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They
say India has not developed because of it’s
politicians but in spite of them. Well, that is
an extreme view. Looking at the last decade and
a half we can safely conclude that politicians
and their games are not so much a problem as are
the corrupt among us. The point I am trying to
make is that a major portion of the development
this country has seen did not happen when we had
strong governments running the show. It happened
when comparatively weak coalition governments
were in office.
We have a tendency of blaming the politician for
every malady. We have to realize here that just
as people in our society are very different from
each other, politicians too are very different.
There are scoundrels in both but then there are
the gems who are patriotic and hard working. If
the country is rising fast it is because of the
gems and in spite of the corrupt, unpatriotic
scoundrels in our society.
As citizens of this great nation we must develop
zero tolerance against corruption. There are two
approaches to this issue. The first is expose
corruption. Catch and punish corrupt people. The
second, and the more effective way, is to
develop transparent systems. I am happy to say
that with ever advancing computerization and
legislation like the RTI we are working in the
right direction. Corruption is getting defeated
and the changes are very visible. To strengthen
the fight further people must use the RTI weapon
more and more against the corrupt. We must work
towards building a vigilant society which
aggressively fights out corruption.
In fact, today in the times of galloping
development, some of the much maligned
politicians are the saving grace. In developed
economies, the industrialists and the government
are in cahoots and have joined force to exploit
the ordinary citizen. Industrialists dictate
government policies and through them decide how
much people earn and how they live. In India any
policy considered exploitive is immediately
opposed. The miracle is that, unlike the
development in China and a host of other
countries, the Indian development scenario has a
human face. India has shown the world that
dizzying rates of development can be sustained
even with the chaos of a truly free democracy.
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Comments: |
A very good article indeed. Indian
media is fiercely independent at
this time. It is very good. The day
media becomes the concubine of
businesses, the society becomes
diseased by an infestation of
unscrupulous exploitative business
syndicates that run their businesses
in an immoral fashion and gag the
media from covering it.
I have always pointed to all who
will listen, that the hijack of the
media should be prevented at all
costs. It is for this reason that I
did not support the view that Indian
media should be curbed when it goes
overboard at times, and shows
horrific images in too great a
detail. If I was to choose, a media
that is brutally honest (with its
deficiencies) is far better than one
that prints beautiful glossy
magazines where news is edited by
people who have political agendas.
That, in itself, is the first nail
in the death of democracy.
Democracy can be 'technically
achieved' when you get people to
vote, but do not give them the right
information, and try to make them
ignorant and open to hypes and
rumors rooted in race, religion or
regionalism.
The demise of an open system like
India happens when business houses
that keep Politicians on their
payroll, or make campaign
contributions, go on to acquire the
ownership of a media company. If a
firm making cigarettes buys a
newspaper, then there will obviously
be pressure on the newspaper to
suppress articles regarding the
deleterious effects of smoking. If
the cigarette company pays off the
politicians to get a waiver for
their industry, the newspaper arm
will tend to protect the parent
company.
This has not happened in India so
far. But, this change can happen
overnight. Some endowed politician -
maybe someone who is a diseased
branch of a dynastic tree, might
decide to take lessons from other
countries where the people are kept
dumbed down by an information
strangle-hold. As the author rightly
says - vigilance is needed today
more than ever! - Aarcee - Feb.
5, 2007 |
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