Author: Arindam Chaudhuri
Publication: The Hindu
Date: June 10, 2011
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/344788/Dictatorship-of-sycophants.html
The modern day Jallianwala Bagh at Ramlila
Ground shows the demonic attitude of the Government, the weak spine of the
Opposition and the hypocrisy of the media. Are we living in the world's largest
democracy? Or has India become a shameless, unapologetic dictatorship of sycophants?
My question is, are we living in a democracy
or in a shamelessly unapologetic dictatorial regime? Has the Government finally
lost it totally? Or do they believe that the people of the country are so
foolish that they will quietly accept any amount of dictatorship and vote
them to power again in 2014? Is there absolutely no learning from the DMK's
huge loss in Tamil Nadu where it virtually controlled the media and yet people
kicked them out?
What happened on June 5 is a blot on our democracy.
There is absolutely no exaggeration when people compare the incidents of the
day to the imposition of Emergency or the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Today
one doesn't need to shove people inside a well and fire at them. Descending
on sleeping men, women and children, beating them up and taking the huge risk
of a possible stampede and fire that could have killed thousands is Jallianwala
Bagh. And this stinks of the thought process behind the Emergency.
Baba Ramdev has mostly raised very, very pertinent
issues of national concern. From asking the Government to ban the thousand
rupee note (since that makes it 10 times easier to hoard black money than
hundred rupee notes, a reason why countries like the US or the UK have the
hundred dollar or hundred pound bills as the highest denominator for their
currency) to asking the Government to bring back the $1.4 trillion stashed
away in foreign banks (India has the largest pile of black money stashed abroad,
the second being Russia with $400 billion, followed by the UK, Ukraine and
China at the fifth place with $96 billion), the man is perhaps the only mass
leader of the nation with a nationwide followership and someone whose remedies
have benefited millions of Indians for real - and they literally swear by
him.
Naturally, the Government had reasons to be
scared - mighty scared, especially with civil societies around the world in
a mood for rising in protest. So, to crush the mass movement that he was creating,
they did what is unthinkable in a democracy and that too in the capital city
of the country. The Government's actions are now a clear indication that it
has turned demonic and is losing legitimacy to run the country with every
passing day.
The incident also proves how spineless the
Opposition, especially the BJP, has become. A strong Opposition would have,
and should have, brought this country to a standstill till the Prime Minister
tendered his resignation on moral grounds or at the least apologised for his
demonic actions. A strong Opposition would not have allowed the Prime Minister
to shamelessly say that the police action was inevitable, or allowed Mr Rahul
Gandhi to make statements to the effect that the Congress will not allow such
protests.
What a joke in the world's so-called largest
democracy. It is time that the BJP's leaders stop their infighting and show
the Government its place. Had they seized this or the countless other opportunities
this Government has been providing systematically, they would have been assured
of a return to power. Not that it won't happen. But it looks now that if such
a return to power happens, it wouldn't be so much because of the BJP but more
despite the BJP.
It is sad and shameful that the Supreme Court
of India, instead of giving a 24-hour notice to the Government to explain
its actions against Baba Ramdev and his supporters, and taking stern action
thereafter, gave a shocking 14-day notice to the Government to file its reply
on the happenings. The Government was thus given enough time for manipulations
and passing the buck.
But worse perhaps is the clear divide between
'Bharat' and 'India' that came across during this event. The Government wouldn't
have dared to take such action had the crowd consisted of middle class and
upper middle class people. They had this audacity because the people who were
there with Baba Ramdev represented the hapless and poorer sections of the
country. Even the media followed the same thought process, despite the fact
that a majority in the media are from 'Bharat'.
When the Anna Hazare movement happened, there
were designer-dress-clad residents of Delhi out there to support him, and
the media went gaga. Yet, when the same common man who represents 'Bharat'
took to the streets, the same media looked at the movement with suspicion
and raised questions.
Finally, I just want to say that we live in
a country that is proud - and often criticised - to have inherited its Constitution,
laws and democratic framework from the British. Yet, it's astonishing that
one of the greatest virtues of British democracy is missing in our country.
When you enter London's Hyde Park and Parliament area, you see all kinds of
protesters sitting around, staging all kinds of demonstrations. In New Delhi
if one wants to protest, he is denied a place.
This is unbelievable. In the land of Gandhi,
people who want to protest peacefully are being thrashed mercilessly and declared
'tadipaars'. This is not the democracy that Gandhi dreamt of. In simple words,
it is a shameful and unapologetic dictatorship of sycophants. And it must
end.
-- The writer is a management guru and Editor,
The Sunday Indian.
