EDITORIALS
 Letting Down Democracy
Its refusal to discuss the Jain report proves the Congress is cussed as
ever. Given the unseemly speed and cocky belligerence with
which it crippled the United Front government, it may be difficult to believe that the
Congress was humiliated in the general elections only a year ago. In the intervening
period, the party has done little soul searching. It has rectified none of its numerous
shortcomings. Rather, it has simply assumed that its exile from power is an aberration and
that it remains India's natural party of governance. This arrogance was on conspicuous
display after the Jain Commission's report was made public. While Justice M.C. Jain may
have criticised the dmk, the Congress was being patently unfair in peremptorily demanding
action against the Dravida party. At the very least, a discussion in Parliament was called
for. The Congress may not have changed its mind -- but its opponents would have had their
say. It would be pertinent to ask whether a party which cannot be bothered with democratic
niceties can be trusted with running a democracy.
Much of the Congress' history has been marked by a high degree of responsiveness to
popular aspirations. Nevertheless, years of power and decadence have corroded this once
absolute identification with the Indian citizen. If it were not so, the party would not
have been voted out of power in 1996. The Congress could have used the months out of
office to cleanse itself of unsavoury elements and rejuvenate itself at the grassroots.
Instead, it has concentrated its energies on intriguing its way back to South Block. In
the elections which now seem imminent, the party will pretend the dmk alone abetted the
ltte and that Congress regimes at the Centre were innocent of any such action. It will
seek to exploit the memory of a leader assassinated six years ago. The party may well meet
with success due to such efforts. It has already failed the larger test though: the
Congress continues to believe India owes it a living.
 Trapped
Innocence
A society callous in its treatment of children effectively maims its future.
It has often been said that human life is cheap in India. After this past Tuesday's
horrific accident in Delhi -- which saw 26 children travelling in a packed school bus die
-- it is perhaps time to speak of human life going at bargain prices. Yet, if there is
anything as clear as the fact that the tragedy could have been avoided, it is that it will
be repeated. It is almost as if Indians have sworn themselves to unbridled
irresponsibility -- behind the wheel or anywhere. This is an attitude that cannot be
condoned; and certainly not when it reduces the vitality of a tender child to a mere
corpse. The treatment of children is a measure of a society's investment in the future. It
is difficult to imagine any country having a record worse than India's. To give birth to
16 million babies every year without bothering to ensure adequate medicare, schooling or
even nutrition for them requires fecklessness of an extraordinary degree.
This brutalisation of children should tell Indians something about themselves. In the
fireworks and carpet industries, tiny hands and feet are shackled, as it were, in a manner
not known since the days of Dickensian London. The odd Salaam Bombay becomes a celebrated
film but evokes no popular outrage aimed at alleviating the existence of street children.
It is no wonder that the age of innocence passes many Indian children by. The little
citizen is traumatised in a fashion that can only result in a lifelong scar. It is very
easy to pretend that such misery is only the lot of somebody else's children. Reality is a
little more jolting when a school bus plunges into the Yamuna in the midst of India's
capital. Tragedy involves us all. A negligent people devour their own children; literally.
There is certainly little joy in being the Indian of tomorrow -- if the country's unsafe
roads allow you to get there in the first place. |
