Sir,
We always see anomalies around us, like littered polythene bags, defaced walls, dirty streets, encroachments by shopkeepers, unruly traffic, stray cattle, beggars and congested parking area. At the end of the day, we blame the Government for every wrong happening in the country.
Where is my own accountability as a citizen? What have I done to make things better? Am I not a part of the civil society and isn’t the civil society a part of the Government? We never think. After all the Government is made of people from amongst us? Then, why do we nurse this attitude of ‘us’ against ‘they’.
What we need is collective responsibility, based on individual accountability.
We are an extension of the governing authority and have to conduct ourselves accordingly. If we keep pulling down our own democratic institutions and the official machinery, then who will make it work?
Of course, we can question the Government, but after we have done our own duty.
On the slightest pretext, we will sit on dharnas, block highways and railway tracks disrupting the normal life. We will burn buses, trains, and Govt buildings. Why don’t we burn our own houses as a mark of protest? Because we do not consider the Government property as our own.
We treat the national property as free for all. “Loot it as much as you can,” is our skewed thinking. We do not for a moment think that it is our nation, and India is us. By destroying Government property, are we not destroying ourselves?
If the Lokpal Bill becomes a reality tomorrow, its success will also depend upon you and me. So, the buck stops at us. Hence, it is time we rekindle our inner voice and recognise our own identity as a citizen.
In whatever position or party, we have to realise our individual responsibility.
It starts from our house itself. In the morning, after sweeping our house, let us not push the garbage in front of our neighbour’s house. Lets not misuse Government property or fiddle with our electric meters or try to browbeat the system.
Yours etc….
Colonel Ripu Daman Singh ( retd)
Ambala Cantt
(Haryana)
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