Alley cat! Silent cat!

N. Arunkumar *

Unarguably, the Indian democratic veracity is very emotive, animated and impatient. Around six decades of the democratic organism that has evolved has not really been all that disappointing, though the recent scams, scandals and profiteering by some individuals, and countless others who are collectively responsible for a deep aching rot in the system, have made a mockery of it time and time again. Yet, the hope and aspirations of over 1.2 billion people rests on this institution to forge ahead as a consistent unit, to realize their dreams and ambitions.

Obviously, dreams and ambitions are rather superficial and cannot be defined in known parameters of calibration, we have with us. When it comes to abstracts of this kind, our measurements are more or less based on invented demarcations considering the intrigues of the probable and the impractical. Both these parameters operate in synchronous trajectories, all the same.

This country is not exactly an El Dorado like some other places in the world, chiefly the U.S of A, besides the Middle Eastern sheikhdoms. In the U.S.A, the identities of the citizens are as numerous as those of this country, though not so thorny in invention or graph. The original inhabitants of the American landscape, the Red Indians were suppressed and almost wiped out, before the settlers from various parts of Europe; mainly the British continent made it their permanent home. Spanish conquerors also made a significant dent in the demographic landscape of America, and today the Red Indians are sadly outnumbered and their culture almost indistinct in the face of the complete European onslaught on their lands.

There is hardly any mention of the great civilizations of the Aztecs, Cherokees, Mayans and etc...etc, who contributed greatly to the creation of a distinct culture, which was as ancient as the beginning of human civilization itself. However, the Europeans always propagated the half-truths that they were the chosen children of a far superior God, and had the right to reform every other culture, which they termed as barbaric in comparison to their own. The term ‘barbaric’ in this connection however, is always arguable and the claims dubious, to say the least.

Those early European settlers and colonizers revised many ancient cultures and introduced a huge amount of misunderstanding within them. Even today, the can of worms they had opened back then continues to fuel the debate on the uniqueness of every culture they had ruined and, there is no end in sight to these debates. If only people realize that they are unique in the wisdom of their emergence on this planet at a very remote past, going back millions of years and that, at one time back then, all humanity was united by a common thread of creation, there would have been much less suspicion among mankind today.

Added to this confusion is the dynamics of a democracy, which sometimes proves counter – productive to its noble intentions, as the great divide among people is further catalyzed by various unscrupulous players in the political arenas of the democratic stage. This contributes to the marginalisation of people and provides a forum for disconnect within close knit communities too, due to segregation based on personalities and the lure of lucre.

This type of divide is more visible in a fledgling country like India at this moment. Remember, after the American Civil War, which led to the formation of the United States, America too had faced the teething problems being faced by this country today, in the beginning. About six decades in time is still young for a nation of a billion plus people. We might say that we are in the youth of the nation’s evolution today. And, youth is a period of revolt. India is likewise revolting today, at the custodians of our democratic institutions. The perpetual resentment at the dwindling quality of our leadership and politicians, who lack some of the very basic morals required to be leaders, is coming to the fore more fiercely than ever before in the past six decades. It is good for the collective psyche of the nation that this is happening.

Now, coming back to the quality of our politicians, and I will stick to this terminology to describe our leadership class today, as I cannot honestly see one leader among the politicians. People who could have been exemplary leaders, like say our present Prime Minister or our ex – President Abdul Kalam are rare to come by today, as the contamination in the political arena of the nation silences such elevated souls into silence. They are misfits; they are helpless and can only watch with secret disdain at the goings on around them.

People like Binayak Sen and Anna Hazare who demand such basic amenities as ordinary fundamental rights of the people, in peaceful etiquette, often unsettle politicians, who then train their guns on them and call them all kinds of names, short of calling them terrorists. Incarceration in retaliation is a very common weapon of unsettled politicians.

Manipur is out of this scenario, as the problems here are largely unnoticed by the rest of the country at any rate. The tag of ‘terrorist state’ lingers perpetually like a parasitic stigma on us. So, a Lalu Prasad pitted against the likes of a highly qualified Manmohan Singh will scarcely result in spellbinding debates on the path the nation must take to embrace change or attain maturity in the emerging global village. The former will sound heavily biased towards his own province, while the latter; being more fluently sensible about the world around him will be more prudently practical. The divide begins here.

So, politicians of the Lalu kind will forever depend on his own loyal sycophants who surround him and entrench him at the back of a screen of ignorance, thereby fostering ridiculous slapstick in his leadership abilities. He in turn, will reward his sycophants with lucrative goodies that come at his disposal when he turns minister or something like that. That in fact, is the curse of the Indian political circus today, rather than the boon.

Routine affairs of governance, like developing civic amenities, providing electricity, clean drinking water, health services, building roads etc are the exclusive responsibility of the concerned departments under various qualified bureaucrats and engineers, who are again under the watchful gaze of elected representatives of the different constituencies. However, in many places of this country, these routine matters are hijacked by the political class and made to look like as though it is due to their benevolence that people are provided with such basic amenities.

The political rogues bend every rule in the book to arm twist the administrative machineries and, make them dance to their tunes. There are cases where even the unelected, which enjoy the patronage and sponsorship of other political bigwigs, indulge in such vital issues in a big way and spoil the party of the elected representatives, who perhaps do not enjoy the same clout from within the ruling junta.

This is the real tragedy of the Indian democracy. Votes are purchased on the basis of hero worship, and not on the basis of a sensible analysis of ideologies, futuristic vision or leadership qualities of candidates. Just a pedigree of pelf is sufficient enough for the larger and ignorant masses of the country, in more than ample measure, to fall at the feet of scheming people with no political vision, of a diverse nation of more than a billion, dreaming of acceptance as a matured identity in the world, collectively.

If this is the face of our fancied democracy in action, we are condemned. The immoral and the ruthless rogues will ascend to the seats of power, which then will be used against the same people who were satisfied and happy with the peanuts they got in return for their loyalty. The tragic – comedy of governance will continue to thrive as long as such short sighted people are led by shorter sighted persons, into a lane called the ‘alley of the blind’. And, don’t forget the plight of the Red Indians, who are now relegated to the pages of history as a quaint race of mongoloid origins who lived barbaric lives, according to the ‘pale – faced’ marauders of their lands. The powerful, with their weapons of might and intrigues, will wipe out the meek in the process of accumulation of wealth (which is what happened to our Red Indian fellow mankind).

Beware...the alley of the blind is not an invented notion but a reality staring at all of us who follow the pied piper blindly for a few bottles of kerosene or a bag of rice, and a paltry amount of money in exchange for our votes. We are selling ourselves into submission and dominance, once we accede to acquiesce to these forces of power mongering reptiles in our midst. Democracy should not be sold out by us.

Beware! Beware! Alley cat is silent cat. Wake up and act responsibly, with knowledge of the accountabilities of our democratic institutions, which have been created by us, for us and not for a few dogmatic individuals to trample on us like muck.

The choice is yours, mine and ours!