Indian film actor Jackie Shroff was recently seen in the ‘Button Dabao Desh Banao’ initiative, urging people to go out and vote. In his trademark smile he seems to be trying to convey a message something like this, ‘Press the button, and build your country’. The problem is the next sentence that followed, with the same smiling face of course is ‘not to talk later’; the actual meaning of that statement is ‘do not complain later’. Jackie was most probably reading a script given to him, not fully understanding its implications.
Another Indian film actor Anupam Kher was also seen urging people to vote, and his byte was picked up by the media as soon as he finished his voting. His comments sounded more like a lecture and while displaying his indelible inked finger he went on to say that those who don’t have the indelible ink on their finger do not have the right to raise finger at the politicians.
Both utterances were in Hindi and sounded dramatic, but it also gave the impression that both actors had forgotten to switch off from their acting mode, before advising fellow citizens. By all means urge voters to vote, but to suggest citizens that if they did not vote, they lose the right to criticise elected governments is such twisted logic. It also means both actors failed to understand the freedom of speech or expression the Indian constitution has conferred to the citizens of India.
They are not the only ones propagating this line of thinking, many others including politicians spoke in the same tone. Unfortunately Indian democracy has come to a point where the politician’s goal is to eliminate criticism wherever possible and what better way than to shut a sizeable population with a twisted argument that you don’t get to point fingers or criticise the government’s performance if you did not take the time to vote. On the contrary it should be the other way around whereby the voter should be shamed for voting his candidate and then become a mute spectator, giving the elected guy a free run of five years.
The above point might sound peculiar but here is some fun food for thought from our everyday life. Imagine you and your wife have decided to employ a cook to take care of all the cooking needs of the household. Interviews are planned for a certain day and candidates are shortlisted. For some reason your wife has to go out of station and is unable to conduct interviews on the designated day. In her absence, it is decided that the husband will conduct the interviews to select the applicant. The husband does his part and selects the most suitable and in a week’s time the cook joins the household. The lady of the house also returns in time to instruct the newly appointed cook on his first day of work. The cook takes down the instructions and does his job to everybody’s satisfaction. But for a moment just imagine if the cook did not turn out as per your wife’s high standards, according to Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher and the rest, she has lost all moral right to review the cook’s performance because she was not part of the selection process. What a bizarre argument.
After five decades of democracy there can be no excuse that Goans are yet to understand the meaning of true democracy. They better realise fast that standing in a queue for voting and flashing the indelible inked finger in social circles does not mean you have done your part for the country, even if you have not accepted any money or engaged in a quid pro quo arrangement with the politician you have elected. Actually there is additional responsibility on you to make sure the politician stays on course and does not take his constituency for a ride.
Voting is one of our primary responsibilities towards the country and State and we should try our best to make time, but it is not the only responsibility. Almost half of the people of Bombay never vote and yet they contribute heavily in the form of taxes towards nation building, does not make them less citizens. In this stressful city, the people of Bombay are always on the lookout for short breaks out of the city to recharge and work harder to contribute even more. No wonder, the Election Commission chose Monday as their day of voting, indirectly encouraging the people of Bombay to club the weekend with the voting day holiday to leave the city and take that short vacation.
Let’s face it, voter turnout percentages in Goa are artificially inflated because many Goans are enticed by the short term stuff provided by Charlies appointed by politicians, and you cannot escape if you have accepted gifts. However, there are many sincere Goans who don’t accept anything personally and yet dutifully go out and vote, even if it means voting for NOTA. Now there is realisation among these Goans that the act of voting itself, is interpreted as they being party to accepting goodies from political parties and therefore are staying away from the voting booth. The percentages of these Goans have not reached the threshold point, but constituencies such as Benaulim have seen a drastic fall in voter turnout and it’s just a matter of time the performance of Benaulim could be replicated in other constituencies.
The election season is over, if Modi has steamrolled the opposition, it is because the Congress has not taken the trouble of extinguishing its corrupt legacy. Many voters that stayed away feel that Rahul Gandhi and his party is not serious in making a fresh beginning by eliminating the corrupt Charlies he has inherited. Till then Modi and his party will keep on winning because they are a very agile outfit and they make sure their tally keeps increasing, even if it means taking the help of actors from the film industry. Unfortunately film actors are used to silent audiences, while they do all the talking.
(Plastino D’Costa is a business consultant)
