New Order of Vulgarism:

Nov 05/2011: The politics of Sardar Patel. Wonder what relevance does this Iron Man of yesteryear have for the 20-odd-something-old Indian youth who will not only be the true vote bank 5-6 months hence but is also the real Indian of tomorrow.

Gone are the issues that mattered. Issues like CWG, Telecom scam and even the Coal blocks being allocated in a blatantly partisan manner have been made issues of the past, and not of the present. That is the power of the electronic mass media that operates in such a way that all corporate misdeeds are shielded from scrutiny. Media, like monkeys, is swinging high and free from one branch to another with no fear of falling or slipping. This certainty stems from a confidence that emanates from unlimited financial backing.

That kind of support obviously comes from the same corporates. Public attention is being perted to combat corrupt politicians. Take 1977. Immediately after the elections were declared while the dreadful Emergency promulgated on 26 June 1975 was still in force, the people went quiet. There existed no media except those controlled by the government; yet the people proved, beyond doubt, that 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is One' by voting in unison to reassert democracy in this country.

Our robust democratic system has functioned well for decades now and the 'poor and uneducated' Indian has clearly, time and again, rejected scores of powerful and rich politicians at the hustings. Yet our courts are keen on taking up the task of punishing guilty politicians while forgetting to punish their own who refuse to make the Indian judiciary clean and efficient. The desire to set their own house in order is yet to be noticed among the plethora of judgments that our Supreme Court and High Courts pass daily. The motive behind this politician-bashing by the judiciary seems ominous. Some may feel it is to pert attention from the corporate

loot of national wealth. Others may assume it is a desire to clean the political stables by those incapable of understanding what the people of this country want. Still others may (mis)understand that the judges might have presumed they are superior to the average Indian who votes according to her/his liking.

A Modi 'hunkar' or a Rahul 'nonsense' seems like issues that will decide our country's economic policies for the future. Similarly, another bone of contention is a man dead and cremated over half a century ago. His bones would not be traceable now but they have offered a great big chance for the Congress party to pull itself out from the dark pit of high level corruption charges that it had willingly jumped into. That Sardar Patel holds no relevance to any present-day young Indian seems to matter little to those orchestrating the politicians, judges and bureaucracy today. The story of a District Magistrate called Durga in Uttar Pradesh is a part

of this big drama. The lady might have done something good by taking action against sand thieves. On the other hand, her compatriots all over the country are known to be hand- in-glove with every kind of wrong-doers. In such a situation, the Supreme Court has passed a judgment which bars transfer of bureaucrats before the end of their specific tenure at a certain posting. This would make the bureaucrats more rash than ever before,  thereby snatching power from people's representatives and handing it over to the Babudom.

The saying, 'One bad apple would spoil the whole bunch', holds good for Indian politicians. The same yardstick, if used for judges with KG Balakrishnan and Altmas Kabir being in the basket, or corrupt secretaries, district magistrates or policemen, could sound real rough to certain ears. Facts are simple. No Indian corporate -- the Reliance of Mukesh, the Kumarmangalam Birla group, the Jindals (everyone of them), the Tata, the Adanis and all others, barring none -- has innovated or helped invent anything ever. All the complaints they lodge about industrial climate being inimical to them is hogwash. All of them have built their empires worth billions of dollars by solely 'exploiting' the natural resources of this country. All that, at the expense of these 'poor and uneducated' people. Now they wish to plunder more and more. The only hindrance is the democrazy of this country.

Their dream is to remove the layers of politicians. Do away with all regional or small parties and political thoughts. Make it a two-pronged system like in the US. People would be compelled to vote a Modi or a Manmohan. With no choice other than a bi-polar system, politicians would get a sort of employment. Both sides would talk the same language. The voice and desire of the people, the true irritant, would then fall silent forever. The bureaucrats and judges, the way they are heading, should tell the Indian on the street that they no longer desire to pay attention to her/his needs; that they feel there is no need for a democratic system any more; that all this talk of communalism and secularism is a ruse to create a New Order of Vulgarism where the money of corporates will reign supreme. May be that will be the day of glory for the Indian media too.