DailyPost 2960
INDIA – A POLITICAL BATTLEFIELD OR MINEFIELD?
The singular contribution of around 75 years of Indian democracy has been the transformation of India into a mercenary political battlefield. At times you might get a feeling and rightly so it is not even a political battlefield but it transcended into a political minefield. The electorate or more the whole population has been brought to the periphery. We have become mute spectators at the supposedly virtual / surreal / real National Democratic Coliseum, where we pay for every single fight and all the preparations that go behind it, and also pay for the collateral damage, if any.
What a maddening political battle shrill war cry we have been hearing, reading, and experiencing in the public domain day in and day out for decades now. We keep hearing of the names of political leaders endlessly, not to talk of the political parties and their associated organisations, together they generally cover the main course of the battle arena. All need to be covered and defended while at the same time the political rival needs to be attacked much worse than even the worst enemy. If the battle is political, how far will the governments be left behind?
The neutrality of the government as enshrined in the constitution has long been degraded or might be decimated. What a government does or does not do is a matter of political slugfest, even if it pertains to life, liberty, security or safety. There are no exceptions, even the sections of society they vouch for day in and day out. If all decisions and actions of the government are political in nature and have to be tested on different political touchstones, depending on how that party / leader views democracy and governance, then what is left of the government. The government’s decisions become political statements to be defended by party spokespersons and leaders. Even criminal investigation is not left out of their purview.
If this situation continues and it has been for decades, it will lead to political minefields, which no government is able to handle. It can be one issue or a whole geography that descends into nowhere. It can be a sector too. What chances has Jharkhand has to become a middle rung state of the country? Will Manipur be able to sort out its problems and come back to normalcy? Will the resident doctors of W Bengal get safety, security and congenial atmosphere to work? Can we ever pull out government school education from the morass they are in? These are simmering minefields and there are any number of them, they don’t work to demine them, but to use them to their advantage as political minefields.
HAVE WE LOST EVERY SEMBLANCE OF GOVERNANCE AT THE ALTAR OF POLITICS?
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.