The census data is the pulse of a Nation. It
reveals a lot about the Nation’s health. In the case of India, the recent
census data shows a great proportion of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,
as compared with ‘others’, do not own an asset – consumer durables like
telephone, TV et al. Three states however deviate from this trend; they are
Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Kerala. The percentage ownership of assets by ‘others’,
in these states is far lower!!! The worst
ratios are in states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tripura, Jharkhand,
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh where a large majority of SCs and STs do not own any
asset. An ‘uneducated’ ( remember we are not supposed to discuss these while in
uniform – and some feel even after shedding the uniform) ‘retired’ soldier like
me see in these bold statistics why ‘Maoism’ in its present avatar is rampant
in the latter states mentioned above. Whether perceived or real the notion of
criminal elements joining the ‘cause’ and hijacking it is unimportant in the
circumstance. One obvious truth of the much touted positive and progressive
results of the economic liberalization is its failure to usher in an inclusive
growth. At best it has helped to increase the assets of haves in a distorted
proportion. In the process the rich have become super rich and the have-nots
are rendered poorer.
I am not attempting an essay on communism or
socialism. Neither is this an attempt to condemn capitalism, for these are only
terms coined by degenerate elitist societies mostly for partisan needs and
creation of wealth. The recent indiction of one of the crown princes, Bo Xilai, of
the Chinese Communist Party has been abruptly purged ahead of China’s
once-in-a-decade leadership change this autumn. He has been involved in a maze
of accusations involving deceit, money and nepotism. Pure communism too has
been a failure. Over the years we have seen that monolithic Governments,
democracy, communism are all equal failures when it comes to sustained
inclusive growth.
The system of Governance in India has failed to regulate growth. In our
exuberance to break away from the shackles of centuries of occupation, the
people of India were fed with a wrong concept of freedom to the extent when you
request a guy to remove his vehicle which is parked in the middle of a road he says
“Does your pop own the road? If you want, get through from the side” (Literal translation
from Bollywood Hindi). Exploitation continued even after Independence by
denying education to the underprivileged especially those in the hinterland.
When land became scarce due to unregulated growth and indiscriminate mining
operations the interiors of the country was encroached upon by unscrupulous
elements with the connivance of the authorities, depriving the underprivileged
their means for sustenance thus giving paving the way for revolutions of the Naxalism
genre. The name or the colour of the flag is immaterial here when rights of
people have been trampled upon. It is in this light the difference in census
data, say between Kerala and Bihar are significant. Mind you the ratio of SC,
ST and backward classes to ‘others’ is almost similar in the two states
mentioned. When Naxalism first raised its ugly head in Kerala in the 1960s, the notion then among a large section of the public in Malabar was
that a Naxalite is one who likes his/her country more than the rest of us, and
is hence more concerned than the rest when people suffer. At that time the
economy of Kerala, which had not started getting remittances from the Middle
East, was tottering. It was not surprising then, given our (Kerala) state of the economy at that
time and remnants of a feudal system (my family has lost some leased out farmlands in central Kerala to
the land reforms act of the Left Government of the state in the mid 60s) still
in vogue a large section of the people probably were Naxal sympathizers. In
Kerala the proximity of the common man to the Naxalites helped both sides to
see reason before the situation worsened. After all the Naxalites are Indians…more
Indian than maybe many of us.
I do not see any proactive action by the Governments of
the central states to right the wrongs done in the hinterland. Such movements
have never been squashed with guns. Use the Guns as temporary deterrent…but the
solution lies elsewhere. Break the nexus of local politicians and businessmen. It
is beyond the scope of this democratically elected Government which is not
ready yet to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Sadly it does not care
for anything else; except a few people like the district collector of Sukma, Alex Paul
Menon.
No what what the stated position of the GOI on resolution of political problems through dialogue,it has always relied on the power of the gun to enforce its will or to prolong the problem interminably in the hope that it will run out of steam.See how easily the Army is called in to quell political dissent and equally soon blamed for excesses committed by them as though they are the cause.The problem of Kashmir, Nagaland ,Maoists, Terrorists, Anti democratic forces,Anna Hazare and the Jan Lok Pal,the mysterious Foreign hand are overstated and self created due to inequality.
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy is that while many know there is a serious lack of credibility with Governance as we see it now, we are unwilling to take the time or effort to set things right.And it is this inertia that the political class, cutting across party lines, exploits successfully.When things start to become unmanageable as they will, throw a few crumbs and keep things quiet for a while.
Its an us and them situation now between the politician and the rest, not sacred call or anything to do with serious task of nation building or governance
'The us and them' phenomenon is in the least frightening.
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