The Tehelka expose has once again brought to the fore, sharp and clear, the amoral manner in which the various arms of government operate. It has jolted all those who believe in the dignity of life and freedom of choice into the reality of our degraded times. It has reaffirmed the role of politicians and their petty attitudes towards the most inhuman of horrors perpetuated on the ground. The deafening and ominous silence from our political leadership when it comes to responding forcefully to the treacherous assaults on defenceless, innocent men, women and children is frightening because it exposes their inadequacy and incompetence as rulers who govern over one billion citizens of planet earth. The Indian political class, with very few exceptions, has consistently corrupted our polity through illegitimate interventions at all levels, particularly over the last two decades.
Good values and ethics, clean governance, commitment and integrity have all been thrown to the winds, as these elected representatives scramble to ?better? their own lives, turning a blind eye to good governance and proper policy initiatives as well as the implementation of electoral promises. Increasingly, political persons are seen as scavengers. They are deemed dishonest and unworthy of respect. They have become synonymous with ill-gotten wealth, untoward activities, and illegal transactions. The deterioration of type from Independence to 2007 can only be described as an uncontrolled hurtle downhill.
The intellectual level of a majority of those who rule us appears utterly simplistic and untutored. To realise that the men and women who determine our present and set goalposts for our future are unable to comprehend the growing complexities in our plural society, with its multilayered truths and realities, is unimaginably scary.
Their condescension towards us constituents only goes to prove that their lazy minds are unable to deal with fresh ideas, creative alternatives, viable initiatives and the youthful excitement that accompanies a dramatic shift in gears towards a wider engagement of the country?s minds that will bring about robust change across the length, breadth and diversity of India. The political class has failed us and betrayed our freedom.
To think that such people need to be ?protected? speaks volumes about their fears. Why else would a selfless leader allow himself to be caged by a uniformed and armed ?wall? of security personnel that blocks him off from the truth as much as the very people who voted him to power?
The time has come to rid the system of all the perks of office that these men and women exploit, comforts that turn them into preening peacocks, and compel them to earn their livings just as law-abiding citizens have done for centuries. In a federal democracy, elected men and women must be forced by law to live like ordinary professionals and not like the emperors of yore. This desperation of politicians to live lives of kings and queens is ridiculous and should be made to look as much.
Elected representatives at the Centre and in the states must not be subsidised by public funds in any form. They must pay market rents, electricity bills and salaries to their staff. They must buy their own cars and air-conditioners, pay for their air and rail tickets, not charge those living in their staff quarters rent, and much more that is best unspoken. They must cease to live off the men and women who they have consciously let down. And, the same goes for the bureaucrats who support these politicians. This nexus has frayed the morality and destroyed the ethos of a great civilisation.
Only the President, Vice-President, Chief Justice, Prime Minister and Cabinet members should be allocated official residences with all the necessary trappings, and when they demit office, they must vacate their residences within 48 hours, leaving what was their temporary ?home? intact for the next incumbent, much like embassies. Enough is enough, and this action will make honest, well-meaning individuals enter politics for honourable reasons.
