Prof Javed Mughal
Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with All Your Might. The words were carried on its masthead by the English daily National Herald established on September 9, 1938 in Lucknow by Jawahar Lal Nehru, who was also the paper’s first Editor. Today’s India needs some rephrasing of the words: “Democracy and Constitutional Institutions in India are in Peril, the People should Defend them with All Their Might”. When the leaders and custodians of the public interests turn brazen-faced and thick-skinned; when the so-called defenders of the nation turn out to be the offenders and when those in power leave the honour of their motherland at stake just to stuff their bank accounts, the common masses have to come forward with the broken tools to defend the skin and spirit of their country. Something of the same kind is now visible and perceptible in India. When one recalls the first few decades of post Independence, one is reminded of the pride and hope in the future that our generation felt. We looked to our leaders as icons who embodied our aspiration to become a confident and self-reliant nation. As the world changed, India too began to change, but very slowly. Meanwhile, India began to get corrupted within the frame of the command economy and the newer bureaucracy saw an opportunity to control and regulate, usurping power. This rapidly spread over a wider range of all enterprise. A creative people and an energetic nation were compelled to suffocate because of frustration. Our economy flourished, but benefit was for a few, particularly for the political and administrative classes that grabbed privilege, denying it to those who worked at generating wealth. The hands that created wealth could not get even a handful of rice. Here also I quote a couplet said by the poet Iqbal – “Dast-e Daulat Aafree’n Ko Muzd Yuu’n Milti Rahi : Ahley Sarwat Jaisey Detei’n Hai’n Gharibo’n Ko Zakat”. (The hands that created wealth used to get their wages in the way as a wealthy person gives alms to the poor) The restructuring of the economy created more corruption because there was no radical overhaul and rewriting of the laws that govern India. The dependence on government and the babu’s clearance – a no objection certificate – for all social and economic activity brought India to a grinding halt, leading us into shame and humiliation. The largest pool of human skill and creativity in the world is being systematically assaulted with faulty governance. The political and administrative classes, the privileged and the powerful, have been blotting and eroding away our very foundation of civilization. The lawmakers and those mandated to enforce the laws have broken the law with impunity to make money and roam free enjoying a life which a common can’t even dream of. There has to be a political will to administer ably and honestly. But, our leaders first of all, have to stop themselves from being led by the nose by their babus as well as be prepared to lose the gaddi for doing the right thing for serving the nation. That spirit of politics has, alas, died. The calibre and quality has diminished. The intellectual acumen and ability to engage on issues that affect us all have become a distant mirage and rare as well. The debate and voting on the issue of FDI issue exposes true colour of some of our political leaders. Members belonging to some major political parties participated in the debate; but some of them walked out when time for casting votes approached. I dare say, it is nothing but a shameful act on their part. I don’t mean that they should not walk out when the situation so demands. What I mean to say is that when some leaders had participated in the debate and expressed their views either against or in favour of the issue, they should also stamp their presence while casting of votes began. I would frankly say that most of our leaders give way to hypocrisy which is very shameful because in their personal dealings these leaders grab for themselves all the comforts that come with a free market economy. They seem to be determined not to share these benefits with the millions of ordinary people who keep them in power. Most of our political leaders at present do not project any tendency to carry forward the intellectual creativity and the ideas combined with it. I don’t know if the fast approaching-new year, 2013, is going to prove another year when our political leaders as well as elected representatives of this country would display their disloyalty to their mandate yet again by damaging democracy. I am not certain if they would not continue behaving like a bunch of monkeys that chatter shamefully and disgracefully at issues which they don’t favour.
Do they have no concern beyond their desperation to remain in the ‘gaddi’ or their struggle to get there? Where is the political ethos of our founding fathers? Is the new-year going to restore sense and sensibility? In fact, by their acts and words they are going to insult Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana Azad and others who freed this country from colonial rule. The most imperative demand of the time is that our political leaders, both men and women, who govern this nation, must be firmly determined by joining hands with one another to build a powerful nation where no one is deprived of the bare necessities of life, where everyone can enjoy the fruit of freedom, where everyone can get their dreams and aspirations materialized to a greater extent. Oh God! Let our leaders kindle their hearts and conscience with this realization that they are elected to fulfill the aspirations and hopes of those who have chosen them as their leaders.
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