PROMISE OF A NEW START

Malvika Singh has expressed very similar views to mine on the current crop of politicians. It is woth reading.
Taken from "the Telegraph"

Radheshyam

BONA FIDE - Malvika Singh
Why is there no leader in India who can speak about the larger issues of the planet as well as on the local and regional affairs that affect people and communities differently, depending on socio-cultural needs and realities? Barack Obama was so sharp, incisive and all-embracing at the Inaugural that one felt the absence of his equivalent in India, someone passionate about and committed to nation-building, infused with similar energy and integrity. The serious tenor was complemented in good measure, by humorous asides, some dancing, singing, warm camaraderie and a genuine openness that we never see in the stolid and dull Indian leaders.

There was a time when Indian politics was tinged with excitement and vitality. Dreams and ideas were part of the larger narrative. The babu was of another kind, motivated and inspired. Then, in the mid-Seventies, with the unnecessary imposition of the Emergency, press censorship, a cessation of fundamental rights, and inappropriate political actions by a cabal of people, both politicians and bureaucrats consolidated corruption and criminality in an already fragile political space. With the formation of the Janata Party government in 1977, that followed the defeat of the Indira-led Congress, this civilization, damaged and mutilated by its own elected political dispensations, entered a phase where morality and ethics, intellectual fervour and commitment to nation-building, had their sharp decline till they reached the rock bottom today.

No person or institution attempted to restore the dignity of political activity or the renewal of a sense of integrity required for transparent and inclusive governance. A destructive, dictatorial rule continued to determine how we should be governed. India’s administration became corrupt and partisan. The system protected itself and its acolytes at the terrible cost of the people. Secrecy dominated, ‘security’ isolated leaders, the species called the VVIP was born and governance ceased. Both the politician and the babu believed their nexus to be made in heaven. Ordinary citizens became innocent pawns, which these ‘privileged’ men and women could exploit to make comfortable nests for themselves and for their successors.


Torn fabric

This nexus and the edifice within which it is housed have to be brought to rubble if India is to survive as a federal democracy. Ruthless action has to be administered against the irregularities endorsed by the ruling class, starting with the elimination of their perks that will make them live like mere mortals. This will compel them to be accountable.

Remove free housing, demolish the illegal structures they add to government properties, make them pay for all their tours and remove all the other subsidies government servants get, and the majority of them will leave and find work elsewhere, or will migrate to become ‘non-required-Indians’, and most definitely will discourage their offspring from joining the service. Then, implement the recommendations of the Moily commission, particularly emphasizing on ‘accountability’ and the ‘hire and fire’ scheme. These moves will bring in many votes for the ruling party. Every citizen of India, rural or urban, has been held to ransom by these VVIPs.

Although the exploitation of the fabric of India have torn it badly, there is a rumbling under the surface, a shifting ground space. I cannot put my finger on it or comprehend its tangible form, but can sense it clearly. A new generation will not take the excuses and explanations, the predictable rhetoric and the passing of the buck any longer. It will revolt in its own way and, inshallah, ease out the system, which killed growth and change, intellectual morality and human ethics, that are essential for nation-building and governance.