The shocking and murderous attack on a convoy of Congressmen in Chhattisgarh by Maoists has left the nation stunned. The scale of the operation and the violence leave no scope for another round of ‘blame game’ or an attempt to divert attention from ‘what really ails the nation’.
It’s time that we cease to be amused and occupied with antics of our corrupt and self-obsessed ruling elite and their hangers-on. The IPL scandal should be swiftly dispensed with, and the celebrity crooks penalised as per law. Let’s not lose debating the ‘urgent need to plug the loopholes and enact a new stringent law that none can escape’. From crimes against women to autonomy of the CBI, food security to land acquisition, the only thing that the Good Doctor and his team can prescribe is a legal remedy. ‘Pop the magic pill,’ we are told, ‘and all painful ailments will be cured.’ When time comes to enact the legislation, the treatment turns out to be worse than the disease. The game in Parliament seems to be ‘fixed’ even more slickly than cricket. The ‘players’ and ‘controllers’ take turns at winning and losing enacting a not-so-dumb charade and the spectators continue to suffer—mostly in silence. Ironically, the draconian retrograde laws that are passed in haste ensure that voices of dissent or whistle-blowers are ‘silenced’—in a manner to strike terror in the hearts of the rest.
Provisions of the IT Act and laws of contempt and privileges of elected representatives, those gracing the Bench and higher echelons of bureaucracy, make the ruling elite virtually exempt from the rule of law. Similar immunity is now being claimed by the temporarily endangered species of celebrities. From film stars, Olympian boxers and flamboyant industrialists flaunting their patriotism, everyone’s ‘son, daughter and son-in-law’ has joined the chorus against the media trial that violates their fundamental right to privacy and of course to indulge in ‘family business’ as usual. The largest democracy in the world isn’t just dynastic but also depressingly discriminatory. The society is sharply divided between the rulers, their retainers and the ruled. The first past the post system of elections ensures that the ‘winner takes all’. The pernicious doctrine of the absolute unfettered supremacy of the elected representative has all but paralysed the state police and other law enforcement agencies. The CBI isn’t the only parrot in the cage in this menagerie.
What the carnage in Chhattisgarh has chillingly exposed is the incapacity of the State to perform its essential duty of protecting the lives of its citizen and safeguard its sovereignty. The Maoists have repeatedly challenged with impunity the writ of the government elected by the people. This has been the case not only in Chhattisgarh but also in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. There was a time when the Prime Minister had told the nation that the Maoists posed a graver threat to our security than terrorists. First, it seems a bit odd to make a distinction between Maoists and terrorists of a different hue; then there is the lame argument that the Maoist menace can’t be adequately coped with by the Centre because law and order is a state subject. What we have been experiencing is no run-of-the-mill law and order problem or something that can be dealt with by the provisions of the IPC. It’s clear that the Central government—ruled whether by the UPA or NDA— has been shirking its responsibility. There is utter confusion about how to ‘manage’ the problem. The hardliner hawks suggest a series surgical strike or ‘nuking’ the cancer while the peace-loving doves keep chirping about ‘bringing back the wayward, delinquent children’ back to the mythically happy family’s fold. Nor should the collateral damage inflicted by the self-deployed human rights brigade be overlooked. Well-meaning persons like Jairam Ramesh never tire of prescribing the developmental solution oblivious of the fact that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Who has, in this cricket-crazy, film star-struck society, to worry about the classic chicken and egg problem—how does development work begin as long as Maoists persist with terrorising bloodshed? How can the explosive alienation of the oppressed and deprived be reduced until a modicum of socio-economic benefits filter down? Slaughter of the innocent makes headlines but seldom does the well-entrenched symbiotic relationship between the Maoists and Indian corporate houses with vested interests in the ‘red zone’ find any place in news and views.
It’s easy to shed tears or wail loud for the loss of life after every dastardly attack and plead impotently that the grave crisis shouldn’t be politicised. What is needed is to stop treating IPL or Sanju baba’s travails in prison as the greatest national priority.
pushpeshpant@yahoo.com