S Narinder Singh
Every incident in India, be it judicial verdicts, rejection of mercy petitions for killers of humanity, terror attacks, rapes, corruption and scandals are generally politicized. Politicians least bother about national interest and try derive political mileage from every issue or non-issue. Even religion and worship places are not spared from exploitation. Babri Masjid and Ram Mandir issues are points in question. After independence from British we have attained less but lost much in terms of social, religious and moral values. Our society indulges in most unscrupulous activities, as corruption has penetrated in our blood. It appears as if we have attained the freedom just to indulge in corruption. Our ancestors used to praise British Rule because of discipline and decorum. Now the society is most undisciplined and corrupt because politicians can go to any extent for their vested interests.
In 70’s Indira Gandhi raised “Gareebi Hatao” slogan, which she could not achieve. She was scared of losing elections, with the result she manipulated operation “Blue Star” to flush out militants including Bhindrawale- the sole architect of Khalistan movement and one time election campaigner of the Congress in Punjab. This was done to divert the attention of the people from main issues which she could not solve. Moreover, she was scared of BJP coming to power. We should unitedly guard against the machinations of politicians and put an end to the horror they generally create for their vested interest. It is actually politicians who are responsible for making whole system corrupt, including bureaucrats, business class and common man. We are living in a democratic country where there is no qualification for the politicians to become legislators and no age of retirement and tenures are fixed. They start getting pension without completing their tenures. These politicians mislead innocent people by making false promises through their election manifestos which they never fulfill. Rather, they indulge in corrupt practices in all sphere of life — religious, political and social. They seldom work for harmonious development of the society. Corruption in this country has taken the shape of an epidemic which cannot be eradicated unless there is a revolution by the people against the corrupt elements including politicians.
Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption was a step towards cleansing public life but politicians ganged up and sabotaged the movement that had taken the country by storm. Therefore, time has come when people must make the politicians accountable for their misdeeds. Political parties ruling at the Centre and in the states believe in revenge and become vindictive of dissent. They have betrayed the nation on eradicating corruption.
Now that the nation seems to have waged war against corruption by demonetization, let us view the scenario through broader prism.
To avenge Uri terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted during his public meetings in south, “India will take revenge of Army martyrs”. He fulfilled his promise by undertaking surgical strikes by the Army after crossing LOC in POK and killing more than 35 militants and Pak soldiers. Huge publicity made surgical strikes subject of criticism. Even Pakistan Prime Minister Nawab Sharief denied any such strike. Even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought proof of this strike. Not only this, Rahul Gandhi, Congress Vice President attacked and dubbed BJP as ‘Shaheedo ke khoon ke Dalal’. This is the level of our leaders who never bothered about the national interest and the language used by Rahul Gandhi was painful.
Widespread criticism over surgical strikes has potential of impacting the credibility of our armed force. Politicians should desist from issuing such statements which demoralize the courage and valour of our trusted forces. Having said so, it is imperative not to publicise army operations like surgical strikes for deriving political mileage. Let actions speak louder than words.
India witnessed another surgical strike after the PoK strike, which was not however carried out by the Army but Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On 8th November 2016, he announced demonetization and rendered Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes invalid for a variety of good reasons. Such measures are always part of the government to curb the menace of corruption and black-money, circulation of which has reportedly increased manifold in recent times. It is also felt that demonetization will help control inflation which in turn would encourage a reduction in bank interest rates. Moreover, such measures would prove as deterrent to terror acts and stone pelting incidents in Kashmir, as Pakistan through its intelligence agency ISI is pumping huge funds via Hawala channels to the Valley. , some stone pelters used to get Rs. 500 and Rs1000 fake currency notes from separatists and ISI for stone pelting. But with the demonetization, stone pelters are seen nowhere. People in the valley have understood the game plan of separatists and ISI agents. Now, there are no hartals or strikes. Schools and markets remain open and people in the valley are inching towards normal life. Demonetization of currency will definitely help in checking terror funding. No doubt, demonetization is a decisive war against black money and corruption.
Prime Minister’s decision on demonetization is bold but its implementation has caused inconvenience to the general public which resulted in unrest. Long queues before ATM’s and bank counters reflect the extent of inconvenience, even after three weeks in various parts of the country. Poor and middle class people are still facing hardships in withdrawing their own hard earned money in order to meet their daily requirements. All sections of society, especially the middle and low class income groups, are facing inconveniences and hardships in one or the other way. There should have been proper and required planning and preparedness before announcing this revolutionary measure. The Government has has miserably failed on the implementation front. Before taking the decision of demonetization, the government ought to have ensured adequate arrangements of new currency in all the banks and ATM’s across the country to avoid inconvenience to the people on account of cash crunch. Surgeon of this strike, Narendra Modi has failed to bring out black money from the corrupt political leaders. No serious attempt has either been made to bring back the black-money from banks outside the country as promised in BJPs election manifesto. No doubt, intentions of our the Prime Minister are good but he should have kept in mind before taking such a decision, as the number of persons posessing black-money in billions and trillions is less than the general public who belong to middle, poor and below poverty level segments of society. These inconveniences and hardships to the masses should have been kept in mind before demonetization because they certainly do count as voters who actually form the governments in states and at the Centre. Opposition parties may take political mileage and raise hue and cry as the move has not only affected the general public but also the politicians and political parties which have amassed huge black-money for the election purposes.
The hurried decision on demonetization may affect the future of the present government because people are still facing inconveniences by way of standing long queues as a result of which several persons have died. The step has almost caused public unrest. Let us hope that this step will help in checking corruption, black money and eradicating poverty from the country. The decision will be considered as a game changer, if we achieve the goal of eradicating the poverty. The criticism by the opposition should not be for the sake of criticism. Rather critics should cooperate with the Government and help in devising ways and means to ease out the problems of people. Modi’s economic surgical strike would be welcomed in the long run if it helps in checking corruption. But the question will always haunt public mind why such decisions and measures are taken only when elections are round the corner.
(The author is former Director Information)
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