Sudhansu R Das
NDA’s President candidate Mr P A Sangma has challenged UPA’s president candidate Mr Pranab Mukherjee for a public debate prior to the President election. A public debate could be very much interesting as both will place their views so that people could choose their president. Pranab Mukherjee who is passionate about public debates tows the party line and is in a denial mode. In fact, the World’s largest democracy- India can only survive if there is public debate between leaders exactly in the manner of US democracy where people judge public representatives from a close angle. Public debate and mass meetings are the soul of democracy which allows leaders to connect with people. It would be interesting for people to listen to Pranab Dada’s ‘O’ dominated alphabet mixed speech and Mr Sangma searching for ‘C’ in his speech. Both were stalwarts and experienced to make democracy pulsate.
Off course Indians deserve the best president who can inspire people and whose appeal will cross the frontier of caste, religions and party ideology. Denying people of India the essence of democracy- a debate between two president candidates will not help democracy.
India is crumbling in many fronts. Its north east border districts have chronic problems of foreigners’ massive settlement, insurgency, terrorism, overexploitation of natural resources, serious environmental degradation which has made a dent in economy, moral and physical degradation of general mass due to lack of political inclusion, flight of capital and resources to foreign destinations, flight of exceptional youth talents due to foreign poachers and due to lack of opportunities in India. The nation has failed to pave its way through global traps for opportunities. It has failed to guard its rupee, monitor rogue foreign investors who manipulate stock market, it has failed to improve Balance of Payment situation, inflation, regional disparity, caste proliferation, lack of opportunity inclusion, fiscal deficit and failed to provide jobs to sports talents due to utter lack of political inclusion in the country. Many India’s observers in the west opine that India is a dangerous place to make business. Railways and Indian Airlines make losses when they are supposed to make huge profit. Stimulus packages are given to add flesh to elephantine legs. Our urban centers have become terrible mess.
People in housing society in Hyderabad spend an average Rs 1500 per month to buy water. Chennai had lost its 3000 water bodies. Now plans are afoot to build toilet in rural areas at Rs 15000 per toilet which will not require water for flushing. The question is why the rivers have become dry in rural areas and the wells have got arsenic contents? Water in villages is like blood in human arteries. Over the years we have created generations of yes men brown saheebs who cling to political and corporate bosses to torture honest and dedicated people in the system. There are still honest police officers, judges, teachers, bankers and politicians who are suffocated in the system.
This is high time for the Indian politicians to end their dangerous game. Otherwise Indians will have to bow their heads in shame after a few years as per head debt burden is fast increasing on people.
President election is an opportunity to start the process of political inclusion in the country. There is an urgent need for a consensus among politicians for a fit President candidate who can inspire the mass. We had presidents like Dr Rajendra Prasad and Dr Abdul Kalam who could inspire the mass with their honesty and simplicity. This is time for introspection.
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