Prof Javed Mughal
In politics, now-a-days, one general perception is flashing across the minds of almost one and all that the young blood must be given a chance to come forward to uphold the snaffle of the governance in the country all over. This perception is mainly supported by the reasons that the young blood is free from the diseases of corruption and other anathemas like nepotism, regionalism, favoritism, communalism, and corruptionism and thereby possesses an enlightened mind, broad vision and a formative approach to look at the affairs. But the recent disheartening role of Mr Akhilesh Yadav the youngest Chief Minister of UP has dashed all the hopes to the ground which the innocent masses had reposed in him, and has left a big question mark on image of the entire young political generation in the country. UP has set the worst instance of law and order derailment in the country. Killing of A former SP legislator in Azamgarh, Yashvir Singh in Ghaziabad last February, Dharmendra Singh in Bareilly, Chaman Lal Bhati in Noida and Badri Yadav in Mau, Bhola Singh in Auraiyya,, Miraz-ul-Haq in Gorakhpur, Arvind Yadav, and killing and lynching of other policemen, apart from thrashing and beating the doctors and recent violent attacks on toll plaza staff in Faizabad sends across a photographic representation of the inside plight of law and order in Utter Pradesh calling the competence of Akhilesh Government there. What can one expect from this Government when their own leaders and workers are not safe, asked Swamy Prasad Maurya, leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and senior Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader.
What happened in Muzaffarnagar is the worst of its kind in the regime of so-called energetic, honest and clear-hearted custodian of UP state. Otherwise too, I have a natural aversion to the politicians simply because the politicians of some caliber are yet to prevail in the country and the politicians ruling this ill-fated nation are no more the leaders of any body’s choice. When the entire Muzaffarnagar was afire and the Hindus and Muslims were daggers drawn with one another; when the spine-chilling cold was claiming the lives of the make-shift campers and nothing was safe in Muzaffar Nagar, a foreign junket of MLAs and some MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka were on the study tours abroad instead of staying back and playing their role to lighten the situation in Uttar Pradesh. Had the Karnataka MLAs, instead of going abroad to study at this crumbling stage of life, come to UP to study the plight of Muzaffar Nagar victims, it would have been of much more significance. This is the height of inclemency. On the other hand the utter callousness of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav who chose to spend time enjoying the ‘tamasha’ by Bollywood stars in Saifai, UP, ignoring the trauma of the riot-sufferers who were dying of the cold in makeshift camps, sent a galvanic shock through the spine of one and all in the country. Such insouciance from the ruling class is reminiscent of Louis XVI on the eve of the French Revolution. It is a recent phenomenon that MLAs and MPs would take off for cooler climes abroad to avoid the harsh Indian summers and to warmer foreign locales during the winters.
Hence the Karnataka MPs traveled to New Zealand and Australia which are enjoying their summers now, because of their location in the southern hemisphere. These junkets have been given the honorable nomenclature of “study tours,” when the journey is more touristic than about study. Why would Indian legislators have to travel to foreign countries to learn about democracy and governance? Should they not be traveling to the Maoist hit areas to better understand the situation in their own country? Why do they choose attractive locales such as Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Netherlands, Rome, the US and even Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, Dubai, Turkey etc, that don’t have any semblance of democracy? Why don’t they travel to South Sudan to see the complexities of statecraft and anarchy because that is where India seems to be heading? However, when the Prime Minister of the country is himself known as the most widely traveled head of state (to foreign countries, 67 times in 9 years) others can only follow his footprints. In a system where no accountability is sought from those who spend such public money recklessly, it is natural that such junkets become de jure and get an official stamp. Thankfully the media has brought this obnoxious practice to the public domain. On the issue of politics and Bollywood, the two have become synonymous now, with the Rajya Sabha looking like a star-studded arena. When the serial blasts happened in Patna on 26 October last year, Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde rushed to Mumbai, instead to, attend a Bollywood programme and even apologized for reaching there late. Such lack of concern for the ruled, by a Home Minister of the country can only be called abominable! Can India afford to be ruled by such men and women who are no longer in sync with the travails of the people?
Follow our WhatsApp channel