Time to Modi-fy India

Arindam Bandyopadhyay

Enough is enough.

India is sick and tired.

We are sick of lies and deceptions, of scams and cover-ups, of promises and failures, of vote bank and divisive politics, of nepotism and sycophancy.

We are tired of the bickering, pompous politicians and their ignoble associates, the dynastic rulers, the family business of politics and the scams and schemes they manage.

We are appalled by the directionless and disengaged government, awestruck by its leadership or the lack of it, disgusted with its indifference to the need of its citizenry and terrified by its indecisiveness on matters as basic as internal and external security

We are mocked as the mango people of the banana republic. We are made to believe that the country is for the privileged and the influential and the rest only entitled to crumbs. People of debatable backgrounds are pampered as celebrities and those with dubious motives are lauded as activists. Separatists who openly preach sedition get away with open threats and get rewarded with free coverage of their freedom of expression.

Lawlessness is the norm. Our ill-trained police forces are made a laughing stock on and off the screen. Their sacrifices hardly raise any eyebrow. Our security forces are rendered toothless by politician with vested interests. We are made to believe that court cases are supposed to stretch for decades, that justice can be brought or manipulated and that for special convicts, jails can be transformed into five star accommodations.

Our media has long forgotten its role in nation building, too preoccupied with TRP ratings and sensationalism. Biased and partisan panelists are involved hand in gloves, in the decadence, oblivious of all their accountabilities and commitments.

Even after 65 years of independence, we have not been able to provide the very basic requirements like water, electricity or education to the vast majority of our population. Issues such as pollution, sanitation, health, nutrition and infrastructure are plaguing the country. Yet crores and crores of rupees are misappropriated or embezzled, by unholy nexuses of politicians and their collaborators. No wonder politics happens to be the surest and quickest way of getting rich in the country. And no surprise that India rank 85th on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), out of 180 countries. It is shameful that even a Prime Minister could do little but lament that only 15 per cent of all funds actually reach the common man.

We are tired of being poor. We are tired of hearing about garibi hatao and poverty lines, of schemes that are supposed to benefit the aam aadmi but do not reach them, of promises to eradicate the parallel economy and of assurances to bring back black money, stashed away in foreign banks. We are ashamed that a third of the world’s poor belongs to India and over 40% of India falls below the international poverty line of US$ 1.25 a day (2005 World Bank statistics).

We are tired of being called a third world country.

We are sick of the chalta hai mentality.

We want to break the shackles of stagnation.

We want change.

We are restless. Our frustration and desperation is visible. We have shown that we are not afraid to come out on the streets with posters and candle lights, to face the batons and water cannons, as during the fight against corruption or the protest against atrocities affecting women.

We are the largest democracy of the world, with a median age of 25 years and with around 70 percent of the 1.2 billion people under the age of 40 years. The generation which has been exposed to the world through television and internet feel that they have the talent to compete with the rest of the world. We aspire to improve our lot, prove our excellence and write our destiny.

We just need a leader to facilitate and guide us.

We want a statesman, unquestionably a nationalist who puts India first, and can stand up for her without being intimidated by international pressure.

We want a person with integrity, who is not only incorruptible himself, but also does not permit others to indulge in corruption.

We want a decisive, bold, no-nonsense leader, an able administrator who gets acknowledged even by his sulking opponents.

We want a visionary who can raise hope and nurture them, who can not only talk about our dreams of nation- building and skill development but actually walk the talk, setting up institutions to encourage research and innovations.

We want a dreamer who can envisage development that includes all and leaves none behind, who can rise above divisive politics and beyond caste, creed and religion.

We want a leader who raises hope in the minds of a large section of the population from all walks of life and earns rightful appreciation within and outside the country..

Finally we want someone who is a proven achiever, who remains unfazed despite malicious defamation by enemies and whose path of integrity and excellence is unperturbed by the deceit and fraud of lesser mortals..

Let us get that leader.

Let us Modi-fy India.

Hindu focus