Narendra Modi carries on and on unabated with his agenda, an agenda that belongs to the dark ages. His bosses, by turning a blind eye to the continuing assault and ignoring the reality, are hoping the attack on them, by the liberals and the press, will die down. By remaining silent they have led us into complacency which will lull us all into believing the horror has been controlled. Then, out of the blue will spring yet another horror, this time connected to the Ram Temple issue and Ayodhya. Again, we shall all be propelled into a state of disbelief but the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and their forces will have done the deed.
The method is tried and tested ? say one thing on day one and the complete opposite on day two and yet another thing on day three and return to what was said on day one. Get different people to make contrary statements. Confuse the public by playing good man, bad man. The public, witnessing this farcical spectacle, convinces itself that this bunch of people do not have a clear mandate. And that is where the danger lies. They have a crystal clear mandate. They deliberately contradict each other to confuse the public. Then they hit their target and we are all left gaping.
As the summer envelops this country, the political and communal heat is rising. Will Mayawati be supported by the BJP as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh? Will Gujarat go to the polls in an attempt to consolidate the BJP there? Will there be a mid-term national election by the end of 2002? Is the National Conference working towards breaking loose from the National Democratic Alliance? Do the NDA partners see the BJP graph declining, compelling them to distance themselves? What will be the plight of Poto? How much longer have our soldiers to stand on the front, ready for violent combat? The questions are endless and there seem to be no reasoned answers.
The sense of disbelief, depression and helplessness is overwhelming. The strange thing is that the living rooms of Delhi that hailed the coming of the BJP as the messiah some years ago with much joy and celebration are today abusive about what they have done or undone. The refrain ?anything is better? has become a boring drone. Why doesn?t the Congress do something to get us out of this mess, is the other constant verse. Why isn?t Sonia Gandhi more forceful? This is the same Sonia Gandhi who this lot of people had branded foreigner. They talked of her with disdain. They now want to curry favour, the fickle middle class and upper-middle class.
Why this amazing and shameless turnaround? Well, the answer seems quite simple. The situation in the country is there for all to see. The NDA has failed to deliver. It has failed to change the ethos they wanted to defeat and throw out. It has followed the norm of the past. They, the partners, have betrayed the faith that brought them in. They have failed to dispense decent governance. It is now a question of time. Why should anyone bail this coalition out? They must complete their term. They must be accountable. It appears as though the traditional vote bank of the Congress in urban India, that had joined hands with the BJP, has decided to return to the Congress! There seems to be a shift developing.
We have been going on about Poto, the anti-terrorism act. But let us not forget that a great deal of what happens is because, invariably, the authorities are tied with those who administer the destruction, the attacks and suchlike. They are all in cahoots. People are paid off. We know this reality well. It is corruption that must be vomited out of the system and for that the politicians, parliamentarians and the administrative arms of government are responsible. They have to force the cleansing. We have enough acts and legislation to rule and rule honestly. We have enough laws that can be enforced to control and deal with all manner of situations. However, till the rulers and administrators cease to condone corruption, or indulge in perpetuating it, no law or act will be effective.
We all know this to be true, so why bury the truth and deflect from the real issue? Instead of this obsession with passing Poto, let?s get on with the vow of the BJP to eliminate corruption and restore civil society. In the midst of all this, the four hour long power cuts have begun. It is impossible to do a day?s work with the city infrastructure being the way it is. One cannot even complete a 900 word column without interruption. How we can talk of an IT boom remains a mystery. Banks cease to function as do airline offices that are computerised because of constant electricity failures. How can we ever compete with the world if we are unable to put the bare minimum in place? Thought is perpetually disturbed by breakdowns of this kind leading to inaction and mediocrity. Those who rule us live by generators and have no understanding of what they put the citizen through. Electricity departments bill us with great aplomb and deliver no service at all. If any act needs to be put in place, the most sensible one would be to compensate the citizen for the abject lack of municipal facilities. Let us honour the patient citizenry and punish those who are meant to deliver the goods.