In this age of instant sanctification plaudits like
Leader, Visionary, Statesman, Avatar etc are generously showered on the person
in power. It does not matter that such a ‘visionary’ is tainted with an
entire range of crime and sin. That the visionary’s vision is limited to self
and pelf. There is no dearth of pamphleteers and makeover artists to project
them as the messiahs of the teeming gullibles.
Only the abysmally uninformed take such veneration
as proof of Indian Democracy basking in its Golden Age. As statistical graphs
on news channels during the Delhi Assembly elections showed, no political
party is free of criminals among its rank and file. Criminals charged or
convicted of abduction, rape and murder are increasingly populating our elected
bodies at all levels.
No wonder, the beatification of these politicians
is as short-lived and partisan. While the party faithful may tom-tom the divine
virtues of one’s leader, the rest of the humanity remains unmoved. And, if the
divine leader is unfortunate enough to lose power, the faithful change their
gods with the ease of seasoned turncoats. Gods come and go but the professional
devotees endure.
A few years back three young men were pushed into
limelight by the political dynamics in Gujarat. They were treated to a flurry
of interviews, and newsroom pundits articulated hope and much jubilation at the
rise of untainted young “leaders”. Nobody paused to ponder whether this hype
was really worth it. Are the three young men really leaders? Hardik Patel
represents the powerful and prosperous pattidar community. Alpesh Thakor caters
to the aspirations of the other backward castes, while Jignesh Mewani is a
dalit activist. The three now face the prospects of political extinction.
Today netas with hardly any vision or
stature are strutting across the country. Dynasties are proliferating like
parasites. Truths are being redefined. Intellectual bankruptcy and moral void
have become so stark that one fears for the country’s future. But all is not
lost.
Thanks to the sterling character of the founders of
India’s constitution, their vision, precepts and practices, the roots of
democracy in India run deep. An incident narrated in Mr Harbhagwan
Singh’s book “LAW, LAWYERS AND LAWMAKERS” underscores the deep-rooted
democratic ethos of the Indian National Congress and the high standards set by
Pt Jawaharlal Nehru.
Chaudhry Charan Singh who was a grassroots level
party member, give a piece of his mind to the party seniors, including Pt
Nehru, without being interrupted even once. Chaudhry’s criticism of the Nehru
government’s land reform policies was heard in pin drop silence. It was a
normal practice in those times to allow party members, whatever their status in
the party’s pecking order, to have their say on the national as well as party
issues.
This democratic spirit endured for several decades
after the independence. How can we forget Loknayak Jaya Prakash Narayan, the
hero of Quit India Movement, who in the 1970s stood up to the might of Indira
Gandhi and the draconian Emergency? In more recent times, Anna Hazare has been
valiantly trying to keep the Gandhian values aloft. But both JP and Anna fell
victims to the manipulations of politicians, who used them to further their own
political agendas and then dumped them. Something, no politician dared do to
Gandhiji.
So inspired were the freedom fighters by Gandhiji
that they vied with each other to sacrifice their all for the cause of India’s
freedom. Indeed, today, we find it difficult to believe that there was a
sparsely clad man walking through the length and breadth of India and wielding
no clout, other than sheer moral force, with the singular mission of freeing
India. Gandhiji did not have to go to Delhi to stage protests. Wherever he
decided to launch his Satyagraha, such place became the country’s, nay
the world’s, focal point. Even if he went on a fast in some remote corner of
the country, alarm bells would start ringing right from the Viceroy’s palace in
New Delhi to the Whitehall and the Buckingham Palace. Such was Gandhiji’s
persona that the mightiest power of its time dared not treat him lightly.
Under his mentorship, the Indian National Congress
became the most potent political movement during India’s freedom struggle. It
was an epitome of idealism, patriotism and such values as mutual respect and
tolerance, uprightness and honesty as well as inclusiveness. Indeed, the
evolution of the Indian National Congress mirrored the evolving India. The
Congress party was able to fashion a secular, socialist and democratic polity
that became a role model for other newly independent Third World countries. The
Gandhian ethos helped India overcome daunting challenges to its very existence
as a united democratic nation. The Congress party was like a banyan tree, which
was home to a unique eco-system, which accommodated conflicting viewpoints and
ideologies. Where people might disagree with each other and yet unite in the
face of threats to India from outside and within – be these wars, insurgencies,
or natural catastrophes. But now, it has become a dreadfully stunted branchless
tree.
The BJP is, at best, an imposter to the mantle of
India’s leadership, with its rank and file devoid of vision and ideals
necessary for running the world’s most complex democratic polity.
Today, India has too many politicians catering to
the basest urges of hatemongering mobs. The nation is hungering for a political
leadership that will take India to its ultimate tryst with destiny comprising
of peace, prosperity and all that is good and decent.
We wait with hope in our hearts and prayers on our
lips.
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