How can we make India secure?
INDUKANTH RAGADE
Post-26/11, strong resentment and anger were expressed by prominent personalities in various fields against our inept, self-serving politicians and our governing establishment for their total failure to protect innocent citizens in spite of recurrent terrorist attacks. The erstwhile Maharashtra Home Minister added to this by commenting that the attack was a minor incident and such incidents happen in any city. Most of the celebrities who went on TV wanted a drastic change
— both in the nature of the security measures to anticipate and prevent such attacks and in the kind of leaders we have today. While there was a universal yearning for leaders of calibre and integrity, no one had any specific thought on how we can get such leaders.
Let us reflect on this simple fact: from where did the present politicians and bureaucrats come? From those who were once one of us only, isn’t it? Equally, those who led us during our freedom fight had also emerged from among us only. If today we find our politicians and bureaucrats self-serving, it is because we ourselves are self-serving in our daily lives, particularly those of us who are educated. Change will come only when we ourselves have better calibre, better concern for the security and welfare of our fellowmen, better respect for rules, law and order. Change at the top will come only if there is change in ourselves. As a senior citizen of 72 who lived through the heady days of independence in Chennai and has observed the decline over the last six decades in Chennai, let me explain.
Selfish nature rules
Even the educated are self-serving in many instances. In our desire to reach our destinations quickly, don’t many of us conveniently tag behind a State Transport bus when it jumps a red light during peak hours? Are we not self-serving when, to save fuel, we unhesitatingly drive through one-way roads in the wrong direction, or when we stop over a zebra crossing and cause problems to pedestrians and the oncoming traffic? Today, 35 to 40 per cent of two-wheeler drivers and almost 100 per cent of male pillion-riders in the city can be seen going without helmets, in the confidence that enforcement is poor and even if by bad luck they are hauled up, they can bribe their way out. Youngsters as well as stalwart adults happily sit in buses on seats reserved for women, the disabled and the elderly even when such people continue to stand beside them?
What about those highly qualified people in the commercial field (including those in highly respected MNCs), who have recently not only conveniently hiked the price of commodities of common needs but have resorted to selling biscuits, tea, etc., in reduced, non-standard quantities like 78g and 245g? How many of us think of forming a queue when only three or four of us are at a ticket counter so that those who come later will automatically stand in line?
What about those well-dressed and educated youth who stand on the foot-boards of buses even when the bus is half-empty and trouble the women and the elderly in getting in or out? And those with chauffeured cars getting them double parked in crowded market areas unconcerned at the effect it has on smooth vehicular traffic? And shop-keepers who encroach on pavements?
In all these cases, we deny to ourselves that we are self-serving. We show no recognition of the fact that rules, regulations and laws are made for the common good and self-regulation ultimately contributes to a more orderly, predictable and secure environment for ourselves as much as for others.
When so, how can we hope to get better leadership and governance? When the independence struggle was on, strong leaders emerged because the common people too wanted independence and joined in thousands at the cost of giving up many selfish needs for the sake of achieving the common goal. If, today, we take the freedom of the country as licence to act as we wish, that freedom will inevitably face many more dangers of the kind that it faced during the recent terrorist attack.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Open Page
