On "Shobaa's Take" in the Deccan Chronicle

Shobhaa, the true Indian is an extinct breed and his future is a subject of intense speculation if not abject skepticism. The noble of patriot has given way to the ignoble regional chauvinist and pseudo nationalists. Zealous leaders and martyrs have been consigned to the pyres of the past, while zealots and bigots have been marauding on the centre stage of national affairs under the deceptive garb of patriotism and harbingers of economic progress. The current genre of patriotism is a sham, and the concept of economic progress a deception as 50 % of Indians still cannot afford decent food, clothing and shelter.

Your implicative article was a pleasant surprise given the media’s resolute reluctance to call the bluff of the BJP brigade. The last couple of decades have witnessed, with the tacit support of the bourgeois media, the phenomenal growth of this highly vituperative and vitriolic dispensation. Their philosophy of self righteousness, with scant regard to conscientious conduct, has sold well in an environment charged with parochialism, political diatribe and communal passion. This dispensation has reaped unimaginable returns on the trail of bloody yatras, subterfuge and political machinations. You sound aghast at the behaviour of men and women of this brigade – pardon me, your political consciousness is naiveté or you are living in a fools paradise.

The media’s over enthusiasm to dote on this brigade’s so called meritorious protestations ( e.g. foreign origin ) and hype its every single utterance ( e.g. India Shining ) have brought Media India to a new low in partisanship. The media was so preoccupied on the “mellowing” of Narendra Modi that it lost count of the number of the bomb blasts that went off from under Modi’s chair. These men of valour go moral policing the rest of India while there were terrorists seeding bombs in their very backyards. Blaming the Central Government for repealing POTA, they advocate stringent laws while being lawless themselves ( remember 6th December !, Gujarat riots ! etc )These men of integrity rock the nation by waving wads of currency in parliament, but then what was Bangaru Laxman doing, on Tehelka cameras, with a lakhs of Rupees. Sad, Tehelka has been pushed into obscurity for an act of “unethical journalism”.

Progressing from squalid politics to moral squalor, sadly India is indulgent in civic indiscipline, unabated corruption and parochial anti pluralistic ideological indoctrination. From out this cauldron of social chaos and parliamentary pandemonium, there are still brave voices of reason sounding the clarion call to patriotic duty. Refreshingly, youth like Omar Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi reflect the hope and aspirations of million’s of Indians lost in the whirlpool of an emerging socio-political disorder in a polity packed with insipid old men caught up in their rigid, morbid and archaic ideological convictions..

If India does not pay heed to such voices of pragmatism and moderation, India will still rise and shine as a polity, but only to crumble as a nation and society, under the yoke of its own socio-economic disparity, communal conflagrations and inner contradictions.

More than POTA for terrorists, India needs for its politicians a uniform code for public accountantability and civic discipline irrespective of caste, creed, religion, political or judicial standing : then democracy will take care of the rest. But when such a code comes into existence the entire Indian Parliamentary fraternity, thankfully with a few exceptions, will have to be herded into Tihar.
Bravo, for attempting to stand apart in a crowd, and call a spade a bloody spade. It is very characteristic of these so called nationalists to indulge in arm twisting, so watch yours - they do not spare their own breed, they bash up their own MPs who dare to cross vote in Parliament. But while in power they preach about conscience vote. And these are all noble men while the Congress Party is a party of fools headed by a “foreigner”, because the Congress does not bash up its MLAs who crossover in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.