DR. S. AUSAF SAIED VASFI comments on the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s speech delivered on the eve of the 65th Independence Day.
Did you find any iota of vision in the Independence Day speech of the Prime Minister? Was it inspiring? Was it thought-provoking? Did it stir you up? Did it ginger up the nation? Does this speech instil any new confidence in the otherwise crest-fallen nation? Did it contain any substance which you may call a step towards resolution of the problems? Is this customary annual address imaginative which may spur the lethargic into action?
RICH IN PROMISES
The speech, rich in promises and poor in commitments, is verbose and is full of complaints, both real and imaginary, against the Opposition and the honest dissenters. It dishes out lame excuses for inaction on the part of the confused government. The citizen does not find any concrete roadmap for the resolution of the rampant corruption, price rise and especially the moral slide which is breaking newer and newer grounds on day-to-day basis.
REVIVAL OF GROWTH
To quote Mr. DK Srivastava, chief policy advisor at Ernst & Young: “The speech does not offer anything in terms of an intervention to revive growth. An attempt was made to show that the government is conscious of the issues but has no roadmap of it.”
However, there are two significant points in the otherwise dull and ordinary address delivered by the Prime Minister on the eve of the 65th Independence Day. One, national security will be impacted if large scale investments were not placed at the service of the infrastructure, and two, the economic growth had been negatively impacted by the absence of political consensus on issues. Dr. Manmohan Singh, however, did not flag the issues and inform the nation why consensus has been broken down. He did not say if it was the mainstream Opposition parties alone or it was the Allies of the UPA also who created hurdles in the progress.
MELANCHOLY WRIT LARGE
The charge is partially valid as far as the Saffron parties are concerned. They oppose for the sake of opposition. As far as others are concerned, their reservations were sound. Recall the manner in which the over-enthusiastic Mr. Singh wanted to sign an unequal treaty with the US on nuclear liability. The gravamen of the Opposition’s argument was that thus the sovereignty of the country was going to be mortgaged. The beauty or otherwise of it was that Dr. Manmohan Singh was not prepared to listen to reason. It is in such unhelpful cases that the Prime Minister is almost isolated.
BANISHMENT OF GOD
As the matter stands, melancholy in capital letters is writ large over the Indian skyline. We are confronted with elements that eat into the very vitals of any healthy society. In one word, that is moral laxity, sleaze and what not. It is not the cause; it is the effect as happens to be the case with corruption, black money, price rise, farmers’ suicide etc. etc.
BASIC REASON
The basic, the fundamental, the real reason behind the slide is banishment of God from the borders of Bharat. He does not exist in markets, malls, police stations and courts of law. Let us rehabilitate Him in our hearts, minds, individual, civil and corporate lives. Let us go back to the basics. Let us have a fresh tryst with our destiny.