<< This Article
was a part of an old series called 'Kartavya Dharmadhikari' which is now
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A first hand account by Kartavya Dharmadhikari...
This morning when I was
having breakfast with two of my colleagues, on the table next to us were a few
students, discussing on the hottest topic - whom to vote this general
elections. They had the most intense of the discussions. Though such
discussions are extremely enlightening, we hardly tend to reach at a
conclusion. Most of us are bored of hearing and reading about what's the
obvious, yet we know we cannot not think about it.
I did not get my voter ID for two years after I had
applied for one. When I inquired, they told me that I must apply again as
something in my application must have gone wrong. Being a lawyer and the son of
a martyr, it made me furious that in the two years I wasn't even notified about
it. Nonetheless, they made it up to me by sending me two voter IDs together !
Anyway, there are 3 prime ideas that I wanted to share
with everyone.
The Great
Indian Joke :-
"
Democracy is like a swimming pool. If you don't change the water periodically,
it becomes a stinking pool. "- Ram Jethmalani.
India got independence in 1947. We are a country of almost 1.25
billion people, which makes us the largest democracy in the world. In our 67
year old history, only on 4 occasions we have had a non-congress government (
I've considered only those occasions where the government lasted for at least 6
months ).
1) 1977-
1979 , Janta Party ( Morarji Desai ).
2) 1979- 1980 , Janta Party (
Charan Singh ).
3) 1989- 1990 , Janta Dal ( V P
Singh).
4) 1998- 2004 , NDA ( Atal Bihari
Vajpayee ).
So effectively we have had only 10 years of non-congress
rule in the 67 years. When I say congress, it includes Indian National Congress
( INC ), United Progressive Alliance ( UPA ),etc. Being the largest democracy,
I am not sure whether we are setting the right kind of example for the rest of
the democracies. In fact I am not even sure whether we are fit to being called
a democracy at all. The essence of democracy itself lies in difference of
opinion and change. So either we have had tyranny all these years and not democracy,
or I believe India has accepted that only one family in a nation of 1.25
billion people has got the DNA to produce supremely intelligent, deeply
patriotic and highly motivated children who can carry the ' legacy ' on their
brave shoulders.
We are still very proud of our ancient culture, our
saints, our scientists, our tolerance, and our value system. We are proud that
we gave the world the first 'zero', while we are almost about to give them the
second one, you know, just to carry on the legacy.
The AK-45
Assault Riffle :-
A leader is
not only the one who can take decisions, but is also the one who can rationally
overrule somebody else's decision. But the concept of 'a strong leader' is
alien to us. In India we have a prime minister who hates to be called
decisive. And if ever he takes a decision, there is a high probability that his
decisions will be overruled by someone having half his age and a quarter of his
IQ.
So then the 45 year old 'made in India' assault riffle -
both literally and figuratively - transcended the Delhi throne. The AK-45, did
something that somebody should have done long ago - ask questions. But now that
we have arrived at the above-mentioned fact, people failed to realise what he
really intends to do. Ours, I believe, is the only nation which has not
witnessed a truly massive civil movement after independence. Most of the
superior countries, after having achieved independence, have had some major
people movements, which initially bring in the chaos only to bring in order one
day. Our nation is going through this phase at the moment. Sadly, I fear, the
longer it takes, the more violent it gets. AK-45 is simply trying to bring in
this chaos, so that the guardians of the legacy should know that winter is
coming and that it's time for everyone to wear a muffler around your head -
again both literally and figuratively.
But what
happens when there is no scope of effective discussion?
"
Democracy when assessed in terms of public reasoning, leads to an understanding
of democracy as 'government by discussion' "- Amartya Sen.
But what
happens when there is no scope of peaceful discussion?
"
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution
inevitable "- John F. Kennedy.
But what
happens when there is no scope of sensible discussion altogether?
"
You are not getting my question. Let me re-iterate it for you "- Arnab
Goswami.
The
Generator :-
I will state this in a very short and simple manner. We need to
give that man the charge of our nation who is a living example himself. We need
to give that person the power who has already proved his credibility, someone
who looks ahead, someone who believes in 'no none-sense'. After all, it all
goes by this good old saying - ' If it has taken you 12 years, then you are not
an overnight wonder, but a well deserved one ! '
The summary
:-
1) Being a
democracy, we first feel the need for change, 2) Then follows the much needed
and much justified chaos and 3) Then comes the action.
p.s. :-
Dedicated to my those 2 colleagues-
Prahalad Prabhakar and Rahanik Vora... :)
