Who Is In Love With Truth?

Truth needs to be redefined in our Indian context. Truth has already become a vague term. It is important who says it, not what is said. I appreciate Mr Munde's courage to speak out something which is an open secret. Who does not know that what is shown as the expenses in electioneering is only the tip of the iceberg. Rules are framed to generate documents; not to divulge truth.Everyday all around us so much lies are pronounced, it is difficult to discover the needle of truth from the haystack of lies.

In a corrupt society like ours, a lie can turn into truth by the influence of money and power; and a truth will be brushed aside as no one believes that there are some Indians who still adhere to truth as a morality.

Our moral decadence is complete. Hence, if one emphatically says that he is telling truth, people suspect him more, or look at him, as if an extinct species uttering out from a fossilized history.   

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Where Do We Go ?

 India now needs a complete overhauling of the system. Change of government is only a choice between the scoundrel and the devil. But at the moment, to our misfortune, no such alternative has emerged to steer ahead the nation to build a New India and fulfill the democratic aspiration of her people. We have had enough of exploitation of the common citizens of the country. Unmistakably, police have been most corrupt and notorious in our country. They are not for the protection of the innocent or the victims. They are a mindless, self seeking lot influenced by power and money. Our political leadership has degenerated to such a low level of ignominy that voting for them is a shame for any educated and conscious citizen of this country.

Undoubtedly, we are living in a very scary and violent society. We are so much concern about the external terrorism; what about the terrorists in the form of police, bureaucrats, and politicians within? 

Why do politicians spend so much of money to hoodwink the gullible voters to get elected? Is that with a motive to serve the nation or to make hundred times more money during their tenure?

Indian Enigma

India was never a unified nation. It was ruled by several Kings over hundreds of small provinces. Historically, the relationship between these provinces was far from cordial. Very often these Kings were engaged in war and hostility among themselves. India was invaded very early in her history by many foreign invaders. However, over two centuries of British rule in India had at least two good impacts on this country-- unification of the nation ushered in by anti-British sentiment created by some eloquent and dynamic leaders, and the access of the Indian elite class to the progressive western thoughts through learning of English language. Though, we cannot belittle the contribution of Indian leaders' pioneering leadership during the freedom struggle, yet we cannot also ignore the other side of the story behind India's freedom in 1947. After the World War II, the economy of England was in serious difficulty and the administration of a large colony like India was not economically viable any longer. Hence, Economic trouble of England coupled with the resurgence in India for freedom led to India's freedom on 15th August 1947. India was a great ancient civilization but was far away from the modern thinking of the twentieth century when she got her freedom. The society was ridden with superstitions; level of literacy was low and worst of all, the feudalistic mind set was very deeply ingrained in the social system. Unfortunately, this mind set is still strong in India. Because of this the politicians, bureaucrats and police thrive in India, despite being the personifications of corruption and inefficiency. Till date the greatest dream of a talented Indian youth is to get into Indian Civil Services owing to the demi-god like respect Civil Service officials enjoy in the society. India became free from foreign rule but fell into the evil trap of indigenous new rulers who are more self-seeking and unjust than their colonial counterparts. India adopted a parliamentary democratic system in the line of the British system. But with widespread illiteracy, poverty and a society more backward looking than embracing modern world thoughts and ideas, made a propitious ground for a handful of elites and educated to exploit the ordinary citizens at every counter. This commenced the culture of corruption in the country, and today it is so deep rooted and glaring everywhere that honesty has become synonymous with stupidity and lie. This vast nation today with a population of 1.24 billion appears to be no one's nation. There is a saying-- "in democracy you get a government that you deserve". This statement is very pertinent to Indian democracy. Due to poverty and large scale unemployment the democratic suffrage is largely influenced by money power. And due to sizable illiterate population the election of the representatives never gets the stamp of prudence based on national priorities. As a result, umpteen numbers of uneducated, criminal elements with the influence of money and muscle wield power at various levels of governance. What contribution can be expected of such unworthy representatives for social and economic growth? Their only motivation is to aggrandize their personal wealth and social status. Some good and upright people who venture into politics get disillusioned soon and their voices are silenced by the authoritarian party leadership or by the vested interest groups. I do not know what could be a better form of governance, but I am convinced that democracy in India has turned into mockery and is extraordinarily burdensome for a poor economy. India's burgeoning population is always seen as a negative factor for her economic growth. There are two reasons to this ever increasing population problem-- a) lack of proper education b) the underdeveloped rural parts of India is still stuck in time. India's investment in education is conspicuously low since her Independence. If I recollect properly, it is only 1.2% of her budgetary allocation in recent times, whereas China allocates 2.2% for education. Education is the most neglected sector in India and as a fall out, it attracts comparatively inferior talents into teaching profession. I do not discredit the talent of many brilliant people who have chosen teaching as their profession out of sheer love. But such people are sparsely visible and are mostly engaged at the higher level of education. The conditions of government managed schools in rural and semi-urban places are highly deplorable. It appears that the government loves statistics more than quality. Whatever little money, allocated to promote the so called literacy movement, is largely swindled away by the corrupt hierarchy at all levels. It is, therefore, very distressing to say that India's investment in social capital has been abysmally low for several decades now. The country cannot escape from paying heavy price for this negligence, in future. The population control which is directly related to education and modern outlook cannot be achieved without investment in social capital, which includes unflinching emphasis on education. India's pursuance of economic policy has always remained enigmatic. After independence the priority was on large public sectors, a half hearted experiment in the then Soviet model. The pubic sectors with their long gestation period and little focus on profitability created a culture of inefficiency and failed to generate wealth for the nation. Profit those days was a dirty word for some of our front line leaders. Over indulgence of government in business enterprises mired the growth of entrepreneurship in the society. India, however, woke up to realities in late 90s of the twentieth century initiating the process of economic liberalization and reforms. Though the process of reform is very often derailed and contradicted in past two decades and India still remains an investor's nightmare; nonetheless, some progress in the economy is perceptible during this period. For a country like India growth in GDP or statistical increase in per capita income do not vouch, any way, for reduction of poverty or enhancement of social welfare; because the disparity in distribution of wealth is so glaringly disproportionate that the improvement in the conditions of the poverty stricken people, in any recognizable future, will not be less than a miracle. Unless a vigorous change in national character is achieved by eradicating corruption and inefficiency from the society and by conscious investment in social capital India can hardly accelerate her economic and social growth; whatever the statistician may indicate.

Part 5

The impoverishment of judicial process is a sinister sign, for it negates other fundamental rights granted to the citizens of this country. Gradually power-wealth-influence centers have taken the front stage snatching away the rights of the common and ordinary citizens. Who does not know that one has to appease the greed, egos and in some cases the nefarious desires of the Babus, Police, Politicians even for one's legitimate rights? If one has proximity to power center, to police officials one can even victimize innocent people, can drive upright human beings to lunacy.This I will elaborate with case history in appropriate time. We are not living in a free society, we are not living in a welfare society, rather we are living in a hypocritical frame work and a violent society. Every day like slow poison subtly and cunningly violence is inflicted on us. Historically, Indians are a tolerant people and they assign everything to their fate. Because of this passive traits in us we take every thing in our stride. the fear lurks that if you are reluctant to accept the designs of the powerful and influential people you are sure to be victimize and endangered. Who does not know that big money changes hand in political circles? Who does not know that rules and laws are bent to favor the rich? Who does not know that the police force is a puppet in the hands of their political masters? Who does not know that we are ruled by an inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy? Who is not aware that politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats, police people posses assets disproportionate to their known source of income? This grim state of affairs is breaking down the boundaries of tolerance slowly, and is manifested in several social maladies, deviant behaviors and anti-social activities, some times terrorism. Psychologists say that the deviant behavior of the child can be traced to the behavior pattern of the parents. In the same logic, the ever increasing crime scenario in our country such as rape, murder, violence etc. have their origin in the malfunctioning of our judicial and administrative system. Deployment of umpteen number of police force will not ameliorate the situation unless we fight with courage against injustice and corruption not being swayed away by the empty slogans and manipulated statistics. India to remain unified and shine as a great nation needs restoration of high standard of values and ethics, which were the cannons of social existence in the past. Be aware that Indians are, particularly, not very patriotic.

Part 4

The intermediaries between the police and the judiciary are the legal professionals. It is an irony that majority of the legal professionals are seldom knowledgeable about law. They thrive on common man's ignorance of the complicated legal system of our country. Your association with a legal practitioner for remedy is a bonding for rest of your life. The remedy always drifts farther from you and like a drowning man you catch on to the straw. You are dragged into a vicious circle of no escape. Even an innocent person has to quickly learn from his legal adviser, why he might prove guilty and why he should stick on to him for his safety. Mind manipulation is a very dangerous tool used by these guardians of justice to doom your life to unending damnation. There are no doubt some brilliant and highly knowledgeable legal professionals in our country, even at our vicinity also. But they are either devoted to twist the interpretation of law to the benefit of their clientele; in other words even to provide protection to the perpetrators of crime. In their Lucifer like powerful oratory and ominous knowledge of the deficiency in the legal system, they quite often than not ,succeed in protecting their criminal clientele. For common, ordinary, poor and innocent people to reach these misguided brilliant minds is like asking for moon. They are overloaded and are exorbitantly expensive for the ordinary. Where do you go now for upholding justice and human dignity? Keep yourself consoled by reading the Constitution, which has been made practically inoperative and crippled by the custodians of justice. But we Indians are very adept in philosophizing sufferings with religious references. When we go helpless, we always say that there is a God who knows the truth and he will definitely punish the wicked and save the innocent. I wish, such a God should read our Constitution and also pay more attention to our predicament. Where are we heading for? If the pillar of justice is infested by termite like administrators and intermediaries, the social edifice is bound to crumble. Along with it many other vital Institutions of our society are sure to fall giving way to anarchy. A country like India with such vast diversity and large population will not be able to withstand this imminent collapse, the process of which has already set in. Bomb blasts in Hyderabad, Delhi or Mumbai are gross physical expression of how violent our society is. But the subtle violence and cruelty in our society does not kill a few dozens of people here and there, but these are poisons for a billion of people who haplessly consume it everyday. I had my own close encounter with the horrifying process of justice, which I will reveal with minute details at an appropriate time. But when I myself hold the view that our noble Constitution has become inoperative, I am afraid whether I should exercise my fundamental right to Freedom of expression. ( to be continued )

Part 3

The loftiest promise made to the Indians in their bulky and exhaustive Constitution was JUSTICE. As such, despite its terminological antiquity, Justice is a relatively new concept for mankind. Perusal of human political and social history,does not exhibit any civilization or society which had the right cannons of justice. On the other hand, the history of mankind repletes with instances of exploitation of the weak and the poor. At best, justice was for the rich, famous and the powerful people. Man has been subject to indescribable injustice inflicted by political leadership, guardians of religions, wealthy and socially influential people.Societies all through the recorded history, but for some exceptions, were violent and cruel in character. In the process of social evolution some nations in the world, of course, have been able to minimize this inherent violent and cruel characters of their societies. But the extraordinary burden of competition has again deprived the citizens of these counties to rank low in their happiness quotient. Then what was this grand design of Justice the creators of our Constitution had in their mind for the common, ordinary, and inconsequential citizens of this country? To my knowledge, the process of Justice in our country has three arms-- the police administration/ investigative agencies, the legal professionals and the judiciary. In today's context which one of these three arms is common man friendly with unblemished sanctity. Of late, media -- the fourth column of democracy, has apparently become responsive to human rights and justice. But in their over enthusiasm and to be ahead in the competition, some media houses overstep their jurisdiction and encroach into the areas of judiciary. Undoubtedly, their wide penetration into society has made them a formidable force to swing opinion and pass judgement before trial.This indisputably is a disturbing trend, due to the power swing which can result in rampant corruption. However, a powerful press with integrity could be a good hope for the common man. Who does not know about the corruption in our police and investigative departments. They rank at the top of the corrupt organisations in our country. Police in any civilized society plays a pivotal role in providing attributive, retributive and distributive justice to the people. Therefore, the image of a police man has to be trustworthy and upright. Does any Indian cherish such an image about our police men? Police is for the influential, for the rich and for the powerful. This seemingly incorrigible corrupt police administration in our country has made our quest for justice, a far cry. If by mistake you cross their path, they have enough arsenal to make you miserable for rest of your life. They are not unaware about inefficiency and other aspects of our judiciary. Sometimes ago I shuddered to read in the news papers about the ten most corrupt Chief Justices of India. What a shame. A man sitting on the chair of a judge is vested with the power of God to decide the course of destiny of a person and consequently the destiny of a society. Do we not often hear about the corruption in judiciary? Do we not become victims of the rich, influential and powerful people and wait indefinitely to get justice ruining our peace, happiness, financial standing and what not? And the justice may ultimately come after decades of miseries, at a cost or may not come at all. ( to be continued)

Part 2

On the 14th August 1947 midnight ( that was 15th August) Pundit Nehru addressed to the nation emphasizing on India's awakening to light and freedom. Despite a gloomy and gory backdrop of mass genocide, Indians all across celebrated the Independence day with full gusto and delight. Why not? To any Indian it was the end of tyranny of foreign rule for centuries, nay for millennia; farewell to despotic Kings and Monarchs, to the unjust foreign rulers. On 26th day of November 1949, we the people of India gave to ourselves the longest Constitution of the world. The elaborate Constitution committed to the citizens of this newly born nation: Justice-- social,economic and political; Liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; Equality of status and opportunity, Fraternity, Human dignity etc.These promises were like dream-come-true and words unheard before on this large land-mass called India. The empowerment of the common man in his motherland looked so comforting and so much so inspiring that the wound of foreign rule became history and the road ahead looked rosy and bright. In the meantime 66 years have passed with 66 hot and dusty Indian summers and cold and biting winters. In our adventure in self-rule and in our experiment with democracy, we have stumbled, faltered and in the process have created a society which is scary, dangerous and antithetical to human dignity. The Frankenstein is out. We are not far away from anarchy and self-destruction. The Mayans went wrong in their prophecy of Dooms day, but our engineers of destruction are all out untiringly and unfailingly to prove them right. ( to be continued )