The Prime Minister and his chorus of selected men and women have taken to singing sermons on diverse issues?especially those on which they themselves have failed to deliver. Given their abdication of responsibilities, their silence on events that go against the very grain of the Constitution meant to protect the citizen, and their inability to enforce the law of the land firmly and honestly to ensure protection of the vulnerable against bullies who take the law into their hands and run a parallel dispensation, such sermonising falls on deaf ears, and their best intentions are mocked mercilessly.

The many ?wrongs? that have been ?overlooked? only because corrective action would ruffle feathers and disturb the comfortable status quo have permeated into the larger political, social, economic, environmental and cultural landscape of India and Bharat. The neglect has damaged our polity in substantial measure. A volcano is about to erupt. We can sense it as we stare at the pinnacle from below, dreading the destructive repercussions. Are those who rule the land from their vantage point on top of the pile beginning to feel the internal heat, or are they immune and indifferent, turning a blind eye to impending disaster, hoping it will pass them by? Will the government assert itself aggressively to cleanse a corroded, parasitic mechanism of governance, or will it leave the baton on the parched earth for the next runner to pick up? Will it compete with the opposition or concede defeat?

One strange ?sermon?, for example, is emanating from the PM?s taskforce to protect the tiger. It has, at its helm, a woman who keeps telling us that we should grow up! An absurd chant, particularly at a time when tiger population is diminishing with unimaginable rapidity. The PM was warned about this truth three years ago. Rightly, he notified a taskforce to work a conservation policy and a strategy. Sadly, the taskforce was ruled by other priorities, and the strategy has not worked. So far, the exercise to protect this species has been an utter failure, and ironically, all those who protest or disagree have been told to ?grow up? by the chairperson.

The tiger taskforce should compel NGOs working in this sector to put 30% of their free funding into rejuvenating 10% of our land mass that is degraded forest

Are dissent and contrary views unacceptable to the government and its committees? Must all experts concerned with any crisis suspend their judgement and be forced to adhere to the position of the chairperson who happens to enjoy the confidence of the PM? Now that it is clear that the ?intention? to protect the tiger is not translating into action, and as the taskforce carries on decrying others, the assault on our natural habitat continues unabated!

It is still not too late for remedial action. The taskforce should put something positive in place. It should compel NGOs working in this sector to put 30% of their free funding into rejuvenating 10% of our land mass that is degraded forest, by planting and nurturing to maturity all the lost indigenous species, in an effort to enhance the dwindling forest cover. How about this as an immediate national project, dedicated by the PM to the nation, in this sixtieth anniversary year of our independence?

The increasing inability to invite and accept critical appraisal, to encourage debate on policy initiatives, define a changing ground reality?a vulnerable and insecure government that is no longer surefooted about where it is headed. Another example of an inappropriate ?sermon? was when the PM addressed the captains of Indian industry, which has had to operate with a noose around its neck for decades. Had he first announced some radical measures by which his government would implement a radical reduction of the extravagant and uneccessary expenditure of government and had he pledged to enforce the discontinuation of the expensive perks of parliamentarians and government officials who encroach on the national exchequer, his plea for corporate austerity would have made sense. It is imperative to lead by example, not merely sermonise.

In a ?grown up? and mature environment, this was not the way to include the sector in austere nation building. Charity begins at home.