Dr Smita Pandey
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are not punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” Voltaire’s ironical truth resonates as the massacre of our brave hearts continues. Our enlightened leaders have responded with great alacrity- they have unitedly condemned these brazen terror attacks and pledged retaliation.
Is that enough? Don’t we deserve better leaders-more authentic, more competent, more responsible, more principled? Isn’t it critical now that we stop floundering under such Big Bosses- who have only aggravated every crisis and converted it into tragedy? It is these incompetent lot of mercenary leaders, whom we have empowered and whom we have to uproot. We have to launch a surgical strike, in the imminent elections, to sanitize the political arena and clear it of all these evil politicians infesting it. They personify the evils terrorizing the masses and it is their mis-governance that has resulted in these tragedies-which they have fostered. The 56 inch chested physical prowess of governance did not vanquish any of the evils -terrorism, illiteracy, poverty, hunger, unemployment which continue to hold the masses in their stranglehold and make life miserably wretched for our hapless millions.
Swift, diligent and exemplary action on every front has been absent -always. We have elected these vultures who feast upon public funds. “I can fix this’’ has been the ruling value and credo of every government. Are they not monstrous assassins-they have killed the nation’s development and crippled critical sectors like education, health, housing, sanitation and employment. They have ensured that justice, equality and fraternity remain ideals never to be realized, always to be promised to a vulnerable electorate -whose aspirations have been restricted to demanding ration and pension- they are reduced to constantly pleading for mere basics to remain alive. Devoid of a conscience, these politicians have no qualms in coining hypocritical slogans and promising Sarvajan Hitaye Sarvajan Sukhaye to rally the poor, while they pursue their one point agenda- enrich themselves after acquiring the reins of government. Consequences are the same everytime and fresh multi crore scams remain the hallmark of governance. These predators are the norm in our politics .Money, muscle and fanatical accumulation of power make them invincible -and the masses are reduced to begging to their Sarkaar- at the mercy of their tyranny for five years and waiting for Elections to punish them at the hustings. Another set of selfish hypocrites, thugs, criminals even mafia dons, are waiting to replace them.
Decades and decades have elapsed and we are sated with false promises and pledges only. These fraudulent leaders are experts at playing with and constantly sacrificing precious lives -to fill their coffers and continuing in their ruthless quest of expropriating. These monsters have contaminated the moral environment and their absolute rottenness has crippled our body politic totally. All their evil machinations are contagious and all parties are afflicted by the same. We have elected these freebooters who maraude our land and gorge on us and we helplessly wait for the next election to free ourselves of their depredations.
Ambedkar had rightly asserted that “the world owes much to rebels who would dare to argue in the face of the pontiff and insist that he is not infallible.’’ The mother of all Surgical strikes, the knockout blow, has to be delivered electorally to all these nefarious liars, scheming Fixers of every hue who stride across the political arena stridently making false promises to the vulnerable public-Achche Din are coming, crores of jobs, Fifteen lakhs in every bank account- India seemed to be on the cusp of a New Golden Age. The royal scions also stake their claims -four generations are still promising to remove Garibi -which their Daadi as PM had proclaimed to remove a couple of decades ago. No matter which ideologue captures power, every government becomes corrupt and unassailable after assuming power and fattens itself by preying on funds of the backward, the deprived and deserved. They only promote their own fortunes using the likes of a Nirav Modi or a Michel-their kindred-and become the maaibaap sarkar of the helpless masses yet again. This tyranny of dirty politics needs to be challenged, fought and corrected permanently. Honest politics will only redress extreme malgovernance by honest action. The masses have to elect principled men. Clean Politics is overdue now .
Political leadership, in India especially, is a most formidable task but no training or qualifications are needed for performing this most onerous of jobs. Integrity is critical to leadership, but has been given short shrift in our selections. When did we last elect an iconic leader whose governance was Virtue based and not corruption based? We have to elect honorable leaders for whom What is Right is criteria of Action and legitimacy .India cannot be governed by politicians who are flouting the Rule of Law with impunity. Moral dimensions have to be made to define governance. This will be possible only when we, the people, elect transformational leaders. Their ennobling vision and courageous action will eradicate the unbridgeable chasm that has remained so far between promises and Action.
