Back To Year Zero

Are our rulers the sole scoundrels? What is the culpability of citizens? Surely, they must share part of the blame. Have we not got the politicians we deserve? To be dogmatic about such questions is to be unfair to the men and women sitting in our legislatures. But who else is responsible? As Sunil Khilnani reminds us in his seminal book The Idea of India, we live in an intensely political country. Nothing moves, be it the selection of our Asian Games squad or the banning of censor-certified films, without politicalintervention. Unfortunately, India has run out of politicians it can even notionally trust. The real damage Messrs Advani and Vajpayee have inflicted is not to fail, as they manifestly have, in whatever they promised nine months ago, but in reducing our options to zero.

The present enthusiasm for Sonia Gandhi’s purportedly rejuvenated Congress should not be misread. It is quite simply the lesser of the evils the electorate is faced with. Democracy, finally, is about choices; if you don’t approve of Mr X you turn to Mr Y. The people of this country have tried all the choices on the ballot paper and in 1999 when they will be forced to choose again, they will have no choice. If you haven’talready started, begin building your fortress. That is the only choice you have left.