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FIFTH
COLUMN
True
Lies Forever
The ruling
class has perpetuated the myth that the rich are exploiting the poor
By
Tavleen
Singh
The
rich versus poor myth has been fed to us, children of Nehruvian socialism,
so relentlessly in our 50 years of "glorious independence" that
it dominates the Indian imagination. In it rich people are greedy, ugly,
fat exploiters of the noble, starving millions. So powerful an idea is
this that even the rich almost believe it and spend many private moments-in
the drawing rooms of Delhi and Mumbai-flagellating themselves for the
cruel disparities they see outside the shaded windows of their air-conditioned
cars. They are not the only ones haunted by modern India's favourite myth.
It pervades the creativity of writers, artists, poets, filmmakers and
is the moving force behind activists like Medha Patkar. When she is not
on a silent protest, Patkar goes on record frequently to assert that she
champions the cause of the poor because she believes the benefits of the
Narmada dam are only for the rich.
 We
have, in the past 10 years, said goodbye (at least partially) to Nehruvian
socialism but because modern India's most potent myth has such a hold
on us we are unable to fully recognise the new class of exploiters that
socialism bequeathed us. This new class is comprised entirely of our politicians
and bureaucrats. For those who doubt this allow me to give you a few examples.
Let us start
with the fundamental right to shelter. The average Indian lives in a one-room
tenement. According to a recent survey, more than 70 per cent of the citizens
of Mumbai live in one-room homes, 16 per cent in two-room homes and less
than 1 per cent in homes that have four rooms or more. Life in the villages
can be slightly more spacious but the average rural dwelling-especially
for the poor-remains a one-room tenement. Compare this, would you please,
with the accommodation available to the average Indian politician or official?
He is entitled,
for reasons of socialism, to a government house from the moment he enters
the "service of the country". An ordinary MP or MLA may have
to make do with a flat in Delhi or in a state capital but it is often
larger than the homes of most businessmen. As he progresses upwards, the
house gets bigger and better and when he reaches the pinnacle of his career
it could, literally, be a palace. Only take a quick look at your local
Raj Bhavan or the chief minister's residence in any state capital. How
is this exploitation of the poor? One of the reasons for the appalling
standards of our housing are laws which ensured real-estate development
remained largely in the hands of the government. So not enough houses
got built.
Some
Are More Equal: Let us come then to basic amenities: drinking water
and electricity. The average rural Indian, even when he has the privilege
of a hand pump, is not guaranteed clean drinking water and in most villages
there is no guarantee of any electricity at all, not even for a few hours
in a day. Even in the national capital there are very few households that
do not routinely face power cuts. But, so generous have the ways of socialism
been to our new ruling class that they provide themselves with free (or
almost free) water and electricity. Special VIP lines ensure the absence
of power cuts.
Let us come
then to such "luxuries" as telephones and domestic gas. Again,
only very privileged Indians have access to these but our politicians
give themselves quotas which they can distribute at will. And, if they
forget to pay their bills, as they often do, nobody dares cut their telephone
lines or make a fuss about the gas connections being distributed as part
of the rights of patronage they enjoy.
Healthcare
and schools are also luxuries for the average Indian but not for our officials
and politicians. When they or their families have health problems they
can usually get permission for treatment abroad (taxpayers money is used)
while the average Indian queues up for a hospital bed in a government
hospital and pleads with the well-connected to get his children admitted
in school.
This column
is not long enough to list all the other privileges that our ruling class
has bequeathed itself. Suffice it to say that in the name of the poor
and in the name of "alleviating" poverty they have created a
system in which they have replaced our colonial masters as the new exploiters.
It is time we faced this reality and recognised that the rich and the
middle classes are not responsible for the miseries of our vast underclass.
Only if we realise this will we be able to think in terms of forcing our
rulers to give up their privileges and start living exactly like the voters
they claim to represent. Only when they stand in the same queues as we
do for the basic necessities of life will they understand the difference
between myth and reality.
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