“An Open Letter”
By
J.L. Gupta
Esteemed Prof. Manmohan Singh!
I have resisted the temptation of writing to you for a long time. Now I am convinced that silence, is not an option. Please forgive me for taking the liberty of writing an open letter to you.
It was the year 1960. I had joined the Law College at the Punjab University. After some time, you had taken over a teaching assignment in the Department Of Economics. Both the departments were initially located in different buildings but were ultimately housed in the department of Chemical Engineering. So, I had an opportunity to see you fairly regularly. More than that, I also used to sometimes stay at the house of my uncle who was teaching Mathematics. He lived just opposite your house.
Those days, everyone believed that ‘economy is also a source of revenue.' I vividly remember that you used to walk from your house to the department every morning. Only occasionally, you were seen driving the Lambretta scooter. In fact, the teachers and students mostly used to only walk or cycle to their departments. Resultantly, all were physically fit and medical expenses were minimal.
The Leaders too lead by example. Even during the war with Pakistan, P.M. Shastri had preached and practised austerity. The guest control order was a simple but an effective measure to avoid wastage of food and discourage ostentatious living. He had lived by his principles. When a rain accident occurred during his tenure as Railway Minister, he had not only resigned without any loss of time but also refused to go back home in the official car. Therefore, the people valued his word.
Today, more than half a century has passed. The change is visible. We have grown materially but dwarfed morally. We have moved from austere existence to aristocratic style; from economy to extravagance. Resultantly, gold is our God. Money is the main mantra. From the love of values, we have fallen to the love of valuables. 'Politics', which was once considered 'public service is today described as a 'combination of two words - Poli which means many and Tics - known as the blood sucking insects.' And there is good evidence. BMWs have replaced the old Ambassadors. Our leaders like to live in luxury instead of putting in labour. Governance is conspicuous by its absence. Yet, the cost of governance continues to mount by the day. In Mahatma Gandhi's party, his principles are the first casualty at the hands of the party leaders. They talk of principles but act only on interest. They promise but do not perform. No wonder, some bureaucrats are following the unedifying example.
Still, we claim a high rate of growth. Yes! Corruption. Pollution. Shortages of potable water and power. A perennial shortage of beds in hospitals and seats in schools. Despite all the taxes and education cess etc.. And we have depleted our natural resources. Devalued our currency to the rock bottom. Our rivers are reduced to dirty drains carrying human and industrial waste. Air is contaminated. Small children experience acute difficulty in breathing. A large number carry inhalers to schools. The green forests have vanished. There is no security of person or public and private property even in the NCR. In fact, even looking at the way the Chinese had set up various posts, the government's ability and will to defend the territorial integrity of India have been highly suspect. We had a great Opportunity to solve and settle the Kashmir issue when we had more than 90,0000 Pak soldiers and officers as Prisoners of war. We frittered it away for no reason. No wonder, the problem still persists.
And then, a question that bothers me is - what has freedom from foreign rule given to the poor illiterate people of India? One would have at least hoped for Freedom from want and hunger, inequality and untouchability. But no! The gap between the rich and poor has increased. Even the basic necessities are not available. Is this the JUSTICE that our Constitution promised to us? Are we not going through tougher times today than in the pre 1947 era? Who is responsible for the mess we are in? I shall pause for an answer.
A wonderful open letter, beautifully scripted, precise and relevant.
ReplyDeleteBut then, those all are the traits of your intelligence and thought, that we all are well-aware of, trying to learn and imbibe whatever little we can.
It seems like numerous files in PMO, this too has been ignored. Mum is the word for the leaders of our Nation.
Well said Uncle, but what is the solution and who will implement it??
ReplyDeleteVery well said uncle. All the money the Government collects in taxes, all the GDP growth in the country the world lauds.... but our civic amenities have only deteriorated. Wonder how this will stop.
ReplyDeleteIt is a commonly accepted doctrine that democracy, on exhausting its promise or, potential, or both, gives way to anarchy. Strangely, for most ordinary Indians these two phenomena began simultaneously in the Indian Republic. People had fought for freedom with high aspirations and welcomed with fond hopes the ‘midnight tryst with destiny’. Alas, that rendezvous with destiny turned out to be deceptive and disenchanting hallucination. People at large lost assured access to the British brand of administration and justice and found themselves at the mercy of vagaries of fate to survive in the face of invisible social upheavals unleashed by the birth of the Republic.
ReplyDeleteWas it curse 0f Providence or a lapse of human judgment that reduced Republic’s first six decades to an era of Dharmasya Glani ? Why did our moral and spiritual stock fall so low, so fast ? Sadly, the decline goes on. Might it be explained in terms of the Mahabharata’s dictum ‘DHARMO RAKSHTI RAKSHITEH, HATO EVA HANTI’? Paraphrased, it reads, law protects if protected, if robbed of its sanctity it destroys. If Constitution is taken to be the blue print of Republic’s Dharma, then its mutilation by the very first set of rulers was a sin. By destroying its design of checks and balances between the three organs of state the Ninth Schedule came as a warrant of redundancy for the judiciary.
Only courts of law guarantee the people their liberty and a just social order. In an unholy alliance, executive and legislature colluded to take away that guarantee, turning the Republic into a desert of expediency, injustice and immorality. Could not the justices of the land have done more to safeguard their turf as defined by Constitution? Why none rose from among them to expose Nehru’s misguided zeal and vitiated statesmanship?? For some inexplicable reason generals and marshals of judiciary did not rise to the challenge of safeguarding the Constitution. It was not just passing failure of one organ of state; instead, it was virtual demolition of the grandiose architecture of the Constitution of India. That India has not disintegrated or been convulsed by revolutions despite the excesses, arbitrariness and rank injustice of the creatures of the Ninth Schedule, is a tribute to the greatness of our Hindu ethos. If only the champions of the Ninth Schedule had been aware of Lord Acton’s warning as spelt out below:-
"I cannot accept, your canon that
we are to judge pope and king unlike other men,
with a favorable presumption that they do no wrong.
If there is any presumption, it is the other way against holders of power ...
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
-- Lord Acton
[John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton] (1834-1902), First Baron Acton of Aldenham
But the tragedy was not without its painful fall out. Personal ethics and public morals took a beating, corruption ate into nation’s entrails and in place of progress we became poorer and more backward. Respect for law is a lost virtue today. Truth in our Republic is mocked and punished and only falsehood prevails. Sadly, Judiciary still flounders in doldrums and has yet to rediscover its lost purpose. Clearly, it labours as a heterogeneous grouping, without distinct work ethics or a culture of accountability. Will it ever assume its designed role of bulwark between an oppressive state and the ordinary citizen at the grass roots ??
Jesus bore the cross and went through the pain of crucifixation even though he was the son of god. Shri Ram had to undergo 14 years of exile. They did this as they realised that they had to lead by example. They understood the value of the faith that the people had reposed in them.
ReplyDeleteYou in your wisdom have rightly highlighted the shortcomings of the leaders of today. Extremely proud to be a part of the family headed by you.
Bravo commentary and the readers some of whom were erudite
ReplyDeleteA short letter. In short sentences. Conveys everything. It portrays and pictures the Indian Society. Loud and clear. What a tragedy! The human fabric has ceased to be repairable. Bhai Sahib, Keep it up.
ReplyDelete(Balram)