Smoke On the Window Sill

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Who's democracy is it anyways?

It’s been a week almost, since I arrived - sleepy eyed but overly enthusiastic at the Indira Gandhi International airport at New Delhi, after more than 24 hours of tiring journey from the US. The sheer joy of being in India was strong enough to surpass all the weariness that I had from my lonesome journey back home. It’s been four years since I came to the States and like many others, I too had started nurturing dreams of coming back to India - closer to family, friends and most importantly to the place that I first learnt to call home.

Strangely enough, the India that I saw from the Day 2 of my stay was nowhere close to the ‘India Shining’ that I thought I was coming back to – thanks to the rosy pictures portrayed in recent times, by one and all, in the leading Indian newspapers and magazines. The hot issue was of course the anti-reservation stir which has caught the entire country in flames. The very first day that I checked on the news I was shocked to learn that the students protesting silently for their rights out there in the scorching sun were lathi-charged by the so-called law keepers. It has been a week since then and not much has changed. With the government mostly maintaining its silence on the issue and urging the protesters to give up, the only people concerned seem to be the ones which have really given India the ‘India Shining’ image – yes, I’m talking about the medicos, the engineers and the entire young generation of India that is out there in the streets fighting each and every single minute for a right to justice, which was theirs to keep in the first place, but which had been snatched from their hands by none other than the sick politicians who rule this country, the ones which have turned a deaf ear to all these protesting voices.

Let me just stop here and state clearly my views on the issue. Do I really need to, I ask you? Because, not one sane minded person in my opinion would really support the pro-reservation policy for more than 50% reservation in higher education institutes that the Parliament has put forward – a policy that is politically motivated, innately flawed and totally unfair. A policy that is wrong in principle, in implementation and which smells of nothing but the vested interests of the vote banks of the slimy politicians, of those men and women who are scarring the future of our nation in the name of social equality. There, I said it and I’m not going to harp on it anymore. But what I would like to harp on is the interview of our HRD minister Arjun Singh with Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN that I read yesterday and I have to admit that disappointment is too mild a word to use for what I read – I think the word that I would like to use is disgust, at where leaders like him are taking this nation, that so many others argued was on the path of unprecedented success.

The most striking part of the conversation was the fact that Mr. Singh was himself not aware of what percentage of the Indian population forms the OBCs, or the percentage of college seats that they already occupy in institutes of higher education or even what percentage of the present SC/ST quota remains unoccupied each year in these institutes. When asked by Karan if that was not an important number to know in the first place, before implementing any such reservation policy which affects the lives of thousands of students out there, he pleaded ignorance, saying that he does not know and probably does not even care about the figures. I wonder if he has any idea, as to how many innocent students sweat countless hours of their lives, to compete for every single seat in these institutes of higher education? I wonder if he has any idea as to how many parents go through a financial and an emotional roller-coaster throughout their lives, just to make sure that their children get through even one of those ‘coveted’ seats. Maybe he does but does not care about that too. When pointed out by Karan that although the government seems to have no case or rationale behind implementing these increased reservations in terms of the current need or efficacy of the system, why then was the government hell bent on implementing them nevertheless, his only argument seems to be the fact that it is the ‘will and desire’ of the Parliament which happens to be supreme. Really, and I ask you Mr. Singh, unquestionable too? How could he and along with him the entire body of parliament tell us, the world's largest democracy, to shut up and get on with our lives regardless of whether the laws put forward by the elite and perhaps a selfish, coward group of the politicians are fair or in the public interests or not. Who gave them such a right to scuttle the democracy of our nation and to squash the spirits of people, who for a change have started believing in hard work rather than quick fix solutions to their careers and lives? Equally interesting is how he single handedly ruled out the fact that the parameters of the so-called ‘modern society’ were not really applicable to India, a country which many others believe today is at the cutting edge of technology. Another interesting bit of conversation was when Mr. Singh agrees with Karan on the fact that the existing reservation policies are not working, but counters that if they are not working, it does not mean we do not need them. Isn’t that what common sense dictates? Fix the existing wrongs before introducing fresh mistakes. But then again, maybe the whole gamut of politicians, do lack the sense which is no longer common. Perhaps the most shocking part of the entire reservation stir is that the government has proposed to conveniently increase the seats in all these institutes and colleges of higher education, including the IITs and the IIMs without any consultation at all with the faculty, the students or the alumni who have given these institutes such a fame or the people who have brought these colleges to a stature where they are today. Without brooding on the efficacy of such an increase and the effect the 50% reservation would have on the quality of education provided in these institutions or the quality of students produced by them, the leaders of our nation have proved yet again that they do not care about the struggles of our nation anymore. Leave alone respecting the doctors who serve this nation day in and day out, the government does not even care for the brightest lot of our country that graduates from institutes as IITs, IIMs or AIIMS.

Sadly what I see today, is India burning and not an India shining. Who are those people, those nations who are insecure of the rising intellect and confidence of our nation – tell them, they need not worry anymore – because we have a poison so strong, in the name of corruption breathing in the very veins of our country, that it would eat us from the inside long before we become an enviable nation. The live example of this are the politicians who swear to set our country back by at least 50 years by broadening the base of discrimination on caste, in the veil of reservations. And what is the result of it all? Quiet people mourning this very moment in various corners of our nation - the death of a long borne faith in the political system, of trust in the present state of affairs in our country and perhaps, the death of an already failing democracy.

Am I still hopeful, you ask? A part of me is, for sure, because I strongly believe that what has come up in the last few weeks would go a long way down in India’s history for a struggle to a fairer democracy. I am because I know that many people have realized that to be aware and to speak out against the system is the key to bringing about a much needed change in the Indian politics. And I am because yes, I belong to the Rang De Basanti generation, which is tired of the complacency and wrong doings of our politicians, a generation that is learning to fight for its rights, but also a generation that is smart enough not to believe in the much hyped comparisons of the endings - of movies, of courtroom rulings and of lost causes of system failings**

So, do not mistake it all to be the closing of yet another chapter Mr. Singh, because this really might just be a mere beginning.......

**P.S: I have to honestly thank news channels like NDTV for providing me the motivation to write some of this, based on their useless coverage during the whole reservation stir, coverage which was concerned not only on analysing how exactly the current situation was borne as a result of RDB, but also on if the end to the whole thing would be inspired by RDB too. So, instead of focussing on the real problems and how they should be circumvented, count on them to always come up with futile 2-3 hours discussions on irrelevant topics. God save our country from such pretentious media and journalism!

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good write.
Maybe this country is just going down.
If the leaders are not able to have a basic grasp of an issue on which they make such far-reaching decisions, can one imagine how much they must be screwing up on simple stuff?

And changing the system seems next to impossible. It doesnt even seem to be improving in terms of giving basic things to people.

Maybe the best motto would be - "Stay abroad - love India from afar"

6:01 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Enig'meri bharat'ma

While i'm yet to write my back-to-India blog showcasing the good-bad-ugly scenes from the India Inc. production house, It is sad to see Manmohan Singh stubbing out (or tryin to) any argument based on the reservations issue. Last night he made it official. Isn't his profile up-there in terms of academics? Hes written a book of self sustenance of India and he's an Oxford Grad for cyin out loud. The man's got the brains but not the necessary jewels to speak out on whats right? According to CNN-IBN, those political parties that opposed the reservation during VP singh's raj lost in the next election. So claiming the topic NOT to be a votebank gimmick is suicidal, coz the janta isn't eating grass. But again that's for us to wait and watch when the elections are around the corner and where the cows really are.

No wonder the brains of India go out of India to work with better brains for better money and better lives. It's all for the betterment of one's own. It's like politicos of India don't give a lousy quack about the brain drain which began ever since the late 70's. Slowly, the toll on the system, public utilities, public saftety, municipalities, state administration will only begin to show long after these old good-for-nothing half lives are lying still in their graves.

Taking Rang De Basanti to new heights NDTV? Kudos! What else can i say? The media is still in its nappies with just a handful of journalists giving us the unabashed version of real thing. Afterall there is only one BBC and Reuters and we don't have them both covering India in the mainstream.

Back to reservatrions, in two years they were even pplanning on corporate reservations? Imagine that? Makes me wonder, wont it really be hard on the OBC KBC whateva the C to break the line and FWD to the front becase of where he was born. The caste? I mean, 5 years from now, if your boss was OBC, wouldn't you use that against him/her? Because he was selected under quotas? I certainly think it will. and new legislations will then have to be brought in just to safeguard these appointments.. I dont know, im just shooting off wildly here, for neither does a commoner like me any better than that kid on the street whos fighting for anti0reservations. The only time we can squeeze these parties at the elections when you can actually tell them shut their gog about what other parties didn't do and come out with a cracking food agenda and Plan of Action to implement it.

Pissing off i mean signin off on this Government.
Pradz

6:30 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Another excellent piece Enig:)

After looking at responses I have got at my own anti-reservation blogs, I find there are several pseudo-intellectuals, communists or socialists, the priviliged rich who look at reservation as a means of uplifting the so-called poor. These people are not too aware of ground realities, and those do not seem to matter to their personal ambition of turning messiah for masses and they donot know what masses really are, what merit amounts to and what impact this neo-casteism will have on out society. Their arguments are based on nineteenth century oppression, their solutions have learnt nothing from historical perspective, from disasters in economies that tried to treat deserving and undeserving properly.

Perhaps upper castes need a party to declare these as a vanishing minority, for it seems upper castes follow one or two child norm most religiously and if some of the cited numbers are true, there are not very many of the "priviliged classes" left in India. Kashmiri pandits (upper castes, huh) are prime example of how upper castes are treated in India these days.

7:28 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Let me not comment on how good the blog is 'coz others have said.My grouse is about your initial statement "I too had started nurturing dreams of coming back to India"
Nothing personal but I seriously this is a big crap. I have heard it from so many people so many times that I almost laugh at it now. People who want to come , will come Period. When we were graduating, the hottest topic of discussion was brain-drain. anyone and everyone were asking what will happen to India if everyone is going abroad and why should ,We the people, provide for all the subsidy people take in Govt Institutes. It was as if India was sure to be doomed. What happened next? S/W boom came and people started talking reverse brain-drain. Only few years back , people who went away talking so much abt India started slowly coming giving some crap reason like Desh ki Dharti and all that. Bottomline, its money and comfort. Nothing wrong there but let people be bold enough say it. Inspite of all the issues about Mandal II and others, India will grow or may be take its own destiny. Why link home-coming to whatever happens in India. Believe me, there will never be an ideal situation for people to think they can come back. There will always be caste/creed/reservation/bribery/Hindu/Muslim/Dalit/Kashmir/Assam/Laloo kind of issues.

8:20 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anantha,
While we can always rely on you to put the pseudo-patriotic-intellectual-political line of thinkers like me in check, it is importatnt that our country doesn't go the dogs with this "sab chaltha hain" attitude. I know when you're coming from when you talk about people who want to come back, but...

"Believe me, there will never be an ideal situation for people to think they can come back." Very true and couldn't have been said any better. And i hope your thinking isn't stemming from "Jo Bhi hotha hain Ache ke liye hotha hain".

While i know that not much can be done about caste/creed/reservation/bribery/Hindu/Muslim/Dalit/Kashmir/Assam/Laloo kind of issues, some sort of middle ground needs to be sought. Condoning problems won't make the problems go away. It only breeds ignorance which leads to contempt of such issues and then blatant opinions. Again, i myself am not fully knowledgeable about the quota system or how it'll affect the education system in India, but again i've decided to comment on the blog with the stuff i know and think abt the issue.

Anyways think you bring valid points to the table but feel from the last line was something i couldn't digest.

9:41 AM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanx for ur comments, guys...

atra, more on ur model later :)

Pradzie, exactly my thoughts...I was totally amazed at how Manmohan Singh handled the whole situation...his eerie silence on the whole issue was completely unfathomable...

Vivek, thanx - where did u post ur blogs, on sulekha?

Anantha, thanx for ur comment :) No one denies the comfort and financial promises of the West, in fact it is much too obvious to be admitted. I too love the States for so much that it has given me, so much it has taught me – nothwithstanding the financial and emotional independence that I've achieved here which I hadn't dreamt of when I left India. But the grass always looks greener on the other side. People have problems here too, depending on what there expectations are from life. I don’t understand why an outsider to their lives would disregard with derision their apprehensions or anxieties about returning back. The decisions that you call 'crap' are the decisions which maybe many people here spend countless hours thinking about. I hate giving advices to people on whether they should come to US or not, the same way I hate people telling me whether I should return back to India or not - because I believe that to a large extent these are quite personal decisions..

When u say that homecoming is independent of the state of affairs in India, I really differ on that too. I do not make claims for anyone else but for me, the decision to come back depends a lot on my priorities in life. To some extent, they consist of a considerable level of financial independence and security that I expect out of a life in India, which would make me fret not too much about the existing state of affairs there, at the same time as fulfilling my desire to be with my family in my country. But, lets say I come back tomorrow to work for some company in private sector, which promises me the kind of financial independence and comfort that I want, only to find a 50% reservations in private corporate sector too, I think this would definitely have an effect on my expectation levels from life in India or the frustrations associated with it. I would even hate for my kids to grow up in a country which I call home, but in which they have to undergo increasing dissatisfaction because it denies 'equal opportunities' at so many levels. So, I believe there are issues or things that you can ignore or compromise on, but there are some issues which as atra pointed out have far-reaching consequences and which do in the long run come back to haunt you.

And yes, as Pradize said: if we do take the 'everything is okay and would take it's own destiny' approach, nothing would really be okay, it would just go worse - because we weren't there to amend it, or to stand against it, when it was in its inception of going wrong....

enig

1:10 PM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Ananth on this one, having been there, done that myself.
There are many Indias in our India. It's never going to become all perfect and uniform. Therein lies the beauty. Therein lies the ugliness too. India is at once old and young. Being part of this transformation is an experience that can be enjoyed. It's all in the mind.

3:48 PM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nicely written. The interview with Arjun Singh is atrocious. Forget about covering his bases, I have failed to find one intelligent comment in his entire interview.

The basic intent of reservations is good. The upliftment of the downtrodden. But is it working in changing the complex social order of the country? What is the goal and how do we know we have achieved it? Does this plan have an expiration date?

50%??? and before long BJP will be successful in adding religious minorities too to the affirmative action along with racial minorities.

And the massive expansion of seats in colleges and universities [which even in current day outrun the demand numbers] is not even a remote solution and this coming from a highly educated PM is disappointing to say the least. Reservations should be included in basic primary education, but not in higher education and certainly not in corporate world. Efforts should be focussed more on improving the basic education for the lower and the less privileged classes/castes to enable them to have a fair chance at higher education. There are so many villages with dalit populace that dont even have a proper primary education system. what are the chances these kids will avail of the reservation at a medical school or an engg school?

6:54 PM, May 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanx for stopping by ano...and totally agree with u, funny!

enig

4:03 PM, June 06, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey enig!
jus got time to check ur blog now, been travelling all across , hearing perspectives from different sources, including talking to the foks who were protesting , i concluded they aint got an inch of clue of what they are protesting.
though i wish to present a long commentary, right now all i can register is my disagreement.

7:47 AM, June 11, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey uber...wud love to hear ur views on this...disagreements are just a part of discussion, so u r more than welcome to register them :)

enig

12:57 PM, July 14, 2006  
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8:37 AM, July 29, 2006  
Blogger Gazelle Aparajita said...

Great post.
Been there, done that..seen "India Burning'.
Love the place, but dunno if I can live there anymore..
Keep writing!

2:18 AM, March 12, 2009  
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