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Of Indian politicians, VIP culture and abuse of privileges
Highlights
The gap between the privileged and those striving towards a better, more integrated life in their particular, diverse environments, is widening and compelling an unpleasant polarization that triggers volatile responses. This reality is beginning to raise its head, waiting to explode.
The gap between the privileged and those striving towards a better, more integrated life in their particular, diverse environments, is widening and compelling an unpleasant polarization that triggers volatile responses. This reality is beginning to raise its head, waiting to explode.
In our new age, where transparency is becoming an imperative and where millions have access to all manners of information on their cell phones, the churning and an unrelenting demand for basic citizen rights are palpable.
All governments, at the Centre and the states, will have to address this truth and the splits and the alienations that are dividing our social fabric. There is a protest against the dreadful VIP culture that has begun to appall all Indian citizens. This is because of the terrible arrogance of our elected representatives who grovel and compromise themselves for votes and political acceptance, and, once in the gaddi, behave as if the world owes them a living. This seems to be the common trait of most Indian leaders.
It has enforced a concrete like- divide between the rulers and the ruled in a democratic, federal India. This is the real contradiction in our polity and does not befit a democratic framework. Democracy must be inclusive. This political ' culture' has damaged the fundamentals of Indian democracy, forcing citizens to revolt against the system.
Kill the monster. The rampant corruption we are enveloped in and the corrupt practices that we have to wallow in, are a direct consequence of this political ' culture'. When friends in the political profession argue about why they have a right to VIP privileges, they sound absurd and silly. They all profess to work 24X7 and, so, they argue, are entitled to free VIP bits and bobs, implying by that statement that no one else works or deserves facilities that ease life on earth. Farmers work 24X7, as do lawyers, the press corps, writers, designers, doctors, the entire medical fraternity, and entrepreneurs in the social sector, the private sector that generates wealth and growth, and housewives.
It is time the prime minister reined them in and made them live and work by the laws of the land, with no discrimination whatsoever. As representatives of the people they must abide by the laws they have enacted for the people, and lead by example. Take away their large sarkari houses, put them in studio apartments when Parliament or the assembly is in session, send them to work in their constituencies, make them accountable, and India will salute its democracy. The babu too needs to be shorn of all privileges and made accountable. Freebies are part and parcel of that unpalatable VIP culture which has abused India over many decades.
The political frenzy that has been apparent over the last two years stems from a desperation to reject and destroy this invasive monster, which is eating into the social tapestry, creating divides, with the VIP culture as its symbol, establishing the ' us' and the ' them'. People had had enough. They have reached out to a new face, a possible messiah who would extricate them from the exclusive governance that has become the new feudalism of modern India. In Delhi, they risked voting en masse for a party that sounded different but which turned out to be worse, and far more clumsy, than any other before it. India is waiting to move towards a more egalitarian, inclusive society where probity in business, politics and administration brings about dignity and integrity.
By Javvadi Lakshmana Rao
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