Congress was unable to defeat BJP hence making all these noises. The fact is that in the INDIA alliance most of the leaders felt that Congress was the 'weakest link' in their fight against BJP but now the results of the recently concluded elections have hit TMC and DMK the most. Everyone was sure of their returning to power. Most importantly, the crisis in Bengal is more serious as it is just a month and Mamata has lost some of her closest colleagues. The party is on the verge of division. DMK has a historic legacy of Periyar's Self Respect Movement hence it will not get wipe out as it has seen such ups and downs but it too became over confident about its victory resulting the massive defeat that it faced. TVK seems to be following MGR mantra of involving Dalits, minorities and Brahmins in his fold apart from targetting Periyarists and backward communities.

While one may agree with various points raised by Rahul Gandhi, the speech look preachy too. To tell that only Congress is fighting or is 'resistence' movment simply ignore the grave realities of the party. It is a fact that during the freedom movement, Gandhi ji made Congress a national movement. Gandhi succeeded in unifying India because he had huge number of leaders with him, extremely capable and committed. Right from Nehru, Subhas, Patel, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad to numerous others Congress that time did not have dearth of leaders who were committed to not only India's freedom but also social reform. I am calling Gandhi's Social reform because to be candid, Gandhi and Congress people were not revolutionaries. In fact, a large number of them were reactionaries too but they were still honest people despite being socially conservatives. The real down fall of Congress organisational structure started initially in the 1974 onwards when Sanjay Gandhi dominated the political scene. Congress started drifting from its secular idealism and started promoting 'managers'. When Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, the party had the managers but loyalty was always acknowledged which was important but it also created a new age of what late kansiram once described 'Chamcha Age'. Loyalty to the leader and the party is important but converting it to create Chamcha stuff will only endanger party as Chamchas will be available only when the party is in power or they are benefitted from the system. As long as they realise that there is no chance or monetary benefit being with the leader or the party they shift.

The managers and loyalists of the party are useful when the party is in the power but it is the 'ideological' people who remain with the party during its toughest moment and Congress lost its ideological part. Since 1980s after Indira Gandhi's return and then when Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister, Congress followed the soft Hindutva track. The mistake that Rajiv made speaking of Ramrajya from Ayodhya and then his flip flop on Shahbano resulted in strengthening the BJP. Congress never wanted secular forces to be its main opposition rival as BJP suited it well. The result was Congress fought more against the secular parties then the BJP.

The third disaster that Congress did during this period was when BJP withdrew support from V P Singh's government. Everybody knew that the withdrawal of support was to stall the Mandal Commission report which the government had accepted but Rajiv Gandhi spoke against the Mandal report in Parliament and was happy for the fall of the government. If he had guts and politicall understanding, he should have supported VP Singh and India would not have seen this day. Installing a Chandrashekar government which did not have enough members of Parliament only gave opportunity to BJP to mock at all the secular parties.

Both Narsimharao and ManMohan Singh promoted the liberalisation policies and destroyed all the public sector that Nehru and Indira Gandhi had built. Both of them were soft on taking on Hindutva. In fact, Narsimharao's action took congress to ICU particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Had Congress supported Mandal Commission Report, it would not have faced such a crisis in both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The economic policies pursued by Manmohan, Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwallia were least helping the Adivasis and Dalits. Congress's puppet intellectuals misguided and made NREGA as the answer for all the problems of India. Hence Congress focussed on MNREGA but actively supported SEZs in different parts of the country resulting in displacement of Adivasis and other forest dwelling communities. The alienation of Dalits, adivasis and Muslims was complete from the party as they did nothing to win them over. The managers were not keen.

The most outstanding minister during first UPA was Mr Arjun Singh but Sonia Gandhin despised him. He was never made a minister again and corrupt Pranab Mukherjee was promoted. I am still shocked to see Rahul Gandhi speak so loudly on Social Justice yet never bother to even mention about V P Singh or Arjun Singh. Why ? These days, he take the name of late kanshiram ji as well as Ms Mayawati too but not the people who were Congress person. Both VP and Arjun Singh were Chief minister during Indira ji's period and were extremely loyal to her.

Even today, the Congress has left out leaders like Digvijay Singh who started the diversity debate during his chief ministership and has been a secular liberal leader committed to the cause of social justice. Digvijay Singh is actually one of the most well connected and thoughtful leaders of the party even today but Congress High Command always look the otherway round. One does not know why ?

So it is simply not ideological politics when Rahul Gandhi was saying that CPI ( M) should not complain to him if he is not ready to hug Pinyari Vijayan. Rahul Gandhi must understand that the left parties and I have critiqued them but their role on raising the issues off workers, privatisation, violence against dalits and minorities is simply much bigger than the Congress party. It is the left trade unions, left parties student wings who have been more actives in the campuses and in the street on important issues facing the nation and not really the Congress party. Ofcourse, we are seeing Congress party protesting these days and NSUI too working harder and it is a good thing but that does not delete the work done by the left parties. Can he ever think of how simple the left leaders have been. Congress and Rahul cant do that even today. We have seen comrade Indrajeet Gupta, A B Bardhan, Sitaram Yechury as well as socialist icons like Madhu Dandvate, Surendra Mohan and others walking at the Constituent Club lawns, waiting for local transport for commuting. Even today, Comrade Deepankar Bhattacharya use the public transport for travelling most of the time but his party has been extremely active in Bihar with the most marginalised raising their issues of land and livelihood. Congress's pampered workers would not go to work with landless Dalits, adivasis and marginalised.

My point is not deny Rahul Gandhi what he is doing. He has brought Congress back in action. It is energised and raising people's issue but it still need a lot. Yes, it is a fact that Congress need to be strengthened to defeat the BJP. There is no second thought on it but Rahul Gandhi must not make statement which look more preachy and hurtful. Among all the current parties, left parties despite alll criticism are still committed to the cause. Congresss attitude towards DMK was highly questionable. While none deny the fact that Rahul acted fast so that BJP could not intervene in Tamilnadu, it could have done in a better way and not by abusing each other who had been your partner. DMK after all remain a secular liberal party committed to the ideals of Periyar and has a history no less than Congress Party.

INDIA alliance should grow and develop a strategy and Rahul Gandhi remain an important part of it but Congress also must realise that whereever it is in power it should not try to eliminate foces of secularism, social justice from the opposition space. I want a strong Congress but at the same point of time, I would always say parties like DMK, left parties, SP BSP must also flourish. This is what VP Singh used to suggest that opposition spaces should also be occupied by the secular parties but then when Congress was in power it eliminated them and the result is what we are facing today. However, this is a historic opportunity for all to look whereever they are powerful and decide your candidates well in advance. Do not provide space for friendly fight. Focus on common agenda and try not to give 'off the record' byte to the media people. There are many who continue to encourage these gossips which ultimately hurt all. India need a stronger and vibrant Congress but it also need strengthening of all the political parties who believe in democracy, secularism and social justice. Single party hegemony must be opposed as it is the biggest threat to our democracy.

A wake up call

Welcome 2017. Seasons greetings to you all in hope that there will more interaction, a positive one among all of us. There was brutal repression on students and all segments particularly those who are considered to opinion makers even when we know the 'mainstream' opinion is being manufactured by the lie factories of particular thoughts that we all know. When you have everything under your disposal virtually spineless then why are they afraid of a few of us?

It means that One truth has bigger power than millions of lies.Past year gave us hope also as protests grew up in the country though at the fag end the 'supreme leader' has #demonetised 86% of our currency thus throwing the entire country into an organised and well planned chaos to help the power elite and their business from collapsing. At the end of the year people felt that the Raja would introspect and speak about the killings of the people and hope for future but he gave them election promises.

These things are not happening in isolation. There is attempt to subvert parliament and look down upon it in contempt. Why are these announcement not made and discussed there. Why do you need a monologue to do so. Why has the announcement for housing, health etc need to be announced by the Prime Minister ? Is Ministry of Finance now being sidelined like what happened in Sushma Swaraj's case with her Ministry of External Affairs. A cabinet is a combined responsibility of Ministers and it seems our Prime minister is taking éxtrapain' to 'deliver' for his ministries. Not acceptable.

Most of the sectors which mattered in terms of opinion are under the threat by this blatant invasion on their integrity. The civil society was targeted earlier, the organisations working for the poor, the students groups, the academia and the media which did not toe the line. These are actually the best period for all these institutions to flourish if they have spine as some of them showed during emergency. Today, the situation is far worst than what you could imagine in 1975. Today's corporate state has developed new mechanism against the dissenters. It is not merely physical threat or intimidation by the intelligence or tax authorities but also manufacturing of stories by the #bhaktmedia to denigrate those who stand and speak.

Morality today is not what we used to think or what was taught to us but it is sarkari defined morality. We felt Constitutional morality but morality by this elite is different. It is basically based on the 'papers' that you hold. So if you do not have a paper for something that does not satisfy by the Babus then you are immoral. All the power elite in the country with their ill gotten wealth are the 'role model'. It is interesting to know that in our struggle against corruption and nepotism we never heard the names of those thugs who are involved in tax evasion and parking their money abroad not just in Switzerland but also in Panama. We have not heard anything about the Dalal Street in Mumbai and its master being investigated. A few stories are those of comparatively very small people and that too will not be investigated properly. We know these are headline grabbing things to keep the people 'hopeful' in the so called war against çorruption'.

An environment of intimidation is prevailing where the ruling party behaving like opposition and very shockingly the opposition has no will to fight against the government. It is time to make Parliament functional and use it as we know the government would convert it into monologue but there are great speakers even today and they must use the opportunity for a fruitful debate. It is time for all of us to be with people, use the social media to spread our thoughts and come into close cooperation with like minded people. It is time to join hands to fight against the corporate brahmanical war on its people. We know us have extreme views and many of us feel except us none think and we are purer than others. Political battles are not fought in isolation and exclusivism, they need to be widely inclusive with a Common Minimum Programme and participation and inclusion of a diverse groups of people. Yes, politics cant survive on past prejudices. They give us lessons to learn to move forward in the direction envisioned by our constitutional forefathers.

We know many of us have been doing things at different places. Working with people in our own ways, helping the needy and the most marginalised. That must continue. Democratise the spaces that we have and make them secular in absolute terms, politicise a debate and make linkages. I have no prejudices except that a clear no in the company of hate mongers and those who suffer from prejudices. Any secular action that speak of people's right is welcome and our solidarity with such movements and struggles. I believe in Baba Saheb Ambredkar's vision and would definitely go to strengthen his ideas of a modern democracy. Yes, my Ambedkarism make me link to all the like minded rationalist, humanist, secularist, Periyarists, Phulewadis, Bhagat Singh Wadis, and all streams of activists, who are fighting for people's right and doing a bit. At least do our bit to express solidarities with those who are working for people's right. Let the 'Jhanda-banner' be aside as I know these are the issues that some time fails people.

As long as we are alive we must carry hope positively. If hope is lost our lives are lost. I wish you all purposeful days ahead. Hope you have satisfying life in fulfilling your aspirations and commitments. And yes, always listen to Kabir, Shailendera, Sahir, Faiz and so many others as empower us, help us and be with us, when we are all alone.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat
January 1st, 2017

Vindictive 'Democracy"

Vindictive ‘democracy’

By  Vidya Bhushan Rawat

A priest was found to have ‘sacrificed’ his wife to please the God in Indore, a story revisited the gory tandoori murder of Naina Sahni by her politician husband Sushil Sharma, who is serving life imprisonment in the jail and wanted to spend time with his mother to perform his ‘sonly’ duties. Girls are being hanged to deaths after being gang raped and political class as a whole speak of controlling time and choices. It is not that we suggest here that all the ills of the country began with the current government but there are certain trends. Many of the moralists who have been raising stories and questioning for smallest things are quiet now. The story did not prick our nation as the ‘nation’ did not ‘want to know’ the horrors of it as they did on the two girls hanging from the branches of the tree through ropes. Yes, Uttar Pradesh is the ‘worst’ because a certain person is the chief minister of the state and once you have the CMs according to your fancy it will become the ‘best’. The crime against Dalits and marginalized is highest in states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Gujarat but interestingly they never get reported and if they are found too, media completely ignores them. Why are these not horror stories of our time. If a priest burnt his wife live, shouldn’t our media question the very concept of the ‘puja’ to offer to the God. None ask if he loves God so much why is he offering his wife to him and why not his own self. Problem is, we are a society, a sick one, which does not raise a question and continue to work on age-old traditions in they were clear, the people would always offer their ‘dear’ things in ‘gift’, when they are too happy with God or when they want to please the ‘God’ and remember the ‘dearest’ ‘thing’ in this regard was always a daughter or a wife.

Pramod Muttalick, the self proclaimed moral guardian of Indians in Mangalore wanted that women should be guided and controlled to ‘protect’ Indian culture and a Goa Minister is unambiguously supporting him. In Bengal, Tapan Das, a former film star of Bengali cinema exhorts his supporters to kill the CPM workers and then rape their women at home.  In UP,  Mulayam Singh Yadav says that boys do ‘commit’ mistakes and hence should be forgiven while Shiv Sena in Maharastra and ABVP groups in Madhya Pradesh are already acting as moral guardians of young generations whenever the ‘opportunity’ comes.  Subrahmanyam Swamy says that Valentine day is a foreign festival and Hindus must do everything to protect its religion.

Swamy and others will continue as they throw one questions which are repeated hundreds of time on tweeter and then on radio and TV to convert it into a truth. They know well that India does not run on reasoning and questioning but on ‘perception’ and it could only be built through using ‘corporate’ media and other tools that are available to us in the form of ‘social media’. So, we do not question the wrong but find first the name of the person and his identity, which becomes the decisive factor of right and wrong of any thing.  Hence a rape in Mujaffarnagar or in Gujarat during the riots of the Muslim women is not a national outcry of shame and disgust as that in Uttar Pradesh now. The saffron party has not bothered to visit the Dalits of Bhagana in Haryana who are sitting for the past four months in Delhi against the assault on their daughters by the Jat perpetrators of Haryana. Why cant the party take it an issue and condemn it when it is using media and other things to shame Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP? Is it because the perpetrators of the alleged crimes are Jats and none want to antagonize them in the grand ‘democracy’ of the dominant? So, India speaks political correct language. It makes big laws to change under ‘pressure’ from ‘people’ when the Delhi’s India gate is stormed by the middle class youths .

Western Uttar Pradesh is facing unease at the moment. Some ‘responsible’ people wanted a caste panchayat and blamed that it has not been allowed to happen under ‘pressure’ from the others. Poor District Magistrate had to bear the brunt of violence. Now, one needs to understand, as how will there be peace when the ‘result’ of ‘riots’ is ‘Minister’.  It would be difficult to control them in the coming days as every body who join politics nurture an ambition of becoming Minister. Can we say such an ‘ambition’ is wrong ?

In Delhi, Deenanath Batra is busy establishing his contact with the saffron government asking the HRD Ministry to withdraw the books from syllabus of NCERT, which  ‘denigrate’ Hindus and exonerate the Islamic rulers for their misdeeds in India. Deenanath Batra’s ‘colleague’ Arun Shourie is back in action. After failing to get a birth in the cabinet, he has again started doing things in which he is ‘expert’ in which is abusing the academics terming them as leftists and targeting the Islam.  I was wondering why Arun Shourie so laboriously works on everything that is considered to be anti people. He should have been a lawyer and not a writer because his pieces are of no academic value but a lawyers ‘petition’ which is meant to ‘protect’ his client through ‘offensive’ ‘research’ on the ‘opponents’.

The intelligence Bureau has already ‘informed’ the government that Green Peace is a threat to peace in India and that a huge number of NGOs are engaged in anti Indian activities. The report may look ‘new’ to many but I can bet  Subrahmanyam Swamy can produce a much juicy report than IB. In fact, government must dismantle IB and give the entire ministry to Swamy as his only work remains targeting the individuals and giving certificate to every one as who is national and who is not. The Tamil Brahmin is still sulking for his inability to find a place in the Union Cabinet.

In Telangana we have seen parties have already started glorifying PV Narsimharao, as one of the greatest sons of the soil, a ‘poor’ man who did not have the money to keep his family going though he had enough to purchase MPs to save his government and run it shamelessly. The man who presided over a regime that saw demolition of Babari Masjid and riots subsequently is acknowledged as a ‘statesman’. He did not have the courage to ‘resign’ on this darkest chapter of India’s democratic history. But the identity of Rao suite the people who are promoting him today as a ‘great leader’ and ‘visionary’ is of ‘economic reform’ that he unleashed through his finance minister Dr Man Mohan Singh. Yes, we had a prime minister, who undid everything that the VP Singh government in 1990 did for the Dalits and OBCs through reservation. Narsimharao actually became the biggest hero of middle classes as his policies directly killed the livelihood of millions of Dalits and Aadivasis.  We saw glorification of man who stood before the nation on the evening of December 6^th 1992 promising that the Masjid would be rebuilt but never ever tried to fulfill that promise.

The appointment of the judges in the Supreme Court also saw the same kind of responses and we have people of a ‘particular’ ideology being promoted to the highest court while some one who is considered to be ‘anti’ was shunted out despite the recommendations by the Chief Justice of India.  The cases against Amit Shah and others have been withdrawn and an Ahmedabad court has also rejected any charges against prime minister despite finding him guilty prime facie in hiding his marital status.  The infamous snooping case is now being buried by Home Ministry as it feels that the case is not of ‘national’ importance. Governors are now being asked to resign as the new regime has taken over. It looks that other autonomous bodies will also face the same.

Shankaracharya has already started that Sai Baba was a Muslim by birth and hence worshipping in the temple is against Hindu Dharma and must be opposed. It is a conspiracy against Hindus he says and claimed that Akhadas of Ayodhya will fight battle against such an onslaught on Hinduism. The Ram Temple lobby is now happy and wants ‘constitutional’ mechanism to build a ‘grand’ Mandir at Ayodhya. Prime Minister already said that we must get rid of the mindset developed during the 1200 years old slavery. We normally speak slavery in terms of the British regime but the Sangh Parivar talks of Mughal rule too as part of slavery. Ofcourse, the Brahmins will never ever agree that they also created slaves and justified everything in the name of divinity and religion.

The height of Narmada has increased yet no word about those who will be submerged in its grandeur.  People are agitating in the Madhya Pradesh about the same yet the victory in Gujarat is big and that shows the power of politics. Those who enjoy the fruits of ‘development’ are different than those whose lives are ‘sacrificed’ and it reflect too why people are so insensitive towards them. India as a Republic has actually becoming a republic of self seekers.

A Muslim techie was killed in Pune and many young boys were arrested for posting ‘offensive’ material on Facebook. In the past 10 years, none has published the more offensive and abusive material than those who want to guide our destiny or teach us ‘discipline’. Ofcourse, I support wholeheartedly any effort to civilize the debate among people and throwing accusations and abuses must stop. Criticism must be welcomed but we have to be careful that people will always question as what is the ‘limit’ to it.  Even when it is a very delicate issue between our freedom of expression and a control over it, there is nothing wrong in being gracious even in criticism and with enough proof.

The daily tweeting prime minister had no time to condemn any incident of violence against women as well as the ghastly murder of the Muslim techie by a self proclaimed ‘protector’ of Hindu asmita in Pune.  While all this was not enough when the news came that prime minister wanted that all the tweets in the social media on behalf of different department must be provided in Hindi. It was an indirect call to you Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan slogan which proved quite costly, as Tamilnadu was the first state to officially oppose this move. There was discomfort in the other southern states.

The government has completed a month and it has been very productive for them as well as for the gossipers. The media which was looking very ‘vibrant’ by poking fun at Man Mohan Singh every moment seems to have been just following what the prime minister is tweeting. It has nothing to respond except how ‘great’ he is and what the ‘Americans’ want. During the Bhutan trip, prime minister did not take a big media crew along with him yet media reported that prime minister took a small flight to Paro ignoring the fact that the airport itself is too small.

The way four years courses at Delhi University scrapped by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, asking the Vice Chancellor who remained confident till end by trying to appease the Sangh Parivar through his advise to put  ‘Vaidik Mathematics’ as one subject in the curriculum. The government initially was openly threatening while after the criticism it put itself into the back and placed the UGC in the forefront whose chief Ved Prakash, was an avid ‘admirer’ of the vice chancellor till a few months back.

This government’s minister’s spoke on every issue, which they have been ‘grown up’ under their training in the Shakhas of RSS. They must but they spoke not the language of the government of India but of the Sangh Parivar, where they hail from.  Whether it was the first statement emerged from the Minister of State in the PMO Mr Jitender Singh regarding abrogation of article 370 which provide special status to J & K.

World over organisations fighting for HIV-AID suggest to people in having ‘protected sex’ but our Health Minister actually has virtually demolished the entire ‘safe sex’ theory as he want ‘committed’ relationship. So, through health too we can bring the religious agenda and I can assure the Health Minister, who is an honorable doctor that the Mullahs and the priests in the Churches will be equally happy in this ‘secular’ war against science and reasoning by you. Sangh Parivar can bring all the ‘religious gangs’ together who consider sex as an instrument to produce children and not an act of enjoyment. So ‘Bachhe to bhagwan kee den hote hain’, the children are God’ gift and they make ‘mistake’ as another ‘great’ leader says so the government will have support from all the champions of ‘morality’ in the country.  Obviously, India will definitely surpassing China in population if the government continue to advise ‘moral values’ of ‘abstinence’ like Gandhi did which will only end up in high growth rate in population in the coming years. For religious people, it is the best opportunity to extend their greater ‘vision’ of keeping people further subjugated and their vision truncated.

The retribution is so high that the government and its leader want to undo everything that has happened in past so many years. Interestingly, the poor has voted to the government and what we are hearing today is attempt to scrap many anti poor programs such as Food Security Act and National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme which the government feel has not done anything but actually created labor crisis in agrarian sector as the agricultural labors have now increased their wages. So, the government want that agricultural labors be paid as per the mercy of the ‘farmers’. Is this the way to ‘save’ farm sector or are they killing it further?  How obscene it looks when we are informed of huge pay packages of the individuals proudly on our television screens but at the same point of time people struggling to get even Rs 120/- a day. Is not it a shame that a government which come on huge promise that India will shine for all, is disturbed with even Rs 120/- per day for 8 hours of work for the agricultural worker? And who are these agricultural workers ? Yes, it is they who are the lowest of the low, the untouchables, who did not get land as promised by the Indian state and who continue to be victim of our apathy and hatred.

The modern socio economic order is not interested in addressing the basic issues of the people. It creates a few individuals from the denied identities to project them as ‘role model’. They are fetched well in the new set up but vast masses will continue to perish and remain out of bound for the government schemes. The inflation is already difficult to contain as we have created a system, which is profitable to the powerful, few even at the cost of majority poor and hence just change of the government will not work.

This is a republic of revenge at the moment.  ‘Revenge’ from its own people just because we differ in ideologies, perceptions and faith. The idea of the past was not the greatest and hence the poor of different castes and faiths formed the new government under mountains of hopes so that their expectations are fulfilled. The government must respect diversity of our thoughts, action and political beliefs. Every one who does not agree to a particular thought does not become an enemy of the nation. The attempt to ‘unify’ will boomerang on it and people will resist it. It is time the government does not bring a particular thought in everything that some of its leaders might have been trained during their younger days. India has changed now. It is a young aspiring India of different faiths and no faiths too and that apart, it is an India where millions of Dalits, Aadivasis, OBCs, Muslims too are aspiring high hence to deny them their right under any pretext will be opposed. India must shine for all as it belong to all and the government must be seen belonging to all sections of society. Revenge and retribution will only divide India further and create anarchy in the country. A government must not depend too much on its officials but to the political leadership which include opposition voices too, who are much grounded and will always warn it from doing wrong. The government too much depends on bureaucracy fast become highly unpopular and the example was the last government which every one wanted to get rid off at the end, a government which lost the legitimacy to even command.  The government must not allow the ruffians in the name of morality and culture to disturb our right to live our life in dignity according to our choices. As a citizen of India, I have this biggest right guaranteed in our constitution and government is duty bound to protect us that way.  There are others voices too who are raising their heads as they know their friends are in the government but that is where it need to act harder on them. Do not allow the atmosphere of the country vitiated by such calls against some one. Every citizen of this country need protection and encouragement by the government and if some of the government projects are intended to bring ‘growth’ to the country they too need approval of the local people as government has no right to destroy the livelihood and life of people just to ‘accelerate’ its growth. Therefore dissenters of the current economic models are not enemies of the nation but protector of its wealth and environment which we all will realize after some years when we will have no place to even breathe.  Our democracy must grow and must grow in treating criticism as acceptable norm of it, part of it to improve the life of the people and not consider those who disagree as enemies of the nation and a threat. It is shameful way of thinking.  The counter the activists if they are propagandists, the government must provide more democracy, more support to organisations and not act through intimidating tactics of police and intelligence. Indira Gandhi believed too much in her ‘intelligence’ and the result was complete rout of her party in 1975. Let us not make every one as a threat but learn to deal the issues politically and if people violate law of the land there are so many laws to catch them. Those who do not follow law will not come to the government and fight the battle themselves. Those who believe in constitution of India and all the international treaties will always follow. It is time for each one of us to grow and not give certificate of who is doing ‘great’ work and who is the most ‘genuine’. This whole problem start when we all claim to speak for so many ‘people’. Now these claims and counter claims actually kills everything. If there is violation of rights, we have a right to speak and government must counter it with producing evidences of what it has done. If it violate its own laws, its own traditions then just by intimidating individuals will not act. Government would have countered activists fighting against big project by producing its rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected people. What it did and how many people it got rehabilitated but as we know a majority of developmental projects in India failed to rehabilitate honorably the victims which constitute over 10 millions Aadivasis in the past fifty years. Will the government answer why it failed? Do those who are affected have no right to live with dignity and if they do not get their right than what are they expected to do?

The problem with the authorities is that they try to counter you through legal procedures, which were developed by British in such a way that anybody could be trapped into it. So people have become strangers in their own land, violators of their rights in their own place while big companies are there to grab the opportunity and helplessness of the people. Will the government assure people that they will not be displaced through these mega deals of projects?  Will the prime minister tell the people that whatever happens, all the projects will first have to give in writing and insurance of honorable rehabilitation of people. So those who challenge the entire process do not become anti national because you have not followed the process. So, to hide the weaknesses of the government authorities these intimidation are started and we must not succumb to that. A government must not carry forward the agenda unleashed by Manmohan Chidambaram-Montek team of corporate agents. We hope that the prime minister came on heavy people’s mandate and he definitely owe it to the people that he will not let them down in their expectations and promises.

Democratise the polity

India’s tryst with Democracy

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat


Indian Justice Party’s candidate Lal Bahadur Sonkar, who was contesting from Jaunpur constitucney of Uttar-Pradesh was found dead, hanging on a tree yesterday. This famous town of Uttar-Pradesh, just about 40 kilometer from Varanasi, has never been that tensed. Sonkar, a Dalit himself was one of the candidates in the fray. The BSP had fielded Dhananjay Singh, who is well known here, not for his social work for his strong ‘muscles’. Whether some body is good or bad has become really a matter of convenience. Hence if Mulayam Singh embraced Kalyan Singh then he is not involved in demolition of Babari mosque. Gangsters are fighting elections and the courts are unable to do so but our government feel threatened with one Dr Binayak Sen that he has even been denied right to get medical test. Despite much voices of protest, this democracy, it seems, is afraid of releasing him from Jail that it does not feel shame of keeping him in Jail without any trial for the past one and a half year. So democracy is not just elections in five years, but our polity will have to be democratic.

Therefore it is not right here for me to mention about how our ministers are giving certificates about who is good and who is bad. While Varun Gandhi’s hate speech rightly placed him at the Jail, Mayawati yesterday gave a certificate to Mukhtar Ansari as ‘Garibon ka masiha’. Ofcourse, it is true that Mukhtar may not be as communal we make him and that his family has played an important role in India’s freedom struggle, but that does not exonerate him for the charges that he is facing in the courts of law.

During this election, we have seen worst kind of public speeches. And there is one common thing. While the Hindutva party is exclusively claiming that it can fight against ‘terrorism’ and ensure ‘National Security’, others are happy with positioning them as the sole champion of ‘secularism’ in the country. And hence Lalu want to bulldoze ‘Varun Gandhi’, like latter’s father did in 1975 at the Turkman gate in Delhi for beatification of the city. Muslims do not need these nautankis but solid promises as why they are left behind and what will parties do to ensure their faire participation in nation building. But we all know whether political parties have given tickets to them or not. A 12% Muslim society does not get 12% tickets even from so called secular parties. Even if they ask for it, the demand would be termed as communal. And here lies the tragedy of democracy.

Every body welcomed when a certain Jarnail Singh threw shoe on Chidambaram, despite the fact that jarnail actually betrayed his profession and became a ‘Sikh’. The problem in such perception is that when Congress party denied ticket to two of its sitting Member of Parliament’s m/s Jagdish Tytlor and Sajjan Kumar after the Sikhs have protested. The Hindutva party, whose goons were also involved in anti Sikh massacre in Delhi as many reports have proved and that Rajiv Gandhi won on an entirely communal mandate in 1984 which was based on hatred against Sikhs. Same thing is true about another gentleman called Narendra Modi, but he is the hero number one of the saffron party. We have hate mongerers given ticket from Kandhamal, in Orrisa. Problem with people like Jarnail Singh is that they open up their eyes when they feel their community is wronged. They keep quiet when others face such things. How can Akalis side with BJP which is accused of doing worst kind of pogrom in Gujarat. But then the record of Jaat Sikhs towards Dalits is well known in Punjab and we have faced their wrath in Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, when I demanded land ceiling be imposed there as a majority of land has illegally been grabbed by the powerful Jat Sikhs from Punjab. The problem in democracy is that we give our version, speak the truth of convenience.

We all know politicians and political parties play games. They use words very carefully and reject that very next day. When Varun made that hate speech, the idea was to make his ‘entry’ into politics as the new hero of ‘Hindutva. The agenda was not this election but next one when a generation of the second generation of BJP leaders too would turn old and there is a dearth of leader who could claim to represent the youths of the country.

Tickets are being sold, money being pumped and election commission despite its role and monitoring is helpless as Netas are thick skinned. But the mass upsurge is equally happening. The urban middle classes are fed up with the current lot of political class while in the forest, the tribal and those who are victims of the current dispensation, are up in arms. So there is a wider disenchantment in public life.

We celebrate today the birthday of one of the greatest heroes of democracy and modernity. Yes, Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar who brought 16 crore Dalits into national mainstream and made them believe in Democracy. Yet the same Ambedkar had warned in the constituent Assembly that if this democracy does not provide social and economic justice to his people, they will blow up the very structure of democracy we all have built so laboriously.

A democrat by heart, Ambedkar knew it well that ours is a democracy imposed on a feudal society, where the leaders always want to be looked as a messiah. He was prophetic when he wanted to liberate every individual. He did feel that individual is supreme but what happen today is the death that individual in our democracy. Democracy has become the best way to legitimize the illegal acts. Legitimise the goons to say that they are political leaders and that their misdeeds have been ‘approved’ by the people. Democracy today has made communities apolitical and depoliticized their thoughts. Hence you are really not voting to a party of ideology but voting to an individual who you feel belongs to your caste or religion.

I am not saying this has happened just now. Things evolve and evolution has come in such a way that it is very difficult for dissenting voices to contest elections when mainstream political parties are spending billions of rupees. When the big industrialists, mafias can fight election at their will or if they are barred from contesting the election, their ‘ideal wives’ take over therefore making democracy as a family business, then we must realize that writing is on the wall and that such things will not be helpful in promoting the ideas of social democracy as these things are anti democratic and are just stamping them leveled as democratic.
Hence democracy has become a game for entry into elitist circle. The choices are limited. Initially, this club has the domination of the upper castes now the membership has been extended to a few powerful individuals and parties from Dalit and shudra communities also so their quest is equally satisfied.

Uttar-Pradesh and Bihar are two politically volatile states. Many claimed that they have brought Dalit-bahujan revolution. However, after look at the village politics, I can say things are not that simple as our theoreticians make us believe. The churning of the Dalit backward communities happened in these two states. In fact, Bihar does seem much better than Uttar-Pradesh in this regard as people are now questioning politicians and it is not easy for both Lalu and Ramvilas to just hanker on ‘who stopped Advani’. People want work and politicians who raised aspirations and hope miserably failed them. Uttar-Pradesh experience or experiment of Sarvajan is on test. It succeeded in UP because of the peculiar caste equations and there is no guarantee of its success. Yet, the problem with this exercise is that that dominant upper caste communities have become stronger here and the Dalit remain victims. Now, they can not open their mouth. They have to vote to the people who are seen in the village lives as their enemies. And hence it is the travesty of the truth. A Sonker is killed because he is considered as vote –katua by his opponent. Dalit vote is transferrable hence the upper castes are bowing to Behinji for a ticket and got it. Hence we see an upsurge of upper castes particularly Brahmins in UP glorifying Mayawati as they have got much beyond their numbers. They are ready to play second fiddle and that too, only to Bahinji and not to Dalit community, as long as they get power and position and BSP has given them.

These elections mean a lot for people of India. They will mean a lot for Dalits and OBCs of India. Their politics will see a sea change. The cries of Indians who still have not got their due, the failure of democracy as providing justice are crucial factor. People will question. Netas can not be messiahs but will have to deliver. The biggest factor in democracy is the voices of Dalits, and marginalized. They will now question. Their vote matter but no work is done to them. If even after 60 years people are eating rats and snails in UP and Bihar, or Orissa and Andhra, then it is shame on us.

Democracy is not just elections. Democracy is the spirit. Democracy is how we respect people and take a decision by asking people. Is this happening. The distance between our political class and people is increasing. The political class feels that people are too proud of them hence they do not need to deliver. They feel that people are happy to see them hovering in helicopter. India is changed. The poor are changing. They will seek answer and the way Bihar has revolted and thrashed leaders, will be seen in public life.

It is important that we do not surrender our selves to political class. It is important that this political class just do not use us for its own purposes. Their agendas are big... they come in different names but at the end promote them selves as larger than life. People have aspirations from them but they never get filled. ‘ I have given them nothing but swar, i.e. voice, Lalu Yadav would often say, but he knows it well that people will not be satisfied with ‘Swar’ only, they need employment, they need job and they need justice.

The voices of people should not satisfy with electing one party or other. An awakened people can control their leaders. The parliament which is becoming a place where we surrender our sovereignty. Look how Binayak Sen is still languishing in Jail and our political leaders are contesting elections. What is the fault of Binayak Sen ? They have not been able to prove. He is a Naxalite, said the government. The voices of newspapers in Chhatisgharh are shut. So are our voices too. Democracy is becoming too strong for us to speak for those who the state feels ‘anti-national’, without proving their crime. We faced it. Such frivolous charges against any one who dissent with the establishment are the norms of the day. I have got such a charge from the intelligence that I am influenced by ‘ leftist ideology’. Is being a leftist a crime? While I am not that and discard the Naxal violence, not because they are violent but because we believe in democracy, freedom and choice and sadly the Maoists-Naxal do not believe in that. They still believe in their own confined world and protected fences and become sole arbitrator of people’s choices and ideas which is unacceptable.

As a person devoted to democratic values and freedom, I feel that the challenges are too big. Our political class does not understand the differences between ideologies and perception. They want to shut our voices in the name of isms. Whether it is Maoism, or naxalism or Islamism, our state feel threatened with ideology. Despite India being too big and diverse, people of India have decided to live together. It is not the politicians but a spirit of togetherness that bind them together. They will fight back against all anti democratic norms. Let us save democracy from the clutches of feudal lords.

The largest democracy of the world does not seek people’s opinion from displacing them. Who will allow them to displace them? The largest democracy in the world has its people, still carrying night soil over their head and cleaning shit, largest democracy still have huge number of child labor and bonded labor... the largest democracy has failed to provide justice and Dalits and Adivasis. It is making them enslaved. Democracy will not succeed in symbols and enlarging the elite clubs of billionaires. Democracy will succeed when every body will have freedom to dissent and live a life of dignity and self respect.

Let our political class not live in the caged past. Let them follow what Dr Ambedkar said ‘not to glorify our past and our village system’. Let the political class not take shelter in our great ‘culture’ and great ‘villages’ of India where our caste live and which still live in ignorance and nepotism, as Ambedkar prophetically mentioned. Unlike Mulayam Singh, whose son went to Australia to learn English language or Charan Singh who said he would stop computers by sending his son Ajit Singh to US to learn that, let the political class be honest enough to accept what they personally believe and behave. Let there be no duality in our life, one masked for people and other for our own selves. Our issues are bigger than English language. Our issues are bigger than poll rhetoric’s. Let us work to democratize our political class, our villages and socialize democracy otherwise, democracy will only be like surrendering our soveignity to a class which has no concern for people and which is hell bent on depoliticizing the whole society by deviating people’s issue and becoming individual centric. One must not expect too much from this exercise yet it is certain that a lot of churning will happen at the ground level as people are watching everything closely. Those people who think that rural poor do not understand thing and vote in emotions will have to eat their word after elections. Nobody can save a country or a society if intellectual become bankrupt. The spirit and ideas of Ambedkar are still alive and relevant, it is time we move ahead and spread his words and ideas in the true spirit of democracy and human freedom which will liberate us and give millions their dignity.