Beginning with Robert Vadra-DLF episode, then moving onto showing the real Salman Khurshid and finally putting a big question mark on BJP's moral authority to raise issues of corruption, even though IAC has not exactly carved out a niche for itself in Indian political space, it has definitely set the process in motion. Newton's laws will definitely be on demonstration as the concerned political parties will neither remove nor cut the roles of the suspect public figures, continuing with their inherent acceptance of little bit of corruption as the 'in thing', without any precise definition of the 'little bit'. Secondly, enquiries and actions are least expected to be accelerated due to the apparent lack of vote-mass of Kejriwal & Co. Thirdly, there will be a lasting array of counter-allegations 'making mountain of what was not even a molehill'.
The subdued reactions and a confused outlook of the existing political system in the wake of non-stop AK firing presents us some interesting insights.
Post Independence Politics
Post colonial era, India was expected to adopt democracy the same way as you would expect mature behaviour from an adolescent. Unfortunately, to a society which was in tight grips of tradition, there was no institutionalized nurturing of democratic values. To a society, which is credited with contributing the term- communalism to dictionary, there has been no systematic efforts at strengthening the bases of democracy. Communalism originated out of the will to reclaim the lost Kingdoms of Hindus and Muslims. The perceived antagonism between them existed because each was thought to have brought down the other's rule. This mission to reclaim the lost Rajpat continued even among the Indian officials post British Raj and by the time it was noticed, it had engulfed the entire political spectrum by 1980s.
The first generation of nation-serving politicians gave way to increasingly undemocratic and despotic breed of politicians including the likes of Indira Gandhi to Lalu Yadav, Mayawati, all of whom hit democracy where it hurts the most. Dividing a multi-ethnic and increasingly plural society for their petty vote-bank politics was social engineering for them. This phenomenon made the public turn a blind eye to the corrupt practices by the leaders of their own caste, group, community. Indian voter was fooled big-time in the name of promoting caste and community through 'Bhoora baal saaf karo' and Dalit-Brahmin slogans. What they reaped was token service and the politicians amassed colossal wealth using divisive politics as a shield. Despite the large scale loot of public resources for decades, they remained important figures of the political landscape.
Nayi Rajneeti
Our politicians are finding the questions raised about the established political system 'laughable' and 'chillar'. The people who have dared to ask such questions are dismissed as 'mango people of banana republic' and are termed 'megalomaniac'. It sounds very natural as people came into politics to make money, rule like kings so all such allegations and questions are baseless and trivial. Simple!
When a UP minister asked the bureaucrats to steal a little if they're working hard, he was pulled up for sounding bizarre, actually he was not. He was trying to be very practical. If this 'little' would have been set as a statutory limit after being precisely defined as 5% or 10% of the amount under discretion and stealing being subject to hard work, India would have been a far less corrupt country, having a much more efficient administration. You meet wannabe bureaucrats and they would bluntly express their desire of having thoda-bahut and everyone knows what it turns out to be, later. Ashok Khemkas are rarest of rare in bureaucracy and in politics, an equivalent is probably non-existent. What I believe Kejriwal & Company will be able to do, is quick reproduction of the equivalents in the political realms.
The Broad Contours
I'm not a die hard Kejriwal supporter, neither I have any hope in the existing political setup. The real hopes lie in the awakening through increased awareness levels of the Indian voters sustained by questioning the current political standards and norms. The hopes also bank on a certain redefinition of the same. Much more than the number of seats that this anti-corruption politics can corner for itself, its success will be measured by the significant changes it could effectively bring in the public discourse of Indian politics. What we have witnessed in the recent past in the form of remote-controlled & highly centralized government, powerless PM, ideological vaccum along with a series of massive scams is probably the lowest that Indian politics has seen post Independence.
We, as a nation, are destined to see a better politics which would work towards the ideal of truly democratic nation through issue-based, development-oriented and pluralist outlook. Unfortunately, social justice and socialism have been mere slogans in past. If the political class takes note of development as the betterment of life style of the bottom 50 percent and works for institutionalized upliftment through Self-help groups, encouraging entrepreneurship, well-distributed industrialization in the impending 'new' era, 'land grabbing' will not be in headlines. This massive responsibility definitely lies on the shoulders of Kejriwal's yet-to-be-named party and such organisations which may come up in future. I have a certain intuition of the realization of the new era in coming years which will get rid of the system that we all are fed up of and start building the India which we shall proudly leave for the generations to come.
Post Independence Politics
Post colonial era, India was expected to adopt democracy the same way as you would expect mature behaviour from an adolescent. Unfortunately, to a society which was in tight grips of tradition, there was no institutionalized nurturing of democratic values. To a society, which is credited with contributing the term- communalism to dictionary, there has been no systematic efforts at strengthening the bases of democracy. Communalism originated out of the will to reclaim the lost Kingdoms of Hindus and Muslims. The perceived antagonism between them existed because each was thought to have brought down the other's rule. This mission to reclaim the lost Rajpat continued even among the Indian officials post British Raj and by the time it was noticed, it had engulfed the entire political spectrum by 1980s.
The first generation of nation-serving politicians gave way to increasingly undemocratic and despotic breed of politicians including the likes of Indira Gandhi to Lalu Yadav, Mayawati, all of whom hit democracy where it hurts the most. Dividing a multi-ethnic and increasingly plural society for their petty vote-bank politics was social engineering for them. This phenomenon made the public turn a blind eye to the corrupt practices by the leaders of their own caste, group, community. Indian voter was fooled big-time in the name of promoting caste and community through 'Bhoora baal saaf karo' and Dalit-Brahmin slogans. What they reaped was token service and the politicians amassed colossal wealth using divisive politics as a shield. Despite the large scale loot of public resources for decades, they remained important figures of the political landscape.
Nayi Rajneeti
Our politicians are finding the questions raised about the established political system 'laughable' and 'chillar'. The people who have dared to ask such questions are dismissed as 'mango people of banana republic' and are termed 'megalomaniac'. It sounds very natural as people came into politics to make money, rule like kings so all such allegations and questions are baseless and trivial. Simple!
When a UP minister asked the bureaucrats to steal a little if they're working hard, he was pulled up for sounding bizarre, actually he was not. He was trying to be very practical. If this 'little' would have been set as a statutory limit after being precisely defined as 5% or 10% of the amount under discretion and stealing being subject to hard work, India would have been a far less corrupt country, having a much more efficient administration. You meet wannabe bureaucrats and they would bluntly express their desire of having thoda-bahut and everyone knows what it turns out to be, later. Ashok Khemkas are rarest of rare in bureaucracy and in politics, an equivalent is probably non-existent. What I believe Kejriwal & Company will be able to do, is quick reproduction of the equivalents in the political realms.
The Broad Contours
I'm not a die hard Kejriwal supporter, neither I have any hope in the existing political setup. The real hopes lie in the awakening through increased awareness levels of the Indian voters sustained by questioning the current political standards and norms. The hopes also bank on a certain redefinition of the same. Much more than the number of seats that this anti-corruption politics can corner for itself, its success will be measured by the significant changes it could effectively bring in the public discourse of Indian politics. What we have witnessed in the recent past in the form of remote-controlled & highly centralized government, powerless PM, ideological vaccum along with a series of massive scams is probably the lowest that Indian politics has seen post Independence.
We, as a nation, are destined to see a better politics which would work towards the ideal of truly democratic nation through issue-based, development-oriented and pluralist outlook. Unfortunately, social justice and socialism have been mere slogans in past. If the political class takes note of development as the betterment of life style of the bottom 50 percent and works for institutionalized upliftment through Self-help groups, encouraging entrepreneurship, well-distributed industrialization in the impending 'new' era, 'land grabbing' will not be in headlines. This massive responsibility definitely lies on the shoulders of Kejriwal's yet-to-be-named party and such organisations which may come up in future. I have a certain intuition of the realization of the new era in coming years which will get rid of the system that we all are fed up of and start building the India which we shall proudly leave for the generations to come.
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