Experts can look into the future. They predict that within decades India will become a world power. Perhaps. A layman can only look at the present. What does he see?
Experts can look into the future. They predict that within decades India will become a world power. Perhaps. A layman can only look at the present. ...
Experts can look into the future. They predict that within decades India will become a world power. Perhaps. A layman can only look at the present. What does he see?
Parliament serves no visible purpose. Judges and legal luminaries themselves allege that the judiciary is corrupt. The administration does not move. The police are complicit in crime. And nothing can stop the spreading rot because those who rule through government and opposition are themselves enmeshed in crime and corruption. The major institutions of the system have collapsed. A parallel invisible government rules the nation. And a frivolous media is either this invisible government's instrument or its manipulated dupe.
So, how will India become a world power? Does any expert believe that economic progress can be insulated from misgovernance, crime and corruption? Do these not affect the GDP? Or social and individual well-being?
India can, therefore, become a future world power only if the present working of the system is reformed radically. Is there a single party, group or faction in India's political firmament radiating the remotest hope of being able to bring about such reform?
Last fortnight, Laloo Yadav hogged the limelight. Last week, it was George Fernandes. Next week, Arun Shourie may come under scrutiny. Charges and counter-charges are flying thick and fast. But all these are mere peccadilloes in the overall context of crime and cover-ups that have overtaken the system. Crimes are committed, go unpunished, are forgotten. And the world moves on to the next titillating scandal. This columnist has witnessed political corruption from the days of Krishna Menon's Jeep scandal. The odd tree and bush of then have become a dense jungle. So, forget the trees. Sit back in sadness and contemplate the wood.
People hope the system will be cleansed. The many exposures and cases involving political leaders provide such hope. It's a futile hope. The exposures are not evidence of political reform. They signify the climax of bitter gang wars among thieves fallen out. Doubtless, one day the thieves who rule us will destroy each other. But can such mutual destruction substitute for radical reform? Or will somehow, somewhere, a genuine reform process really begin that consigns present politicians to history's dustbin?
Much of the world abroad has a vested interest in a stable India. It sees a billion consumers. The world could help. But the lead must come from Indians themselves—young Indians. Are they listening?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)