When I joined the armed forces after the British were finally quitting India, I reluctantly noticed that there was a vast difference between the behaviour of the officer cadre and the army of men they led. As we took over and our officers and men filled in, an Indian bearer (servant) told me that he had a great respect for the British officers, though they looked down on him as inferior. Comparing them to our lot he is serving now, he said they were invariably straightforward, generous and fair minded, disciplined with comparatively clean habits. They pulled him up when he deserved it, and was never falsely blamed! I walked tall when our system exposed corruption and crony capitalism and our courts eventually delivered justice without fear or favour. I feel ashamed when justice is denied by government and the judiciary is charged with corruption and nepotism.
Our Constitution assures equality before the law and subsequently we tried in vain to curb the excessive VIP syndrome which is unique to India! Even after the Supreme Court pulled up the MPs and MLAs many times and our PM emphasising he is the Pradhan Sevak (not Mantri), having banned the exhibition of “Lal Batti” which culture was spreading instead of diminishing, nothing seems to have changed for the common man. Fooling the people? Convoys of politicians are given priority over ambulances/people and recently the Madras High Court wanted separate toll lanes for VIPs (which included sitting judges). The crippling bonanza of excessive taxes/increasing hike in petrol prices, special lounges at airports, governors living in palatial buildings like maharajas (I thought we had got rid of this class), and worse there seems to be a different set of standards even went sent to jail! Travel jaunts abroad do not notice how senators and some humble good Presidents and PMs with unobtrusive security respectfully stand in line/carry own umbrella/awaiting their turn at public places.
Manmohan Singh has written to the PM against the BJP plan to have the Nehru Museum and Library expanded to encompass all the PMs of India. I could gather from the heated television discussions on this subject, the strong views of people from various professions and walks of life interviewed, how ridiculous the idea of bringing down a democratic towering charismatic, learned and gentlemanly person, the first PM of India who during the most turbulent of times, lifted up India (backed by Mahatma Gandhi and others of honorable character) from chaos and poverty into a respected ethical world democracy, down to equivalence in stature and similar importance of all PMs following! The reasons advanced logically for democratic equality could have been acceptable except for the sustained propaganda of the ruling dispensation to diminish Nehru’s stature and place in history
No one is perfect and it appears that we are trying to drag those honorable men and women down to present level rather that raising ourselves to or above theirs, and building upon it in a positive direction. I have experienced the leaders and politicians of those times, their studied speeches and debates in Parliament, their honorable behaviour when they failed or did some wrong, which bears disgraceful comparison to behaviour of most politicians of today. When we see the undisciplined way Parliament is functioning, the arrogant behaviour of our elected VIP representatives and the crude/unparliamentarily language being used, it shames the honest electorate and the nation in the eyes of the world! The likes of Vajpayee from the RSS stable rising to the exemplary ethics and boosting Indian constitutional level of governance appears remote.
I would not like to sound holier than thou nor appear to denigrate our countrymen and our great nation. I am perturbed about the forcefully imposed ideologies of the RSS/BJP and the disparate mahagathbandhan, about the stifling of freedom of speech, privacy, right to dissent and dirty tricks being employed by the political parties with diminishing transparency and accountability to “we the people”. Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha reportedly said “if a small man tells a lie, we may believe he is ignorant, but when someone sitting at the top position in the country speaks lies, he is not ignorant but doing this on purpose”. It is reported that the Kerala CM has like Parrikar flown to US for three weeks long medical treatment without anyone officiating in his absence. When the Supreme Court says voters have right to know criminal antecedents of candidates, the political parties and the Centre strongly opposes the judiciary venturing into the legislative space where they have permitted candidates facing criminal charges to participate unless convicted which process may be easily prolonged/nullified once they get elected!
The same thing applies to much needed police reforms where enforcement authorities to our detriment, appear to be “caged parrots”. All this is unethical. Former DGP and Indian Police Foundation Chairman Mr Prakash Singh surmises: “Politicisation and gradual criminalisation have corroded the police from within. To arrest and reverse this trend we have to build on the Supreme Court guidelines. However, the laws since passed by 17 States legitimise the status quo and circumvent implementation of the Apex Court’s directions! With every passing election criminals are entering Parliament and legislatures. The Prime Minister is raising an economic superstructure on foundations of sand.”
(The author is a retired naval officer, freelance writer resident in Porvorim)
