Look at the behavior of various interest groups, individual citizens, political parties and armed groups. Each day describes the scenario of non-governance, lawlessness, mob rule, hostility, and unrest etc. You need not go back too far. Just look back a few weeks, not even months.
The recent riots by Muslims in Mumbai, riots in Mayur Vihar right under the nose of government couple of days back, people near Thane fighting pitched battles with police and stopping trains to stop legal demolition of illegal hutments, beating up of lady constable by Congress agitators in Odisha, despairing chaotic dirty living conditions in cities, utter contempt with which we citizens and politicians treat law and all-pervading sense of doom presided over by our silent PM, who leaves behind a chaotic Parliament in throes of serious crises for cooler overseas climes for harmless chitchat with other world leaders - all of these paint a picture of anarchy.
Mr. Manmohan Singh is not the cause of the advent of these anarchic conditions. He is only a symbol of a failed government, strung on the strings pulled from behind by different forces. He doesn’t seem helpless - he is helpless! We have heard that power corrupts. Here we see an obverse form of moral corruption, where the titular head of government has lost all courage, including courage to simply resign and move away from a government that has brought the nation to this sorry state.
That anarchy leads to unrest and various forms of violence both anarchic and organized is signaled by increasingly expanding swathes of land coming under Naxal influence; huge ‘no-go’ areas. Today, there is a complete arch from South to Nepal enveloping large areas of India where, whatever is left of rule, doesn’t work. Then, there is anarchic violence on streets in all the corners of our country. Some individual, some community-based, some engineered; but violence nonetheless - because the fear of law, law enforcing agencies has evaporated. People can clearly sense that they can break any kind of law and get away with it.
Do we really deserve such a government that has degraded human life to inhuman levels. All it can think of is giving out doles, bringing in more reservations, rather than educating and empowering young India to live its life to the fullest and progress, both individually and collectively?
Where does one go and complain about perennial problems being faced by citizens. The politicians who have risen from the same dusty dirt-filled localities and villages turn away their face from it all, cocooned in their air-conditioned comforts, as soon as they become ‘leaders’. They, too, are secure in their knowledge that they can win the next time again by manipulating caste and religion to their advantage. Media has no time for giving positive news or news about real issues of the people. It is busy gossiping on political issues and sermonizing the politicians and all others who come under its gaze.
Yes, there are lot of people who have not given up and are toiling ceaselessly to seek growth of individual and society. There are people who have not given up crusades against the ills of the society. We can join them, or cheer them on. But, ultimately democracy is successful if its politics has some direction. We see a rudderless nation falling into an abyss of pessimism, presided over by rulers who have no political will to take strong steps and enforce rule of law; provide justice to poor and downtrodden so they don’t seek answers in violent struggle. We have parties who can’t think beyond votes, whatever the cost to the current and future generations of India.
Our Prime Minister comes from a community that has sacrificed the most for the good of the nation. It seeks inspiration from its Gurus who never thought of self-preservation, but of dharma and fought till the end to protect their people and their dharma. It is sad to see him going against core of tenets of his religion's lofty teachings. He presides over anarchy that his government has landed us in. An anarchy that is leading us towards armed uprisings, organized as well as unorganized.
I am reminded of a book by David Frawley, titled “Arise Arjuna”. May our erudite Prime Ministerr read it soon, and come out of his despondency, and do courgeously what his immortal Gurus taught him. Stand up and be counted, whatever be the cost!
