Appeasement and Politics

Alms and charity are meant for beggars, handicapped and helpless old people. It is shameful the way our people succumb to the temptation of meagre cash handouts, freebies, debt relief, humanitarian aid, relaxation in the law etc and make the government. Do these things ever stamp unemployment out, or be their regular means of livelihood? This money could be better used to increase investment in infrastructure and power generation, which play a vital role in development of Industries, and to expand market, which ultimately creates activities and employment. Moreover, the party that lures people with such deceitful welfare schemes constitute a breach of the law of election more seriously than those who bribe voters, for the latter ones at least spend their own money.

In fact, those who cry ‘the poor, the poor...’ and thus project themselves as the saviours of them do nothing for the poor; instead, they make the mess of the national economy in its name and assuage their own hunger. Who do they think they are misusing public money this way? Who do they think they are thus causing a rise in inflation, low growth, slow down etc? The irony is that the lower classes, the so-called kingmakers, are blind to the love game that the politicians start playing with the family business soon after they enter the offices, and to their policies that work like the baited hook; the irony is that the cheats who tempt people with a ten rupee aid and help themselves to the remaining ninety are adored; and yet again it is an irony that the working-classes, who are thus led astray, never go hand in hand with their astute middle-class brothers, and finally let a few foxes of the oligarchy succeed in making use of both the groups.

Caste and religion have been the major factors in politics of India despite the fact that discrimination on the grounds of caste, gender and religion is harmful to a healthy democracy. The long practice of this sort of politics has now divided people in as many groups as there are political parties, which, for the most part, arouse simple caste related sentiments in their band of supporters and seldom benefit them, but on certain occasions, when they have something to offer people, they choose to show favouritism to them, depriving all other groups of their shares of public property, which, unlike the distribution of electricity biased towards the constituencies of ministers, or unlike the provision of budgets for states biased against one ruled by some other party, is meant to be distributed equally among all.  

Our statesmen have little to do with the country – for if they had least love for it, they would prefer positive discrimination policies, which are welcoming on condition that they be in favour of the people from poor backgrounds and disadvantaged families from all communities and social classes, to the distribution of national resources on the basis of caste and religion and to hate campaigns (their tools of politics).

The multi-party democracy may be good but it does not suit to the country like India where the population comprises a diversity of religious, racial and ethnic groups and where it has been learnt that this sort of system has often led to poor governance, corruption and a free-for-all among the countrymen. Here it is as well to bear in mind that it was in this political climate that India was invaded, and therefore the sectarian politics (the outcome of the multi-party system) should be regarded as treachery and be banned.

The democracy in which we live works like an autocracy because the various parties seem to confront like sworn enemies, but when it comes to take action against a corrupt politician, they amalgamate into one.  All that they swear and shout and denounce the policies of their rivals is a mere drama meant to divide people and not to prevent each other from sucking the nation dry. Furthermore, the laws that affect the freedom of the common people change but the laws that restrict the rights and liberties of legislators are not touched, whereas the latter are required to be bound by stricter rules because the politics, if misused, stands for a trick – as the politicians themselves, while warning one of not playing it with certain sensitive issues, accept the fact that it is too deceitful a thing to be used against brothers – because they are likely to manipulate the system for their own ends and because the  top level corruption causes the leakage of fund from the system, which like a punctured tyre ultimately stops the country from making further progress.

It is unfortunate that our representatives as well as bureaucrats evolve a new trick to embezzle public money instead of evolving methods for a leak-proof system. The repeated slowdowns in economic growth have mainly been the result of the heavy withdrawals from the market, which either capitalists make or politicians make. They do it so secretly that the people assume the falling growth rate to be an accident in the journey of the economy and accept price rises, taxation, levy, quota etc without much protest. In fact, those who so betray public confidence do not have the right even to hold citizenship because citizens are the owners of the nation, and an owner never damage his property, nor does he bear to see others damaging it. It is amazing why they are so careless about the national interests when no amount of money can buy them a life of self-respect and save them from being discriminated against if they happen to lose the sovereignty of the Republic.

Some of us hold that the government is corrupt because the people are corrupt. To some extent, it may be true. But if it were so, there would be no need of any government, court of law and other machinery for maintaining law. People from every part of the world are comprised of both honest and dishonest persons. Time can neither exterminate criminals, thieves, cheats, hooligans, terrorists, fraudulent and so, nor are scruples, faith and values going to be scrubbed off. It is nature. No country can combat crime by waiting for the criminals to transform themselves into gentlemen; nor can any country check fraud without sending the culprits to jail. Therefore it is not justifiable to point the finger at our people on the grounds of their conduct. Instead, we can blame them for their illiteracy which makes them different from the people of developed countries and does not let them see whether their representatives talk the talk or walk the walk. In short, democracy works where the system has firm control over people; and the people, over the system makers.

It is a sad truth that we are a group of many different communities – each at enmity with the other and each too self-centred to care about national interests – rather than a wholesome team of brothers, that we have forgotten all human ethics, that we ignore the livelihood of brothers in our efforts to live more and more luxuriously, that we are not satisfied to live off the milk of the Motherland but off her flesh to be precise, that termites of cunningness, corruption, casteism and treachery are destroying our roots, that the law makers are all disloyal and the people have become blind owing to the divide and that ours is an autocracy cloaked in democracy, which evolves system-proof corruption as against corruption-proof system. In such a one how can we hope even for a miracle? Good brothers, just think of the consequence; just think what had happened to you and what may probably happen to you again! If you so keep eating the whole tree instead of eating its fruit, how can one expect you to plant one?

- Ramesh Tiwari