Political leaders go personal for the sake of power - to hell with nation building

It was never so bad earlier. The verbal onslaught of personal comments and attacks by those ruling and also poised to rule, on their opponents has marred the otherwise peaceful battle for transition of power. The PM nominee who is almost the PM designate is indeed wading through ugly swamps in his attempt to acquire a position where he can rid the nation of its baggage. Yet irrelevant issues relating to his official marriage are being brought to the fore by those who themselves otherwise have no character, individually or as a collective.

The worst onslaught of words is by the so called socialists who do not share any of the ideals of Lohia or even Janeshwar Misra. The mandarins of the Samajwadi Party leave no opportunity to put their foot in the mouth by their tongue in cheek remarks. The recent comment by the party satrap that amounted to giving the “boys” a license to rape has indeed shown us the worst that some politicians are capable of. I wonder whether the senior politician who seems inclined to pardon rapists would continue to have the same view if a girl in his family received a treatment similar to Nirbhaya of the 16^th December fame. This insolence was followed by a number of statements made by a cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most famous of which attributed the Kargil victory to soldiers who followed the Islamic faith. Sad it is that those who occupy apex positions in the governance machinery of the nation, leave no opportunity in even attempting to divide the army on communal lines.

And despite the national outcry and condemnation that followed such vicious statements by socialists, there is absolutely no sign whatsoever of remorse. Indeed the seats of power in our nation provide such intoxication to the incumbents that they fail to differentiate between good and bad, or perhaps they get a feeling that whatever they say is good or maybe they just do not care. In any case, the scenario is dismal.  

This malaise normally confined to the political class has now started engulfing the bureaucracy too. The apex levels in the railways with rare exceptions of course, having shed all concerns for the organization are busy only in rollicking in luxury or settling personal scores. Corruption is at its peak and personal conduct of those in power and their spouses is at its all-time low. Yet being swathed in power, the realization that there is nothing right with the management does not appear to be dawning on those occupying top slots in the pyramid.

The ensuing Mahabharata is expected to throw up some good men (and women) who can lead the nation to its destined glory by removing the muck accumulated over decades. Even in the real Mahabharata, Krishna asked Arjuna not to show any mercy on the evil and the undeserving. The new government too would first need to clear the grass of its weeds mercilessly before directing the nation towards prosperity and happiness.  

Still a long way to the gallows!

The decision of the Delhi High Court upholding the death sentence imposed by the lower court against the convicts of the infamous Nirbhaya rape and murder case of December 2012 was on expected lines. After all the four butchers deserve no mercy and if at all there was any punishment higher than the death penalty it would have also met the cause. Yet there is still a long way to the gallows, an appeal in the apex court followed by a mercy petition to the President is apparently on the cards. Absolutely legal delaying tactics, yet I am convinced that ultimately the perpetrators of the heinous crime would indeed pay back by hanging.

Despite the huge national outcry that followed the ghastly crime and the awarding of the death penalty, rape is not yet off from the daily headlines. Perhaps the reality that the wheels of justice indeed grind slowly in this nation of ours gives enough hope and encouragement to criminals of all hues and shades to carry on with their activities unabated. After all justice is yet to be finally dispensed to the murderers of an ex prime minister of the country and it often appears that perhaps by a quirk of fate they may even escape the noose that they so rightfully deserve.

And therefore crime continues unabated. The retribution for the crime is available only through the judicial system of the country that is definitely fair yet agonizingly slow. And that leads a common citizen to wonder, often at times when he feels threatened, that it may indeed be better for the nation to follow the punishment systems of the middle-east or a developed and almost crime free nation like Singapore where swift and deterrent punishment has almost eliminated crime and ensured adherence to rules.   

And justice delayed is actually justice denied. Even within the bureaucratic machinery punishments for obvious and glaring cases of misconduct as well as malafide take years to settle. Perhaps it is a case of those who can make a change being beyond the system and hence never being able to really appreciate the need for introducing systems that are the need of the times. 

Misplaced compassion is also often a reason. Even the greatest of our religious books, the Gita does not condone misplaced compassion on the underserving. Arjuna who is moved by a bout of compassion when he witnesses his own men poised to fight one another on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, is counselled by the lord to do his duty and not be moved by misplaced compassion.  

“Chalta hai” typically defines our national attitude. Concern only for the self without realizing that our welfare lies only in the welfare of the society, is perhaps the bane of our social system. Sadly confining oneself within the general rules of the society is regarded as a sign of a person who has not really arrived, in total variance with the conduct one witnesses in developed societies. It is indeed sad and a sign of backwardness of our social structure that social hierarchy invariably plays a vital  role in interactions, whether it is between a traffic constable and a bureaucrat in a white ambassador or a man on a bicycle and one in a car.

“Rules are for Fools” and “Might is right” are two proverbs that I came across right at the beginning of my career almost thirty four years ago.  And what a fit they have been. Rules and processes are discarded or applied on a case to case basis to favor or disfavor. It is not like the developed world where yardsticks remain the same irrespective of the power or wealth at the disposal of the individual under consideration and the judicial systems dispense justice that is swift and deterrent. 

Perhaps it is all about being a developed nation or being one of the developing ones. Yet the transition would only happen if we move forward as there is absolutely no premium on standing still.