HVK Archives: Politics is a bad word
Politics is a bad word - Mid-day
Lajpat Rai
()
13 September 1996
Title : Politics is a bad word
Author : Lajpat Rai
Publication : Mid-day
Date : September 13, 1996
Politics is full of bad people because good ones keep
away from it. Ale common man does not have time for it
since his daily struggle for survival keeps him busy. He
is only galvanised into action by political managers when
elections approach. These managers have a vested inter-
est in manipulating the system. Politics means power and
power means money, which again becomes an instrument
to
keep the power in their hands. It is all a vicious
circle.
This does not mean that Indians are not politically
conscious. Despite a high rate of illiteracy, Indians
are politically more conscious than people in many ad-
vanced countries, because we had to undergo a long strug-
gle for freedom.
The common man cannot he blamed if he remains
uninspired
by pre-Independence values and is taken up by the new
post Independence generation.
Since the country was newly free and there was no in-
frastructure, our generation had no opportunities. We
were confused about whether we should build a socialist
society or go in for a free market economy. Wisely, we
opted for a mixed economy, a phase which lasted till the
1970s. We built Bhillai, heavy industries and other such
infrastructure, which are the basis of our present eco-
nomic life.
Socialism or other such ideals failed to inspire the new
generation.
They saw opportunities, became engineers, doctors, busi-
ness managers, small entrepreneurs and some, even big
industrialists. Many left the country for greener pas-
tures in Western countries. 'Rough this phenomenon could
absorb only a small section, those left behind still
nursed hopes.
This is the why communal forces, the ideology of Hindut-
va, did not attract them after the lust four decades of
Independence. The Bharatiya Janata Party won hardly two
seats in Parliament in 1984. But the rot had set in by
then. Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the USSR in
1985.
Gorbachev's policies led to the collapse of socialism and
he remained a silent spectator to the fall of socialism
in Europe. Socialism collapsed in the Soviet Union too.
Capitalism began to be projected as the only alternative
before the new generation.
The collapse of socialism has, however, not solved the
contradictions inherent in capitalism. It saw the youth,
who by then had no ideals to strive for, attracted to-
wards Hindutva after 1985.
Enter communalism, which was injected into the Indian
politics solely to divert the younger generation's atten-
tion from the ins of the free economy It costs nothing
nor does it demand any sacrifice to hate Muslims.
Look at the new middle class, aspiring to reap the bene-
fits of free economy.
They are not at all religious.
This game cannot go on for long. L K Advani is being
chargesheeted in the hawala case. The split in the
Gujarat BJP is not ideological.
It is a dog-fight over the spoils of power. Shankarsinh
Vaghela does not become a saint after leaving the BJP.
BJP leader Jaswant Singh was reportedly involved in a
land grab scandal. The scandal has been brought out,
again by the internal squabbles in the BJP.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi now says that no
corruption and fraud was involved in the Enron project
signed by Sharad Pawar and his government. However,
his
party and the BJP had made corruption in the deal an
election issue and used it to defeat the Congress govern-
ment.
Has the Sena-BJP government got any moral right to con-
tinue in power? This is not an attack on the Hindutvava-
dis alone.
Except for the Left parties, all are the same.
They stand for a free economy and are financed by big
business houses. Can political parties financed by the
rich safeguard the interests of the poor?
Most of us are poor or belong to the middle class and it
is high time we came forward to organise ourselves po-
litically.
Secularism by itself is not a panacea for our ills but it
is a precondition to obstruct the vested interests to
divide the people on the basis of religion.
There are two religions in the world - the rich and the
poor. Now you have to decide whom you are for.
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