UPA is causing grave damage to our polity

The two controversial cabinet ministers- Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal had to finally resign. However, as this whole drama was unfloding, the the whole nation watched with great horror, the (mis)conduct of this government and the political maneuvering at the top level.

What has happened and more so, the way it has happened has seriously damaged the polity of this country.

The initial reluctance of the Congress leadership and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask these two ministers to step down for their alleged role in Coalgate and Railgate respectively, ensured that the people’s perception about politicians in power reach a nadir. The political drama that preceded these resignations made it evident that no matter what, the tainted Congress politicians will go to any extent to cling to power and there is no dearth of people at the top who consciously patronise such efforts.

We are aware that politicians in this country do not enjoy the best of the images and this does not augur well for our democracy in the long run. The UPA government hasn’t helped this situation by its conduct.

When a minister in power alters the investigations report of a scam and another one allows brazen auctioning of top posts in the government, instead of sacking them immediately what we witnessed were desperate attempts to save them. What has happened over the last few days is not going to help to improve the perception of people about politicians at large and all political parties need to worry about this.

Any government in power has to observe certain basic moral standards and operate according to some basic administrative cannons. However, both these parameters have been dumped by the UPA and it appears that we are being pushed back to the medieval age when Kings and Queens ruled along with a group comprising feudal lords who enjoyed fruits of power due to their personal loyalties.

These Kings, Queens and feudal lords made merry on the cost of welfare of the common people and the administration was run on their whims and fancies.

We opted for democracy so that such feudal systems, which ignore basic tenets of a welfare state, could be done away with. I am not sure whether our pride in being a vibrant democracy where people’s choice and public perception guided actions of any government still remains intact! 

The common man justifiably feel wronged when corruption and political expediency overtakes morality at the highest level in the government. The situation has come to such a passé that the trust deficit created by the misdeeds of UPA government is now affecting people’s trust in the institutions of this country as they see the powerful and influential members of the government running the government to suit their personal ambitions-be it power and/or money and the democratic institutions are being subjugated to serve their interests.

This government cannot abdicate the responsibility for triggering this loss of faith of common people in the polity of the country itself as there is no dearth of scam tainted ministers in the present government. Neither history nor the future generations will forgive this government for doing such grave damage to our vibrant democracy. The writing on the wall is clear: The sooner this government goes, the better it will be for the health and longevity of our polity.

India’s foreign policy in tatters

The UPA government has floundered on the foreign policy front weakening India’s position globally. Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh was killed in Pakistan and all that our government did was nothing but watched helplessly.  

This government has turned our country into a soft state over the last nine years. The legacy created by the NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee which resulted in India being treated as a strong emerging global power has been completely destroyed by this inefficient government. 

There is no direction in our foreign policy and we are getting humiliated all over the World. Pakistan forces beheaded our two soldiers in January this year and another Indian prisoner Chamel Singh was brutally tortured and killed in Kot Lakhpat jail, where Sarabjit was assaulted. But our government failed to show the resolve well in time. Had this been done, probably Sarabjit would not have been brutally killed. 

As we look all around, we find that our neighbours are taking advantage of India being a ‘weak state’. The recent Chinese incursion in Ladakh, which was brushed aside as a localised event by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh has turned out to be well planned effort by Chinese to grab Indian territory. Unfortunately, no strong signal has been sent to our Chinese counter parts. In fact ,the weak-kneed Indian government seems ready to crawl when asked to bend.

In Bangladesh atrocities are committed on Hindu minorities and the radical elements are slamming India. There is a massive influx of refugees from Bangladesh to the Indian state of Tripura. We have failed to take up this issue with Bangladesh government effectively to stop persecution of Hindu minority there. Also the important issue of sending illegal migrants from Bangladesh back to their country seems to be missing completely on India’s foreign policy agenda. We all know the reason for this absence is “Vote bank politics” of Congress. 

Our relationship with Sri Lanka has taken a nosedive. We are just not able to raise our voice and make Sri Lanka government hold those accountable who committed gruesome war crimes against Tamil population there. Neither we have been able to stop the growing influence of and interference of China in this neighbouring country with which India have enjoyed close ethnic and cultural bonding also for so long. 

The anti-India sentiment in Nepal is quite evident. We have failed to reverse this tide. Also Nepal seems to be getting closer to China even as the Indian government seems to be not making any visible effort to protect India’s geo-strategic interests there. 

In Maldives, we have lost so much ground that Indian firms are not able to do business there. 

It is clear that India’s foreign policy is going through one of its worst phases in Indian history and a lame duck government is doing almost irreversible damage to India’s interests globally. 

बयानबहादुरों ! सिंहासन खाली करो कि जनता आती है

दिल्ली में एक पांच साल की बच्ची के साथ दुष्कर्म को लेकर प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह ने कहा कि महिलाओं को सुरक्षा प्रदान करने के लिए  व्यवस्था में बहुत ज्यादा सुधार की जरूरत है। जिन्हें सुधार करना है वह खुद ही ऐसे मौको पर जिम्मेदारी लेने के बजाए सलाह देने का जिम्मा उठा लेते हैं। 

यह विडंबनापूर्ण है कि सरकार के जिस मुखिया पर इस सुधार को लाने की जिम्मेदारी है वह केवल इतना भर कहकर अपनी जिम्मेदारी से बचने की कोशिश कर रहा है। यह दुखद भी है और देश के लिए चिंतापूर्ण भी कि जिस सरकार को ठोस कदम उठाने चाहिएं, वह हर ऐसी संवेदनशील घटना पर बयानबाजी कर फिर अपने खोल में लौट कर निष्क्रिय हो जाती है।  

पिछले नौ साल से केंद्र में कांग्रेस की अगुआई में यूपीए की  सरकार है और लगभग 14 साल से दिल्ली में  कांग्रेस की सरकार है। लेकिन देश और दिल्ली दोनों ही पहले से कहीं ज्यादा असुरक्षित हो गए हैं।

राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकार्ड ब्यूरो के आंकड़ों पर नज़र डालें तो पता चलता है कि देश भर के 53 प्रमुख शहरों में (जहां जनसंख्या 10 लाख से ज्यादा है) दर्ज बलात्कार के मामलों में से 17.6 फीसदी दिल्ली में घट रहे हैं। इसी तरहं अपहरण की घटनाओं में भी दिल्ली की हिस्सेदारी करीबन 32 फीसदी की है और छेड़खानी की घटनाओं में से भी 10 फीसदी मामले दिल्ली में ही दर्ज किए जा रहे हैं।  

साल  2011 की जनगणना में इन 53 शहरों की पहचान बड़े शहरों यानी कि मेगा सिटीज़ के तौर पर की गई थी। वर्ष 2011 में इन शहरों में महिलाओं के खिलाफ अपराध के 33,789 मामले दर्ज किए गए। साल 2010 में इस श्रेणी में 35 शहर थे जिनमें महिलाओं के खिलाफ  अपराधों के 24,335 मामले दर्ज किए गए थे।  

आइए अब इस बात पर भी थोड़ा विस्तार से नज़र डाल लें कि इन 53 शहरों में दिल्ली की क्या हालत है? यह जानकर दुख होता है कि महिलाओं के खिलाफ अपराधाों में इन 53 शहरों में दिल्ली शीर्ष पर है।  इन प्रमुख शहरों में महिलओं के खिलाफ हुए अपराधों में दिल्ली की हिस्सेदारी 13.3 फीसदी है। ब्यूरो के आंकड़ों के अनुसार साल 2011 में ऐसे 4489 मामले दिल्ली में दर्ज किए गए।

सवाल यह है कि इन अपराधों पर अंकुश लगाने के लिए दिल्ली और केंद्र सरकार ने अब तक क्या किया?  अगर व्यवस्था लस्त-पस्त हालत में है तो उसकी जिम्मेदारी किसकी है? इस तरहं की घटनाओं के बाद सत्तारूढ़ दल केवल दुख  व्यक्त करके यां अपनी आहत भावनाओं के बारे में बसानबाज़ी कर अपनी जवाबदेही से बच नहीं सकती है। 

सच तो यह है कि आम आदमी कांग्रेस की इस कृत्रिम चिंता और खोखली बयानबाजी से तंग आ चुका है। उसे ठोस कार्रवाई चाहिए।  यूपीए की सरकार नौ साल में देश के पुलिस बलों में संस्थागत सुधारों की शुरूआत करने में नाकाम रही। दिल्ली में 14 साल से  मुख्यमंत्री शीला दीक्षित ने राजधानी की लचर होती कानून-व्यवस्था को सुधारने के लिए कोई ठोस कदम नहीं उठाया।  केवल दूसरों के जिम्मे ठीकरा फोड़ कर वह अपनी जवाबदेही से बच नहीं सकती हैं। 

दिल्ली की सड़कों पर उतरी आक्रोशित आम जनता  साफ संकेत दे रही है, बयानबहादुरों, सिंहासन खाली करो, कि जनता आती है!