The people of India are still waiting for ‘Achche Din’. For one and a half billion citizens of India there seem to be more troubles ahead. India has been struggling to usher in a truly democratic and people-friendly political system. The dominance of fascist forces has been extremely frustrating. People had some relief when they saw the failure of “Project 400 ke par”, when the ruling party was stopped at 240. People had pinned hopes on a positive outcome in the Assembly elections of Maharashtra, the state with a population of more than 12 crore citizens. Alas! their hopes are dashed against the wall of manipulations. There are detailed reports that the ill-gotten money of crony capitalists played a key role in buying the voters. There are also reports by seasoned journalists and political analysts that EVMs were misused for favouring the ruling conglomeration of Maharashtra. Therefore, the long-pending popular demand is being repeated that EVMs should be discontinued for holding free and fair elections.
It is unfortunate that in the largest democracy of the world, with the largest population, the people are mere voters who are no more than lifeless and choiceless electors. The shots are being called by the capitalists, manipulators and crafty politicians. The question arises: Can India be called a real democracy where the people have power to shape the future of the country?
In the largest and most populous state Uttar Pradesh, suppressed sections of society joined hands, asserted and weakened the grip of the fascist party in the Lok Sabha elections. But in the recent by-polls to the U.P. Assembly out of 9 seats BJP captured 7 seats. This was on the basis of corrupt practices.
Soon after the by-polls in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has embarked on polarisation politics by creating a new flashpoint in Sambhal by claiming that Shahi Jama Masjid there was once a temple. The manipulation and misuse of judicial process and hurriedly sanctioned survey has resulted in a clash with police and killing of five innocent Muslim youth. This unfortunate clash and resultant tragic deaths have poisoned the whole atmosphere. This situation emboldens the communalists and increases the frustration of the beleaguered Muslims who are about 20 percent of the state population. Even if there was stone-pelting, what was the justification for the prejudiced police to fire point blank on the protesters and kill them? Was it not possible to fire on the legs of protesters to avoid the unfortunate deaths? At the time of writing these lines, political analysts and commentators have predicted that now the cordoned off areas of Muslims would be subjected to search operations and weapons would be planted and discovered from the houses of the poor Muslim protesters. This is their SOP (Standard Operation Procedure).
The rulers will accelerate the tensions to succeed in their old and continuing game of polarisation. Unfortunately, this is the only procedure which is continuously utilised to perfect their process of poisoning minds, increasing tensions and fiddling like Nero and thus completing the game of polarisation. They do not have any vision or solid and constructive blueprint for development. They have failed on all fronts. They are perfect only in the old game of polarisation. This is the most painful but most basic reality of the vote catching technique of fascist forces.
Meanwhile, the 25 crore common citizens of the state will continue to suffer. No development, no progress, no jobs, and no ease of life. Failure on all fronts! Only false promises, false claims and false dreams for future. Sane minds and sincere people are frightened on this scenario of anarchy. They fear that despair and disruption may spread like wildfire and create more frustration in the masses. They are warning about the bleak future ahead. Let’s hope that the sincere well-wishers of the country will join hands and devise a constructive strategy for saving India from degradation and destruction.