“Today many of these selfish politicians are preying on the nation itself”
-Faraz Kazi.
The quote puts the blame solely on politicians but the root cause lies in the system. It has failed to inculcate moral values and punish the offenders. Our culture talks about sacrifice, not hoarding, not stealing ( tyag, aparigrah, asteya). It also says “Mahajan yen gato sa Pantha” meaning, to follow the path that the great and wise people have taken. It is very unfortunate that the people supposed to lead the nation have failed to set an example. The invaders could pry on these people who ditched their Indian masters and sold the nation for personal gain. Britishers always patronised such people to practice ‘divide and rule policy’. It has grown to a level where we don’t feel ashamed when we work against the interest of the family, society or nation just because we are not getting the top position. General Meer Jafar joined hands with East India Company to betray his own Nawab Siraj ud-Daula, then onwards we have examples where our leaders have acted in a manner which was serving their personal interest but hurting the nation. The partition of India was also the outcome of this war of supremacy. Every election where one party fails to get majority provide us with ample examples of this trait. The tussle in Maharashtra was no different.
This general weakness becomes deadly harmful if the system fails to punish such people. It is a pity that our Constitution, which is borrowed from countries that had different culture and problems has not failed to address this issue but it is not perturbed also. Few examples:
Demand of Dravid Nadu: The DMK which was formed as break away party from Dravidar Kazhagam in 1949 continued its anti-Hindi Imposition policies throughout the 1950s, along with the secessionist demand for Dravid Nadu, in which it was originally more radical than the Dravida Kazhagam. On 28 January 1956, Annadurai, along with Periyar and Rajaji, signed a resolution passed by the Academy of Tamil Culture endorsing the continuation of English as the official language. On 21 September 1957, it observed 13 October 1957 as "anti-Hindi Day". Promotion of Tamil language is always welcome but protesting against another language is what constitution has failed to check. As a result, Tamil people are at receiving end in Kannada speaking areas, Hindi and Hindu were the target at the peak of Khalistani extremism in Punjab. We have reached a situation where everybody is exposed to humiliation on account of region or language in some part of his own country.
“The Dream of Dravida Nadu: How the movement started with heroic speeches and ended in a damp anti-climax The war cry of separatism was ‘Adainthal Dravida Nadu, ilaiyel Sudu Kadu’ – ‘Dravida Nadu or the graveyard are our only two options’. “. Opindia 15 September, 2020
In November 1963, DMK dropped its secessionist demand in the wake of the passage of the anti-secessionist 16th Amendment to the Indian constitution. For 14 years the nation and its top leader never felt embarrassed with the fact that elected MPs are speaking about dividing India in its own parliament. Can it happen outside India? From north east to Punjab, In Kashmir and in the hinterland of Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, the country suffered insurgency.
No body was there to rescue
Kashmiri pandits in 1990.
The exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and atrocities on women failed to shock the nation and no court took Suo Moto action. The perpetrators were enjoying power and limelight. The Supreme Court dismissed a curative petition, filed by 'Roots in Kashmir' for a probe either by the CBI or the National Investigation Agency into the alleged mass murders and genocide of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-90.
“Supreme Court dismisses curative petition for probe into 'genocide' of Kashmiri pandits”
DH 08 December 2022.
Where the Kashmiri pandits should go to seek justice?
Few Sikhs seeking asylum in U.S claiming atrocities on minorities in India?
Many Sikhs express fear for their well-being in India and have sought refuge in the United States. The data is available in public domain and it is a shame that Indian government never investigated these claims. To a layman it is impossible to believe that a Sikh can be persecuted in Punjab! The reason is simple, it is a Sikh majority state, Sikhs have been leading the state administration. The truth is that Hindus were persecuted during the period of extremism.
It is the failure of our constitution that Bangladeshi and Rohingya feel safe in India but our own Sikhs brothers claim to be persecuted. It is another blow to our democracy and constitution that in 2018, the Library of Congress published a report claiming that instead of filing for asylum in the United States, Sikhs can safely relocate in India. (based on ‘No Escape: How the Library of Congress Weaponized Internal Relocation Against Persecuted Sikhs and How to Fight Back) :31 Berkeley Asian Am.L.j ( 2024) Posted: 10 Nov 2023 Last revised: 8 Jan 2024.
What is more surprising was that our member of parliament was supporting this activity.
“Punjabi illegal migration to US relies on asylum letters. And one MP is doling them out”.
The print, 02 may 2023. Sonal Matharu writes in detail about Sangrur MP, Simranjit Singh Mann…. His letters are a key piece of the illegal migrant’s case file when they apply for asylum.
How the country landed in this situation?
• Our democracy has been highjacked from day one, the first prime minister did not get majority but was imposed from the top by our own Mahatma Gandhi when he ensured that an elected representative Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel withdraws his nomination. India lost half Kashmir in 1947-48 still our PM wanted to reduce army as he believed that after implementing Panchsheel principle and having a panchsheel Marg in Lutein’s Delhi is enough to protect our borders. We gifted Tibet to China and took Tibetans as refugees, lost our own thousands of square kilometres to it in 1962.
• Despite having got our freedom under the leadership of Gandhi, the prime minister dumped Gandhian philosophy in safe heavens called Gandhi ashram and Gandhi darshan and promoted socialism which antagonised the U.S. we invented non-aligned movement but all politician including prime minister kept visiting U.S. The communist exploited the opportunity by gaining control on educational institution and trade unions. It is the only place in the world where student and workers elect communist in universities and at work places but elect Congress, BJP, Janta dal, DMK, AIDMK and other political parties to rule the states or the nation.
• in crisis of 1962 we opted to plead the world to stop China while few months back the same prime minister was pursuing forward policy on border. The Australian journalist who had the access to government reports, blamed Indian government for 1962 debacle.
The "Forward Policy" of the government under late PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then army leadership has been blamed for India's humiliating defeat in 1962 war against China in a top-secret report accessed an Australian journalist”. PTI 18 March 2014.
• Imposition of Emergency was another failure caused by dictatorial mindset as well as meek surrender of the Judicial system.
One may ask the question, why crying foul on split milk?
The eco-system which rewards the anti-national activities can’t be controlled without understanding it. Acting prime minister twice, a man of great integrity, Gulzari Lal Nanda was thrown on the road but rogues enjoy wealth, popularity and power. The courts are helpless to stop the anti-national forces. The senior advocates, politician and bureaucracy are hand in glove. The extremist file nomination from jail and win. Courts are being used to issue orders for taking oath as the law is lame and ineffective. It is a pity that citizens are homeless but Rohingyas are getting home on priority.
The political fight is between right wing and left wing or the third front but the solution lies in building systems and processes.
Public is agitated, media is blaming politician X or politician Y, ignoring the ecosystem which allows the rogue politician and extremist to steal the limelight. We have to take the bull by the horn and destroy this eco system which has become ‘RAKTBEEJ’. Our soldiers and police will eliminate one and thousand more will come up. (Rakt beej is a demon depicted in Durga Saptashati, every drop of blood of whom creates thousands of new Raktbeej).
Who will bell the cat?
This debate is of no use until we commit to resolve the issue for all time to come. Some good moves have been taken but implementation is missing. Time to take action.
• We have developed a successful system to plug leakages in administration and now is the time to plug leakages in ethics and values. National Education Policy is a step in the right direction however nothing much has changed. The success of Izrael and Russia or France has come when their citizens started learning basics in their mother tongue, the values are aligned to their culture. An Indian boy singing the poem, ‘rain, rain go away’ in a economy solely dependent on rain is a slap on our educational system. We must empower our young generation with the values and Nitis which took India to highest GDP. Empowered citizen will use the power of vote to tame these scoundrels.
• We must encourage Indian knowledge system and promote research to align it with modern principles and technologies. COVID management has shown us the light at the end of the tunnel. We created the vaccine, the KIT, the mask the uninterrupted huge supply of oxygen, government could provide ration and cash to people despite total halt in economy due to lockdown. We have a great history of surviving on JUGAAD. Time has come to evolve a system which takes Jugaad to the level of invention and innovation.
• We must develop a system to ensure criminals are not allowed to enter parliament. Many of the recently killed gangsters could become MP or MLA with ease. It is unfortunate that our parliament and assemblies have members who refuse to respect national flag, national anthem and work to destabilise the country. It is unfortunate that executives look towards judiciary for every problem and judiciary returns the favour by asking to resolve the issue politically. The Shahin Bagh and farmers agitation are the live example. Public can not wait to watch this game of putting the ball in the other court.
The present leadership has shown enough potential to handle such situation, being the victim of this eco system many times. It was deprived from forming the government despite being the largest party as its partners ditched or the opposition managed the numbers.
Inexperience has led to a hesitation which has allowed the rogue elements to survive, it has failed in prosecuting the 2G scamsters. National herald case and many other cases are moving on snail pace. The handling of Waqf board is also not encouraging. If nationalist want the nation to be safe and nip the forces envisaging ‘Gazvae Hind’ in 2047, the execution of criminal cases has to be swift. The senior advocate and money power should not be allowed to bulldoze the judicial system. Hadia case is a live example how NIA reports were dumped and a father lost the Love Jihad battle in court because he could not afford the advocate who could match the trio appointed by PFI. There is a poem written by great Ramdhari Singh Dinkar which says, it is not only the fault of the tiger but also of those who remain silent spectators, the history will write their sins as well.
Enough is enough and the nation cannot afford to face one more episode of treachery, failure and defeat.
By Rakesh Kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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