The beauty and the beast..

Indian is in the midst of its biggest festival, the General Elections. Two incidents in the last two days have once again demonstrated the intricacies of the world’s largest democracy .They revealed two entirely different facets of the phenomena called the Indian democracy.

 The protests led by the Sikh people against Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar have forced Congress party to deny tickets to them. On one hand, this is a reminder of the power vested in the hands of the common man in a democracy. But the fact that it took such mass protests for the grand old party to rethink its decision demonstrates the sorry state of affairs in this nation. All political parties take people for granted and never seem to learn from their mistakes.

 The people have always exerted their will when they get their opportunity. There are many such examples in the history of modern India, including the severe defeat meted out to the all-powerful Indira Gandhi in 1977 elections. We may express apolitical views and may harp on the corruption and disgusting standards of contemporary politics, but we are capable of taking crucial decision inside the polling booth.

 The second incident is the irresponsible and totally deplorable statements made by MDMK’s Vaiko with respect to the Sri Lankan Tamil problem. He has the audacity to warn the nation that there will be bloodshed if India does not intervene on behalf of the Tamil people and the LTTE in the Sri Lanka. He is also advocating a separate Tamil nation. I regard these statements as treason and of serious consequences to the nation.

 Where are the holy saviours of Indian nationhood and secularism? They had made such a hue and cry about Vaun Gandhi’s statements. Relatively, the response to Vaiko has been muted and far less effective. I must say that our media has got its priorities completely wrong. While the EC has adopted the position that Vaiko’s statements are a law and order problem which is outside its mandate, it is up to the Governments at the centre and TN to take effective action against Vaiko. As for the elite media, I would only say that their standards leave much to be desired.

 The beauty lies in the will power of the people and the beast lies in the minds of the soulless leaders. As I had said in an earlier post, I am still happy and fortunate to be la part of this democratic country.