TALES OF TRAVESTY
DR. JITENDRA SINGH
From the politics of “onion” in 1980s to the politics of “petrol” in 2010, back to politics of “onion” in 2013, the Indian democracy seems to have travelled a long way but without covering a long distance. It looks like a march through numerous milestones without reaching the next destination.
The ironic outcome is that…hovering between Rs 80 and 100, the price of one kilogram of onion today is equal to the price of one litre of petrol. The choice is, whether to purchase onion or to purchase petrol…in other words, whether to feed the stomach or to fuel the scooter or car.
And, the hilarious sidelight is that ever since Indira Gandhi used the price of onion as an issue to put the Janata Party and its allies on defensive to bounce back to power in 1980 election, each successive election has been overcast by the issue of price rise symbolised by onion price.
On a serious note, however, one could have expected a break from this monotonous trend when an economist took over as Prime Minister but…that was not to be. To use Mark Twain’s refrain, “economy is too serious a subject to be left to economist alone.” The tragedy of Manmohan Singh, perhaps, is that the shaky economy of India proved too serious to be handled by the economist inside him and he finally reconciled to end up as “bad economist but good politician” thus accomplishing the art of surviving all the political upheavals to achieve the historic distinction of becoming second Prime Minister after Jawaharlal Nehru to hold on to that office consecutively for two full terms.
Meanwhile, the scarcity of onion in the country has prompted the Government to consider the option of importing onion from countries like China which means that a nation used to Chinese cellphone, Chinese stereophone and Chinese gadgets, may now also be asked to feed itself on Chinese onion…whatever be its consequences or ramifications.
On a pensive note, however, rising prices are certainly a matter of concern for everybody. Opposition political parties have a right to seek answers from the Government. But let’s not forget that in an era of Internet and hi-tech information, the threshold of public awareness today is no longer that easily amenable to manipulation by rhetoric or sloganeering. Today, people expect the political parties to come up with evidence based alternatives to steer the nation out of the existing mess.
Be that as it may, the final vindication will happen only when the common man gains ability to call the bluff of unfulfilled promises and casually churned out manifestos, when Umapathy gathers courage to rebuff the practitioners of the politics of “onion” with Allama Iqbal retort “….Guftar Ka Qazi Ban To Gaya, Kardaar Ka Qazi Ban Na Saka!”
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