097. Indian democracy is now the autocracy of a corrupt bureaucracy. P S Remesh Chandran

097

Indian democracy is now the autocracy of a corrupt bureaucracy

P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum
 Article Title Image By Kokomo Cole. Graphics: Adobe SP.

Indian democracy has become the autocracy of a corrupt bureaucracy. Elected representatives of the people shamelessly live at people’s expense but no more represent people. The only powerful weapon still in the hands of the people is the ballot. When elections come, the knees of powerful politicians and their dependent-bureaucrats weaken and their heads spin, for the ultimate power which is still vested with people they may wield. The mighty Indian prime minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi never even in her dreams thought she and her party would be thoroughly beaten through the ballots of millions of illiterate Indians. Nothing prevented the common Indian citizen from showing his contempt for her regime by sweeping away cleanly her and her cronies from power in an election. In that election, when the most educated states of the country including Kerala voted for her Congress Party, the most poor peasants and workers in the vast North Indian States turned against her and voted her regime and retinues out. History teaches us that there are nothing new but only repetitions of the past. We saw the Shaw Commission trials after the lifting of Emergency in 1977 and the installation of Mr. Morarji Desai’s Ministry and how the bureaucrats of India who among their family circles and friends’ circles were thought to be invincible wept in Courts, after the horrendous crimes they committed against the people of India in the name of democracy were read out to them. The only other unique example in the contemporary history of the world was the trial and conviction and Mao-Tse-Tung’s wife and her cronies for crimes committed in the name of communism and socialism against the people of China. The other example of Marcos’ wife Imelda and her cronies trialed and convicted in Philippines for crimes committed against people is not relevant here because it was not in the name of democracy, communism or socialism or any other ism. 

Before these three women’s and their cronies’ actions were exposed in trial courts set up by succeeding governments upon people’s demand in India, China and Philippines and they wept before court on being convinced of the horrendicity of their actions, the newspapers and magazines of the world were portraying them as magnificent people in power and printing thousands of articles describing their actions as benevolent and kind! Leading people to such falsities through glorifying articles is still the business of media. But everyone including people and media men knows that their show of chivalry and courage is just ballooned-up ostentation which is going to burst in future trial courts set up by succeeding governments upon people’s demand. 

If people once taught more powerful and tactful politicians a lesson once, they will again do it. The next time it would be easier for them to debunk a prince of darkness for they would be more experienced in the steps to take. So it is good not to mislead and cheat people by writing articles on the pseudo courage of such ‘powerful administrators and legislators’ as are mentioned in this article. Please don’t discourage the true democratic spirits of people and dampen their confidence in their own power by portraying worms as giants and projecting their thoughtless puny little acts as mighty international deals. When people read about such magnificently foolish personalities in articles like these they laugh, for they know these fools are doing nothing in this world but only digging their graves. What higher crime can the fourth estate do to the fifth estate than projecting rogues as Robin Hoods instead of investigating them? There is no need to project condemnable exploitation syndicates as lovely regimes of industrial growth and administration for people to believe their words and follow these figure heads: history goes the other way, takes the other route. Remember, more powerful economic empires went to smithereens in Japan recently, a country better known for money management, man management and materials management- the three basics of management. Japan’s bubble economy burst under those very luminary heads whom the world newspapers and magazines had been praising, celebrating and writing about for years. To keep inflation in check and deflate speculation in share market, they raised inter-bank lending rates, which projected for a short time to grotesque proportions their inflated economy which already was a bubble making itself ready to burst. Huge financial losses of institutions were deliberately allowed to be postponed before recognition and heavy capital infusions were flowed into these failed institutions illegally by the Bank of Japan and the Japanese government. When recognition set in, their economy collapsed- a situation anyone could have predicted in 2011, whatever their apex bank the Bank of Japan said. It’s the same Niagara of collapse towards which China’s economy is moving after its behemoth takes-over and capital infusion in foreign countries at the risk of collapse of internal economy, which to anyone can predict in 2011. Where Japan’s money wizards failed, and China’s money mandarins are going to fail, who will think a Dream India will emerge except in economical statistics convoluted and boosted to grotesque proportions- a maze of financial statements which even their creators now do not believe in? 

[In response to news article ‘Corruption on the rise in Indian democracy’ on 11 April 2011]