Date: 3/24/2004
...........REPRODUCED GRATEFULLY FROM A DISCUSSION LIST
........................GC ASNANI
1. Whenever Elections are approaching, various political Parties draw up their manifestos, promising this and that; they frame clever slogans to guide/misguide the electorate; they use all means - fair and foul - to induce voters to vote for them; they use Government money and machinery to push forward their own Party programs under various high-sounding words and phrases. Looking at the mood of the electorate, they even advance the dates of elections; this is accepted as legitimate, although looking at this practice from an objective point of view, this is morally illegitimate. If there is an emergency-type situation and the house is intensely divided, then the necessity of an early clear verdict from the electorate would be justified, not otherwise. The Parliamentary election date is now being advanced in India; where is the emergency-type situation? Not at all, there is none, whatsoever. But, it has become customary, and hence no one questions the legitimacy of this advan cing. If the results of State elections had not been favourable for the NDA coalition, would they have advanced the date of elections? No. Perhaps, then the Opposition would have asked for early elections. In this aspect of opportunism and exploitation of electorate mood, all Political Parties have been observing the same standards of morality, not a very high standard of morality, to speak frankly. Opportunism and earlier -than- due-date for coming or continuing into POWER is the primary motive of all Political Parties, without exception. It is essential to speak out the Truth, even though it has become unconventional to speak out the Truth; Truth stands above political interests of individuals or parties.
2. A second, equally weak procedure from moral considerations, is the announcement of inducements before the electorate in the name of so-called "reforms" like lowering duties and fares for travel, etc. In fact, these "reforms" have been over-due for quite some time. Public has been suffering from heavy burden of taxes and consequent bureaucratic corruption on many fronts; the government has been sitting heavy on the shoulders of the people in many walks of Indian life. Reduction of taxes, of government controls and of the consequent reduction of corruption in administration at practically all levels from the top to the bottom of life for the common man, are long overdue. The same set of rulers enhance duties and controls and hence corruption, soon after coming into power, before or after the customary Budget Sessions, practically nullifying the very sanctity of Budget Sessions. Please, speak out the Truth.
3. A third malady with our system is "Mis-guiding Slogans". For the last 55 years after Independence in 1947, every time, I have been hearing of these slogans like "Removal of Poverty", "Availability of drinking Water", "Security of Life for Kashmiri Hindus" "Economic Progress" , "Good Governance", etc. In the beginning, Congress stalwarts, for whom I had great respect and even reverence I should say, soon lost their hold on themselves and on their Party, irrationalism and corruption slowly but steadily made inroads in their Party, and irrationalism and corruption slowly but steadily made inroads into administration, and even a system of hereditary rulership started gaining ground. The result was corruption and inefficiency growing by leaps and bounds. Congress Rule came to an end, perhaps to a permanent end? Hereditary rule is a disgusting thing in Democracy but the Congress seems to have got stuck into that quagmire, perhaps to die into that mud and slush. Congress! Plea se Beware.
4. Now, the new election slogan is "Congress or BJP?" The very word "Congress" carries an unpleasant smell and hence, Congress is likely to suffer very heavy losses in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections; personally, I shall not feel sorry for them. They have lost the ability to govern, under hereditary system, accompanied by many other ills. But BJP is also not free from ills. In a very short time of coming into power, there are clear signs of corruption having made inroads into BJP. "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a well-proved Law of Life; there is no escape from this Law. It is the duty of those outside the system to constructively; frankly and fearlessly point out the existence of this disease which has already crept into BJP, although not to the extent it exists inside Congress. It needs time to pick up that level of de-moralization which entered into Congress. Friends of BJP ! Please Beware.
5. One of the reasons for corruption and lowering of moral standards inside the BJP is the anxiety to come into absolute Power through what may be called "unprincipled Coalitions"; any body is welcome into BJP's Coalition provided that he/she accepts the leadership of BJP leaders; even Congress could join the Coalition; but then, there would be the clash of personalities rather than clash of their principles. With the so-called NDA Coalition, there is hardly any difference of principles between the Congress and the NDA Coalition. Both pursue the policy of Appeasement of the so-called Minority Muslim Community, one trying to overdo the other. Dr. Hedgewar had warned against it, but that warning has been thrown aside. What is wanted is Power, Power, Power. The result has been ruinous for the country.
6. Both Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Hedgewar wanted the political freedom from British Rule; none of the two was less patriotic than the other in this respect. However, the two great leaders parted ways because Dr. Hedgewar said that Mahatma Gandhi's Policy of Appeasement of Muslim League was a wrong way. That wrong policy of Appeasement, in fact, converted a Moderate Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah into a ferocious fanatic who would agree to nothing less than Partition of the country. Aggressiveness of Muslim community went out of control due to this wrong policy of Mahatma Gandhi. Events have proved Mahatma Gandhi to be wrong and Dr. Hedgewar to be right. But we have forgotten the lessons of history.
7. Mahatma Gandhi remained virtually the head of the Congress, though dis-illusioned through the hunger-for-Power of his followers during and after 1937 elections: in his noble ambition of political power as a spiritual exercise, Mahatma Gandhi died as a dis-appointed person. He had appointed Shri Jawaharlal Nehru as his successor, who was largely western in his outlook, far away from Mahatma Gandhi's view of religion/ morality as the basis of political life. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru was more for power than for spirituality. His further Policy of Appeasement has left a legacy of problems for Hindu community and hence for the country, from which problems we are suffering till today, with greater intensity than with reduced intensity as had been hoped and expressed by makers of Indian Constitution, like Article 370 and Reservations on Caste-basis. These two "temporary" measures have been progressively taking the country towards dis-integration, mediocrity in administration and lowering of educational standards wherever Reservation on caste- basis is introduced. Hindus of Jammu-Kashmir State have suffered and continue to suffer terribly under Article 370, without receiving any help or even effective sympathy from the rest of the Hindu community, including Hindu politicians of the rest of India.
8. While Mahatma Gandhi left Congress in not very good hands, Dr. Hedgewar built RSS on sound grounds of character-building rather than power-hungry men and women. RSS and its branches like VHP have grown in power and respectability with progress of time. They have been engaged in improving the basic structure of Indian society, the spiritual basis of Indian life. I have seen inside RSS and VHP real spiritual people, dedicated to the welfare of society through character-building, as good men and women, as I had seen inside the Congress before 1937, which year became a turning point for Congress after it entered into the arena of political Power - a very corrupting process, I should say from experience.
9. In the circumstances that prevail, RSS and VHP have had to enter into the arena of corrupting election Process, it cannot remain out until the principle of "Parliament of Professionals" is introduced into the system of Governance. The world seems to need a clean-up operation of world war III for this type of Reform-"Parliament of Professionals" where some 90% of the Parliament Members shall come through Elections by registered Professional Bodies consisting of Educationists, Jurists, Soldiers, Police Officers, Business Institutions, Press Organizations, Labor Organizations, Engineers, Scientists, Doctors, and the like. Such people will come into Parliament on their Professional Merit, rather than on Party Politics, caste and birth certificates, Professional excellence rather than arousing the public sentiments on questionable regional, and local issues, trying to divide the country into a hundred bits. Country is higher than petty political Parties.
10. If Dr. Hedgewar's ambition of character-building workers is to be fulfilled, a cheap Policy of forming or supporting of Coalition without caring for Principles of participating political parties has to be given up.Cheap policy of Coalition will lead Dr. Hedgewar's movement to disaster, which disaster overtook the once noble Congress Party. When we see the situation of the last 4-5 years, one begins to fear that NDA Coalition is doing exactly what Congress did; rather BJP is out-Congressing Congress in Appeasement Policy of Aggressive Islamism. In following the policy of supporting that type of Coalition with NDA, RSS/VHP will be hastening the disaster for sincere persons inside BJP and RSS/VHP. Law of Nature is working and shall work irrespective of personalities, or names of political Parties.
BJP is not equivalent to NDA Coalition. Support for BJP should not be presented before the electorate as support for NDA; BJP and NDA are two different entities. We should not make the mistake of mixing up the two different entities.
11. Every Party wants Economic Progress: Congress, BJP, NDA Coalition, and four -dozen Parties of India. Every Party has claimed to be working for Economic Progress.
12. Next comes the claim of "Good Governance". As far as "Good Governance" is concerned, the common man in society got a good chance of ventilating their feelings, during the opportunity provided by the Indian Express Newspaper, in respect of the murder of Engineer Mr. Dubey. Every writer expressed deep disgust for politicians, including the politicians of NDA Coalition Government; even Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee was not spared. That reflects the real feeling of the thinking people in the country, when allowed to express themselves.
13. The following few additional events which took place during the "Good Governance" of the present/outgoing NDA Coalition do not speak very high of BJP or NDA Parties or NDA Coalition:
i) Handling of Indian Airlines Plane being hijacked to Kandhar, while passing through Indian Territory, landing in Indian Territory, and taking off from Indian Territory, and our honorable Government taking world-renowned Terrorists and respectfully surrendering them to Talibans at Kandhar. In some other country, the Government, would have been forced to resign under similar circumstances immediately.
ii) Inviting the Holy Pope to our country and listening to his challenge to the religions of Asia; it was and is disgraceful to this day, to the whole Nation. Is there anyone to feel and express himself / herself on this Issue?
iii) Lahore Expedition of our Prime Minister, and Pakistani Preparations already made for occupation of Kargil. The Government had received intelligence reports but which were not handled properly. The country had to pay with the lives of more than 500 Indian Jawans. If this is "GOOD Governance", kindly define Bad Governance.
iv) When 5 bodies of our dead Jawans after Kargil were received in mutilated condition, including the body of Captain Kalia, what did our Good Governance - Government do? The inaction of our Good Governance Government has left a very bad taste for the very phrase "Good Governance."
v) This incident of five Kargil Jawans' mutilated bodies was soon followed by another 15 mutilated bodies of our Border Security Forces on Indo-Bangladesh border murdered by Bangladeshi forces and returned in similar mutilated conditions; evidence of torture before death was clear. What did our "Good Governance" Government do? Is there anyone now to dare ask the question? Silence reminds one of Graveyard or Cremation Ground of India.
vi) Even after so much digging effort by Archeological Survey of India and other scientists, what is the progress on Ram Temple Issue?
vii) How has this NDA Government handled the Godhra Hindu Holocaust Issue, Haj Subsidy, Increasing Grants to Madrasas to manufacture more Talibans in India, Handling of growing insecurity for Hindus in Bihar, Jammu-Kashmir and other places inside India and outside India, particularly in Bangladesh?
viii) How many Pakistani Pockets are thriving inside India where Indian police cannot enter to apprehend the criminals who have taken shelter there?
ix) How many illegal Bangladeshi Muslims reside in India? What are they doing? What is our Government of "Good Governance" doing, even after the High Level courts of India have commented and asked for action on this issue?
x) Jammu-Kashmir issue which was supposed to be a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and was promised by our NDA leadership not to be discussed in SAARC has been brought to the Centre-Stage of International politics through SAARC Meeting itself. Who has been the gainer and who the loser? Are the poor Hindus of Jammu-Kashmir belonging to a dying Hindu community? Is Hindu community in India itself in a dying stage ?
14. When Mahatma Gandhi's Appeasement Policy was doing havoc to Hindus of India, we Hindus kept quiet like numb people. Are we Hindus going to follow the same Policy of numbness and dumbness now also? If so, then we Hindu are not fit for survival in India. Survival of the fittest is the Law of Life; nobody can violate it; we are no exceptions to this Law of Life. Posterity will declare us to have been unfit for survival in India.
15. And recently, the outgoing Parliament Members sanctioned Life-Pension for themselves and their families. It is an atrocious act.. Very soon, the poison will percolate to members of State Assemblies, Zilla Parishads, Municipal Corporations, Gram Panchayats, etc. We shall soon have millions of political parasites sucking the blood of the Nation through their Life Pensions for having once been elected to any of these elective bodies. Winning an election becomes a lottery for which the politicians will even kill one another. In any case, these political parasites will engage themselves, after getting Life Pension, in questionable activities of creating more problems for the country.
Morally speaking, and perhaps legally also, the Parliament has Pensioned-off the outgoing Politicians having given them their Pension benefits. They have no right to come back to the same Parliament House from which they have been Pensioned-off. We should like to see new blood, new people, coming into the Parliament House. The old ones have been Pensioned-off. At least that would be a hope that Hindu community is not dying once for all; it has some moral courage still left inside itself .
(G.C.ASNANI)
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