Politics has been around in India for a long time but for me, my earliest recollections of anything even vaguely political was singing “galli-galli mein shor hai, VP singh chor hai” when I was in school, some friend of mine must have taught me because I had no clue who VP Singh was at the time. Then, fast forward a few years I remember the fall of the Deva Gowda government, and the IK Gujral government. When the NDA finally came into power and gave us a full term government, I remember seething along-with all the other Congress supporters in the country. At this time though I made appropriate noises during the Gujrat riots and cried foul every time the VHP or RSS said or did something; I really didn’t care. I was busy first with school then with learning of a whole new independent life away from home at college. Then as college came to an end and I began scouring the country for further educational opportunities, the Congress (now in power and who I had earlier supported) suddenly decided they didn’t need the votes of me and others like me. All of us middle-class students not socially challenged (read; of backward castes) were cast aside in one fell swoop as the quotas in government institutes were doubled. I was stunned, they couldn’t possibly be doing this to me, ME, such an ardent supporter, a fellow secularist and a firm believer in their party. Shock led to dejection led to anger, I realised, I wasn’t a vote bank, I held no clout in their eyes and was to be dealt with as such.
Being a typically cynical Indian, I knew our governments were not capable of implementing any decisions that would yield benefits to India somewhere in the future, I knew they only looked at what would ensure electoral success for them, but this was ridiculous.
All of a sudden, after being touted as part of a new and improved India, I was not wanted in my own country. Yeah like they are ever going to get my vote again. This however leads me to my main problem, if not the Congress, who do I vote for? For the sake of voting in a stable government, the only choice lies between the BJP and the Congress. Every ballot cast in favour of another party promises an unstable or impotent government.
I cannot and will not vote for the BJP for ideological reasons; to me they are a mess waiting to happen and we know where fanatical nationalism got Germany and Italy. Though the BJP promised a shining India, what we got were rivers of blood, particularly Muslim blood. Who gives a fuck if they were good for the economy (I’m not even sure about that), the shit that the VHP and RSS got away with was inexcusable. Their evil minions exercised their fundamentalist designs and literally got away with murder. Everyone who protested was labelled a ‘pseudo-secularist’. What the fuck is that anyway? They seem to love that particular phrase and swing it around in a sort of feeble defence, I’m not exactly sure what it is that they imply. Am I a pseudo-secularist because I value human life despite seemingly insurmountable religious divides?
pseudo- pref false, spurious.
Secularism [sekewleRizm] n tendency to exclude religious standards from public life; ethical system divorced from religious traditions
[Excerpts from the Penguin Concise English Dictionary, 1995, now for just 9.99! Buy buy buy!!!]
So how does that make me a pseudo-secularist, have they somehow psychoanalysed me and determined that my alleged secularism is actually a façade? Is there a fundamentalist inside me just waiting to get out? I hope not, I sincerely hope not.
Now we come to the Congress, a party whose history stretches back to the hallowed times of our Indian struggle for independence, now synonymous with bureaucratic inefficiency and steeped in corruption. So much for them, there are not many choices left.
My comrade brothers will be quick to point out that I haven’t mentioned the Left yet. So here; ‘the Left’. There I mentioned them. Seriously though, the Left has done a pretty good job in the states where they rule. Kerala and Bengal, traditional bastions of the Left are doing pretty well for themselves. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country and Bengal is not doing badly in either. Let me point out though that these states would probably do well as long as no one particularly inept was in charge. Kerala has a matriarchal society, and as we all know, if you educate a woman, you educate the whole family. Bengal is home to some of the first universities in the country and most Bengalis are typically intelligent people (based on those I know) so that’s that. Even if my arguments can be refuted and someone proves that the Reds can actually do some good in state governments, we all know what they are like at a national level.
Since the inception of the Congress led UPA, the Left has not for a minute, shut its ugly, hungry mouth. They are responsible for most of the failings of the UPA, constantly making unrealistic demands, trying to maintain their street cred as being ‘for the people’. Their attempts to scuttle the Indo-US nuclear deal were positively funny, they said it would compromise national security and was a threat to Indian sovereignty. If it weren’t for the Congress and the BJP, India would never have been established as a nuclear power in the first place. Particularly when the BJP took on the world and bravely conducted our second round of nuclear tests, the Reds were at the forefront of protesters denouncing the tests, claiming them a sin when so many were starving. Now when the Congress tries to do something that would ultimately benefit our starving millions, the Reds again feel the need to protest. They have ruined what could have been a good government.
The Congress has grown old and arthritic, though Dr. Manmohan Singh could have been a good Prime Minister, the Congress however is too fixed in the past. They insist on courting Indian political royalty, the Gandhi family, it may be argued that Sonia Gandhi has done well to unite a divided congress and bring them back to power, but she is merely a political seat-warmer, holding the ship together till son Rahul comes of political age (about 50 plus going by current standards). The Congress does need a shot of young blood but c’mon not another Gandhi/Nehru, give someone else a chance.
Where the BJP scores above the Congress to me is that they have a fixed political view and a truckload of conviction to back it up, to me the Congress is floundering in a sea of indecisiveness, for which they lose points.Reading this it may seem I slightly favour the Congress as I have come down a bit harder on the other two parties, but as it happens I don’t want to vote for the lesser of the two evils. When I go into a booth and cast that sacred ballot I want to fully believe that I am voting for a better India. While the current situation continues, there’s not much chance of me being able to do this; so remain in my political wilderness I must.
Being a typically cynical Indian, I knew our governments were not capable of implementing any decisions that would yield benefits to India somewhere in the future, I knew they only looked at what would ensure electoral success for them, but this was ridiculous.
All of a sudden, after being touted as part of a new and improved India, I was not wanted in my own country. Yeah like they are ever going to get my vote again. This however leads me to my main problem, if not the Congress, who do I vote for? For the sake of voting in a stable government, the only choice lies between the BJP and the Congress. Every ballot cast in favour of another party promises an unstable or impotent government.
I cannot and will not vote for the BJP for ideological reasons; to me they are a mess waiting to happen and we know where fanatical nationalism got Germany and Italy. Though the BJP promised a shining India, what we got were rivers of blood, particularly Muslim blood. Who gives a fuck if they were good for the economy (I’m not even sure about that), the shit that the VHP and RSS got away with was inexcusable. Their evil minions exercised their fundamentalist designs and literally got away with murder. Everyone who protested was labelled a ‘pseudo-secularist’. What the fuck is that anyway? They seem to love that particular phrase and swing it around in a sort of feeble defence, I’m not exactly sure what it is that they imply. Am I a pseudo-secularist because I value human life despite seemingly insurmountable religious divides?
pseudo- pref false, spurious.
Secularism [sekewleRizm] n tendency to exclude religious standards from public life; ethical system divorced from religious traditions
[Excerpts from the Penguin Concise English Dictionary, 1995, now for just 9.99! Buy buy buy!!!]
So how does that make me a pseudo-secularist, have they somehow psychoanalysed me and determined that my alleged secularism is actually a façade? Is there a fundamentalist inside me just waiting to get out? I hope not, I sincerely hope not.
Now we come to the Congress, a party whose history stretches back to the hallowed times of our Indian struggle for independence, now synonymous with bureaucratic inefficiency and steeped in corruption. So much for them, there are not many choices left.
My comrade brothers will be quick to point out that I haven’t mentioned the Left yet. So here; ‘the Left’. There I mentioned them. Seriously though, the Left has done a pretty good job in the states where they rule. Kerala and Bengal, traditional bastions of the Left are doing pretty well for themselves. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country and Bengal is not doing badly in either. Let me point out though that these states would probably do well as long as no one particularly inept was in charge. Kerala has a matriarchal society, and as we all know, if you educate a woman, you educate the whole family. Bengal is home to some of the first universities in the country and most Bengalis are typically intelligent people (based on those I know) so that’s that. Even if my arguments can be refuted and someone proves that the Reds can actually do some good in state governments, we all know what they are like at a national level.
Since the inception of the Congress led UPA, the Left has not for a minute, shut its ugly, hungry mouth. They are responsible for most of the failings of the UPA, constantly making unrealistic demands, trying to maintain their street cred as being ‘for the people’. Their attempts to scuttle the Indo-US nuclear deal were positively funny, they said it would compromise national security and was a threat to Indian sovereignty. If it weren’t for the Congress and the BJP, India would never have been established as a nuclear power in the first place. Particularly when the BJP took on the world and bravely conducted our second round of nuclear tests, the Reds were at the forefront of protesters denouncing the tests, claiming them a sin when so many were starving. Now when the Congress tries to do something that would ultimately benefit our starving millions, the Reds again feel the need to protest. They have ruined what could have been a good government.
The Congress has grown old and arthritic, though Dr. Manmohan Singh could have been a good Prime Minister, the Congress however is too fixed in the past. They insist on courting Indian political royalty, the Gandhi family, it may be argued that Sonia Gandhi has done well to unite a divided congress and bring them back to power, but she is merely a political seat-warmer, holding the ship together till son Rahul comes of political age (about 50 plus going by current standards). The Congress does need a shot of young blood but c’mon not another Gandhi/Nehru, give someone else a chance.
Where the BJP scores above the Congress to me is that they have a fixed political view and a truckload of conviction to back it up, to me the Congress is floundering in a sea of indecisiveness, for which they lose points.Reading this it may seem I slightly favour the Congress as I have come down a bit harder on the other two parties, but as it happens I don’t want to vote for the lesser of the two evils. When I go into a booth and cast that sacred ballot I want to fully believe that I am voting for a better India. While the current situation continues, there’s not much chance of me being able to do this; so remain in my political wilderness I must.
2 comments:
I believe that you strongly condemned Left than BJP which I also feel the same. But common I dont think BJP has done much harm in nurturing INDIA.They are good party and I hope whenever it comes to power it would do better than Congress only if it leaves its Hinduism thing.
Unfortunately, hindutva and the hindu rashtra are basic tenets of the BJP, they cannot change them otherwise they'd lose most of their votes. FIne they did an OK job but even the cong is not doing too badly. If as the CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey says, that Cong may win a majority, this will give them freedom from the left and they may be able to continue to rule, possibly doing a better job than now. Apart from the Office of Profit and Quotas in education they haven't done too much wrong. Their main problems are that they are not sure on who is actually the party leader and cannot control their allies.
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