Like everyone else in our country I have gone through the process of fear, anxiety, sadness, frustration and rage. I wanted to throttle all those glib talking politicians. The urge to give our PM a good hard shake to get him to stop mouthing clichés was very strong I wanted to hear something different and new from someone in our political leadership.
Now that I am out of the rage phase and in a calmer contemplative mood, I am beginning to see the Mumbai failure as endemic of all that is wrong about us as a nation. It is not just about our inability to face terrorist attacks – it is our inability to function properly as a nation. When we sit down to discuss what needs to be done, we find that we have to address fundamental issues.
I am therefore beginning to see this as an opportunity really. If we can seize the moment and drive big changes, we will be able to tackle most of our other problems as well.
Nothing Short of an Overhaul will do
The list of things being spoken about that need to change is enormous. Here is a selected list gleaned from hours of TV, reams of print and years of living through it all.
- At one level it is about centre state relationships and the law -the creation of the Indian FBI has been held up by BJP states in India. The irony is that it was the BJP led NDA that had first proposed the idea and now that they are in opposition at the centre they see it as a turf war. By the way, it would probably have been the same if the roles had been switched.
- Evolving a national consensus on these issues and project one united face. Hmmm…we are already seeing signs that the current leaders of all political parties are completely incapable of even understanding what this means. We have seen the ads and posters appearing looking to make political gain. The leader of the opposition did not have the time to attend the all-party meet that was called.
- The police force reforms, autonomy from political interference…sounds like so much idealistic bullcrap because of our 60 years of experience.
- Expecting the media to do its job properly. Put out well-researched and meaningful pieces on the reality of this challenge and not look to push their own anchor’s point of view or talk irresponsibly. When you have a mix of only young untrained largely ‘shortcut’ driven journalists and a few experienced almost megalomaniac bunch what do you expect?
- Behave differently – not jump queues, be patient, be vigilant, not take shortcuts.
- Introduce more accountability and transparency in governance. Ya ya (yawn!). Haven’t we heard this before?
The point is, there is a huge programme of CHANGE required for us to effectively stand up as a nation that can take this and any other blow on the chin and hit back so hard that no one dares throw another punch at us. Such a massive programme requires a leader/leaders who will envision and drive this change.
The Legacy Effect
The first thing we have to sadly accept is that it cannot be one of the usual suspects. Even if they are well meaning, none of them are truly capable of fighting off the LEGACY effect.
This is the effect that conditions our beliefs and actions in such a way that we are capable of acting and behaving in only one particular paradigm. Here are some examples:
- L.K.Advani is a product of the partition and decades of raising his hand in a Hitler salute dressed in khaki knickers. Even when he wants to break away from this legacy (remember the Jinnah comments?), he cannot. Can you visualize him as a unifier, representing a view of plurality? How can one expect him to be a harbinger of change?
- Sonia Gandhi, by virtue of belonging to ‘The Family’ has no option but to believe that her children are the ones destined to be the leaders. Serious competitors will somehow never make their way to the top in that party. Change in that system will be a matter of luck, if one of the anointed ones turns out to be a truly great leader with vision.
- The Left is…well the left. All their attempts at taking a right turn have resulted in creating a new left. Mamata is the new land reformer and voice of the proletariat. The Left have, since then, quickly backtracked.
- The IAS mandarin has always wanted as little change as possible. His is the world of the status quo, by the design of the systems in which he operates.
- We, the ordinary citizens of India are looking to get a little ‘lift’ out of turn, to push ahead in the queue. That is the only way we know of getting ahead in this country of a billion pushing heaving souls. No one wants to follow the law, except the village idiot.
Guess you have got the point by now.
Is Change on this scale possible?
Within our system and within the pool that we have it is a definite possibility. There are a few examples for us to look at and learn from:
- At a time when the world was only speaking the language of war and aggression, one man in a half dhoti led us to our freedom without throwing a single stone. He took what was an elitist and fragmented movement and brought in the common man as part of the strategy to make it happen. Talk about change!
- We lost our socialism and license raj through the late 80’s and 90’s. We are reading this on our desktops and laptops and our mobile phones because of that change!
- Outside of our country, the whole world changed when the Berlin Wall came down.
- China has affected what is one of the most profound changes that have significantly changed the lot of its countrymen and the dynamics of the world in the 21st century.
The Change Programme
- While we wait for the ‘Great Leader’ to emerge, we can make the best of what we have. It is not about high falutin ideals only but also clear actions on specific items. By using media we have to keep our current bunch honest, committed and accountable to this.Let the media decide, as a cartel, that they will not give any footage to any politician speaking the language of divisiveness and will also create forums for those with a change agenda.
- The best we can hope for is that the current bunch will transition to a newer lot soon. We need to look at the younger lot within the larger parties to find the future leaders. Personally speaking, the only politician who came off looking and sounding good in the last few days was Milind Deora. He was there in the middle being useful and responsible. Also seemed to say the right things and looked believable. There must be others like him elsewhere too.
- Create 2/3 programmes that will have the maximum change impact and put these young turks in charge. Give them responsibility and make them accountable. Programmes could be around – “homeland security”, “electoral reforms”, “speedier justice”. Remember Sam Pitroda and the Missions? It worked. You have to look at your cell phone to realize that. The list can be different but the method is the point.
- These need to be parliament empowered and time bound programmes with defined milestones and objectives.
Add to this list. Debate and tear it apart, please. Pass the thought along if you like it. The passing along of this and other thoughts, in the current environment is what is building up the pressure for the powers that be to recognize that Change is upon them and if they are not part of it, the garbage heap of anonymity is where they will be thrown into.
Some very interesting opinions below that you should read.
Talk is cheap, lives are not
Time to listen to people, Mr PM
We Cannot Handle This
Dear Mr. Terrorist,
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