Why India is a land of a million mutinies

Any jholawalla will tell you that the place for non-violent protests in India is the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. While I haven't been to the place yet, based on what I have read about it, it is forever thronging with people from across the country protesting on issues ranging from the mundane to the bizzare.

Yet Jantar Mantar has no place in India's conscience today. No bureaucrat or minister worth his salt will even give a second look to these protestors unless they have the ability to galvanize large crowds or unless they belong to a community that can alter electoral equations. If you are a Medha Patkar fighting for the dispossesed or an Irom Sharmila fighting against draconian state laws, be rest assured-you will be dumped into prison. Your demands can then conveniently go into the dustbin.This unfortunately is the tragic present of Gandhi's India.

In today's India where judicial redressal takes ages and where the police and the government are riddled with corruption and apathy, the only way a common man can make his voice heard is if he picks up the gun. Just take the maoists. The tribal heartland of India did not even figure in the national consciousness till the Maoists raided police stations and beheaded a few corrupt officials. The government also started talking about developing the tribal areas only when the maoists threatened to encircle our cities. Till then no one even bothered about the rampant injustice, exploitation and poverty that existed in these parts.And now that these people have risen in arms against the state, the government is more than happy to bring them to the table in order to forge a middle ground.

Given that we arise from our slumber only when gunshots are fired, isn't it surprising that India is a land of a million mutinies ?

Wake up Madam

Just read an article on how state government policies have changed the way Gujarat farms.And boy! I was impressed. But I also could not help make comparisons with my own state Maharashtra.

For long, Gujarat and Maharashtra were competitors in all spheres of economic and social activities. However, in the last decade and a half, Gujarat has stolen the march over Maharashtra not just in the sphere of industry but also agriculture. While Gujarat has shown stellar 'economic' (not social!)progress Maharashtra is plagued by many ills(Farmer Suicides, Lack of electricity, creaking urban infrastructure, industry moving to Gujarat,corporates moving to Bangalore and NCR just to name a few!).

The difference to my mind is that of the polity. Gujarat is governed by an autocratic albeit decisive Chief Minister with a vision( even if it were lopsided on many counts) while on the other hand Maharashtra has a Chief Minister whose only concern is to protect his chair from the many claimants within the ruling coalition. His lackadaisical approach is accentuated by the knowledge that the opposition cannot look beyond the politics of beating up hapless North Indian cabbies. All the Chief Minister has to do is to keep the powers in Delhi happy and he can have the chair all for himself!!

The situation is also not helped by the fact that Madam Gandhi cannot see a problem so long as enough MPs are sent to the Lok Sabha. However, its high time Sonia Gandhi wakes up! While Maharashtra has always been a bastion of the Congress, she cannot take this for granted. The government in Mantralaya has to deliver! Right now, it is inept and inefficient and is in desperate need of overhaul. It is full of sugar and education barons who give a damn to the state and its progress.

Madam Gandhi, its time you now focus your attention to this fast slipping state of ours.This is you last chance to rule the state( I dont know what other alternative we have!). If you do not deliver this time around, you can be sure your party in Maharashtra (and may be even you!!)will be warming the opposition benches the next time around!

For a start, you could ask your CM to start taking lessons on governance from Modi

PS- The article on Gujarat's thriving agriculture http://ibnlive.in.com/news/forbes-india-gujarat-shows-way-to-green-revolution/111793-3-single.html

The First One...

Of late, I often found myself writing status messages with a political/social undertone on Facebook. Expressing my opinions through a blog somehow seemed a better option to me.So here I am starting a new innings on blogosphere.

While the last innings came a cropper, I am hoping this time around things will be better because I am going to restrict myself to only writing on issues close to my heart.

Excuse the writing because I am an amateur. But I promise to improve with time.

Looking forward to your comments and criticisms. :-)