02 April 2011
Tarun Vijay
The ugly, arrogant and corrupt Indian politician as a perfect replica of and the Hindu hypocrisy of worshipping the Devi in stone but murdering her in the womb should have taken precedence over the crazy rush to Wankhede.
A nation deeply in a black hole of hopelessness and rudderless at the leadership level tries to find moments of relief only through such escapes.
The media has no right to paint the rival team as Ravana. Ravana and all of his sinful fraternity live here more than in any other abode, and those who depict our friendly neighbour Sri Lanka as Ravana must apologize to Team Sangakkara.
Apart from the common man, who really deserved a Sachin, we also saw all those who happily perform the Ravana act in Delhi and Mumbai converging at Wankhede for a “break” from their hectic schedule. Almost everyone, including the DB Reality-tainted Pawars and their cohorts, tried to be at Wankhede and those who couldn"t, invited the media to their bedrooms to show large TV screen they had put up for watching the match.
Having fatigued ourselves staring at those who looted people"s wealth and were involved “honourably” in the brutal killings of more than three million girls we try to drown the harsh realities in a daylong excitement. Our new heroes are now Sachin and Assange.
No relief from any other quarter, no good news from any other activity. We get happier moments only from the region where governance and state powers are completely absent. India wins when government takes a nap. If government instruments play, we lose miserably.
A few days ago, a full-page advertisement by the Punjab government showed the state in the grip of an unprecedented drug menace. Ministers, police officers and social activists had their pictures displayed in small boxes on the sponsored ad pleading to the youth of Punjab to stay away from drugs. Punjab"s jawani, zameen and jal - youth, land and water - are fast diminishing. There was a report about a secretary of the Punjab government submitting an affidavit in the high court that should have made the nation more concerned than a win at Wankhede. Harjit Singh, secretary, department of social security and women & child development, in reply to a petition before the Punjab and Haryana high court, submitted on behalf of the Punjab Government, that “the vibrancy of Punjab is virtually a myth ... many sell their blood to procure their daily doze of deadly drugs, even beg on the streets for money to continue their addiction ... The entire Punjab is in the grip of a drug hurricane, which weakens the morale, physique, and character of the youth. We are in the danger of losing the young generation. The vibrant Punjab that had ushered in the green revolution is today living in a dazed stupor as 67 per cent of its rural households have at least one drug addict.”
Once Punjab was not only the grain supplier to the nation, but it also manned our forces. The state was synonymous with warriors and prosperous healthy farmers. No more.
No one rushed to Amritsar or Jalandhar to ensure we all work to stem the rot in time and save our saviours. It is this lethargic attitude to national issues that made us almost lose the youth of Kashmir to the stone-pelter Gilanis.
And look how we are losing the northeast. From Arunachal to Manipur to Assam and Nagaland, an unwritten rule of the insurgent antinational terrorist groups, hand in glove with corrupt politicians, is ruining the chances of a united India. The youth of these states are facing a grave danger to fall in traps of drugs, insurgent militancy and foreign powers" games against the nation. The tricolour is more endangered in the northeast than it seems to be in Kashmir. Alien infiltrators are deciding in a number of constituencies who would be elected and sent to the Indian parliament or the state assembly in Assam.
Yet no mad rush to Guwahati or Imphal to help Indian patriots and address the malaise afflicting the vitals of our society.
A nation can"t survive on the daily doses of bubblegum press statements and using strong language for an immediate clap of the crowd. The fact that India is losing its core values of strength and the dynamics to sustain a society are nowhere on the radar of our leaders. We want immediate results, immediate solutions and immediate successes. Everything that nature abhors.
Thousands are being killed by terrorists, several thousands committing suicides as farmers, disturbed Kashmir and the northeast, land and water and animal wealth being lost to the insatiable greed of blind urbanization, borders challenged by China and Pakistan, nukes on both sides and yet we love to get lost in trivialities.
Hopes are now concentrated on non-political efforts like Anna Hazare"s fast - don"t forget April 5 - Ramdev"s shows and accumulating angst in the hearts of people wearing a pregnant silence.
2 comments:
Your words are very inspiring. I wish we had more thought leaders like you in India.
I read both of your articles in Jansatta as well as this one in TOI. Having watched the full match and with all my sensibilities in place, I agree fully on what you have mentioned. Ravanas are all around us and we must fight them out and try contribute to make this nation healthy. The data in the census regarding girl child is astonishing and this is quite ironical that as we are becoming more literate (statistically) we are becoming more conscious of this fact and we are getting involved more on such acts of mental bankruptcy.
I am really happy that a person like you could bring out such issues at a time when almost all the channels and newspapers are busy in publishing reports of wealth shower on the cricketers. Come on we are living in a country which has more than 30% of our population not getting a square meal.
thanx and regards.
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