Comparisons on a political Scale

Well!! Me and a friend of mine lets say Mr. X (whose name I won’t mention because I have been advised by others not to mention any names in my blogs) have had at least half a dozen arguments on our regions ,the topic being “whose state is better : Mine or His “.Obviously when it comes to arguing about our home places we are not much tolerant to each other (contrary to other issues in the hostel among our friend where there is a trend to show your self in a poorer light than others ,modesty personified.)We attack each other with state and region based jibes and try to recall every past happening: almost all of them being bad ones,of their respective states to each other .These meaningless ‘Thass’ ; as these time wasting sammelans are known in the hostel lingo sometimes get so hot that you find people from other regions and other places joining any sides and passing comments even if they don’t know an iota about it .

Mr. X is from UP and we hold passionate arguments about his place and Bihar .But I think seeing the present circumstances in UP, I would beat him fair and square in the argument.

True My state is very backward, poor ,has ridiculously low literacy rates, is deeply divided on the basis of caste, has a crumbling government machinery, fiscal health of the state is almost dead , Tourism Nil , the Ethical values of the people driven out of despair and lingering poverty brought to a new low ,Industries almost dysfunctional and shutters down on most of the cooperative and public offerings .Though the new government is looking forward to setting up new avenues and encouraging a cleaner environment as far as corruption is concerned, mixed with a sense of the fact that finally a morally responsible government has arrived on the quarters … but it will take years to recover out of the mess Mr. Lalu Prasad had brought the state into .Well it was really a miracle that how could he rule the electoral roost even with high anti-incumbency, a very visible Zero development or rather say negative development index and a party drawn to daggers with constant fights and very little organizational capabilities .But thanks to the internecine disputes among his opposition ,their poor leadership and the fact that he is Lalu ;exceptionally gifted in political maneuvers and Machiavellian skills ,he was never out of the government .With his rural-style histrionics and shrewd political think divided the state deep down on the basis of caste ,he brought a sense of political consciousness and awareness of the electoral force our constitution has imparted to common man among the people of the stated .And this rise in political consciousness ultimately brought his downfall when the people finally thought of giving a new person and a new party their reign. I think everyplace and every region has its share of bad days and these are the days when we learn most of our weakness and the things we are susceptible to.

Now take the case of UP. Going by the current affairs as you think of UP and instant visual of Nithari victims all dressed in black robes their face white and pale shrieking comes to your mind and you suddenly see next, the picture of Mulayam Singh; all perspiring, sitting in an undulating chair just managing to keep hold of it .and the whole of political fraternity in a hurry to fix a ladder on the back of those hapless nithari victims,trying to take mileage out of their plight .

Yes UP has been on the path of development for a while. It has still managed to keep few industries profitable ,boasts of huge human resources ,a large chunk of cultivable land ,best of transportation facilities ,few of the top-notch educational institutes ,and fledging tourism business (Just to the sheer luck of ‘ Shahjahan choosing Agra for the Taj and Krishna considering Vrindavan as the place of his incarnation and blah blah …..) .I am being so critical of the tourism industry because of the fact that though the trade is respectable but when it comes to tourism spot generation and giving to the customers a high value of their money ,UP has got to go a long way in doing something that Goa and few other paces have done .And then come issues of Poverty ,unemployment and illiteracy the three tripod of human vices that have spurred the civilization into a chaos. Yes they are a major problem here too but as compared to Bihar they are lesser and improving at a better rate .Yes I admit UP is better off in these regard and in fact on its road of progress .

But Now I would underline the areas where they really fall short of, not by few inches rather hands down and this is bringing negative vibes not only in the state rather throughout the country .Exceptional high rates of crime ;not only inter district rather inter-state crime also being organized from the UP .UP criminals have best access to political power .They are and have been long known for their skills at affecting the electoral fortune of the state and thereby permeating into the political levels .After getting into politics they tend to strengthen their political image :either by force or spreading corruption or rather by establishing a rule of law on their own .The result is a vicious cycle where politics, corruption and criminals become the three players and the ball(identify the common man with it) gets on passed between these three. Well though I must say that corruption and criminalization is inevitable when a society grows up. History has shown that owing to the peculiar human tendency of extracting a gain out ,these methods will never be outdated .In fact some analyst point out that politics is like the subject of Economics and Democracy like its free market politics where the two main factors we all experience is scarcity of electoral pie and the question of efficiency at using one’s resources wisely for attracting more support .

But the manner in which these factors have been used in UP in the incessant and mad rush to grab the chair is not only appalling rather degrading the democratic ethics to newer levels. Well!! you don’t need to be a thoroughbred political specialist in identifying the fact that all the parties active in UP are giving wings to caste based and most important religion based politics .The recent incident of a Muslim politician going scot-free in spite of issuing fatwa in the public and inciting them to jingoistic tunes is plain enough to be seen and observed by anyone .Why think of this Guy ;there is always a large history to pick and choose ,the most conspicuous being a series of religiously or rather say fanatically exciting speeches given by BJP leaders in their Babri Masjid follow-up in 1992 which broke them into national political scene. It is really frustrating when someone is rewarded by the mass for carrying out an illogical and deeply deplorable act .It speaks volumes about our sinking moral levels and they way these politicos are managing to manipulate our strength using speeches and stroking religious sentiments.

And then there is Nithari .The recent nerve chilling disclosure of scandal has brought ire from almost every section of Indian society and the callous killing would surely play its crucial part in the upcoming elections in UP .and this too shows the plain insensivity of the political players of driving political mileage out of tragic incidents .They sing like a banshee but act like a courtesan :crying their hearts out for the victims but that work done or rather say effort put in not for their cause but for grabbing votes. The manner in which police and bureaucracy of the district was trying to hush up matters is deplorable …. And I must emphasize on the fact that this complete collapse in our bureaucratic fabric had been brought by the element of favoritism brought in by the politicos to serve their regional and caste based interests (the interest has been economic, social and criminal backgrounds too).Now out of turn transfers are common, efficient persons are sent packing to less significant places and the system is used more to suffice their own schemes rather to the benefit of the hoi-polloi.

And this element of murky political atmosphere and Communal vulnerability combined with their more pronounced rates of crime and murder makes my state safe as compared to them .Yes, I can proudly say that the development is not the only index of comparing the living conditions at two places .Other things that comprise are the social fabric, religious tolerance and lesser vulnerability to favoritism and other practices.

As Thomas Gray writes in one of his poems: “where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise.”. So be it. Rather than being cast as communal murderers we are better being poor that too not of food but of the means of luxury.

" The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

Marcel Proust