This Diwali, as the festival of lights illuminates mind and matter, here are a few observations, in a style inspired by Art Buchwald.
Like Sardar Vallabhai Patel must be amused at the very least over the manner in which the two national parties are battling over his legacy. The memory of the man who unified Bharat and drew the map of modern India is being fought over, to redraw political territories for electoral benefits. Across living rooms, Indians seem to share a sense of ennui every evening as little minds with petty thoughts parade their limitations. As Samuel Beckett said memorably, “Nothing is more real than nothing. They rise up out of the pit and know no rest until they drag you down into its dark.”
The skirmish though has forced the courtiers in the Congress to grudgingly accept the role of others-such giants that current-day leaders appear Lilliputian in compare-in the making of India’s history. The force of discourse has pushed the sycophants-in-obeisance to accept that India’s history is much more than entries in a family diary. Indeed, the party is now grudgingly expanding the arc of glory to allow a mention here and a mention there of others, of even Narasimha Rao.
And if the Congress is “hurt” at the manner of the appropriation of their Sardar by “them”, then it is time they were told that ‘we the people’ are astonished that the Congress could even contemplate making an exclusive claim over the Bismarck of India. Sardar cannot be anybody’s. He is ours—us the people.
Like this would also be a good time to re-think on the idea of naming the Food Security Act after Indira Amma. We now know that over 400 different schemes, projects, institutions are named after three generations of the first family. This includes a dozen Central schemes, over 50 schemes in states, over 25 sports tournaments and five airports besides numerous institutions, awards, trophies and fellowships. This would be a good time to impose a moratorium on naming government programmes, projects and institutional initiatives after politicians!
Like the quest to create secure and stable tenure for IAS and IPS officers throws up some critical questions. Yes, of course, transfers are a political industry in states like Uttar Pradesh. Yes, there is a need for transparency and accountability in the transfer process, but let us not kid ourselves, babus have been active participants—not hapless bystanders—in the installation of transfer raj. More importantly, does a secure tenure guarantee performance? After all, we do know now that stable tenure does not necessarily translate into delivery. The real issue is that there are laws and clauses on what officers should not do. What about those who dwell in the safety of the no-action zone? What about those who choose to do nothing and have come to institutionalise the phrase “pending” in government? Can politicians be held accountable while the permanent government is not?
Like you would have heard/read that many ministers in the Union Cabinet from Andhra Pradesh have quit in protest over the Telangana imbroglio. But you would have also noticed that they continue to be ministers even though they are not attending office. Nobody quite knows if the resignations have been accepted or even rejected. The entire Telangana strategy, it would seem, is woven around the Congress’ equivalent of having the cake and eating it too.
Like it must be admitted that there is a sudden interest in history. Many practising and aspiring politicos have been forced to read up-often via Wikipedia-on how we got to where we are. That might lead to some delicious confusion but truth be said, there is just so little in popular domain. The tradition of documentation in India ranges from pedestrian to pathetic. Where does the curious Indian go? The Americans have the great tradition of documentation and oral history at Presidential Libraries open to the public-online and offline. The digitisation of our history-letters, speeches documents, radio shows and video recordings-is part of the long-pending unfinished agenda.
Meanwhile, it does seem now that the spin doctors of the government have given up the ghost on inflation. They no longer make predictions or claim it will come down-not with onion at Rs100/kg, food price inflation stubborn at 15-plus. The phraseology now is “it is a matter of concern”. Raghuram Rajan, meanwhile, has now been re-categorised by the ornithologists reporting from Mint Street from dove to hawk as he hiked the rates at which banks borrow money from RBI.
And finally, you would have noticed that the gold dig at Unnao has been called off after no gold was found. What is significant is that nobody in the government or the party is embarrassed or feels obliged to even explain-leave alone apologise. Be that as it may, this holds a lesson for electoral competitors. Digging into history may yield a few nuggets, if at all. The real pot of gold is in the future, at the end of the plural spectrum. Legacies are inherited by those who can promise and deliver a better future.
shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com
Shankkar Aiyar is the author of Accidental India: A History of the Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change