By Himanshu Sharma:
Welcome back. In last article, I discussed how an average Indian doesn’t respect our sports people. We shall continue now to see how we treat our democracy.
Mr. Satyendra Dube gave his life to protect a few bucks of your tax money given for road construction. He gave his life to make a road smooth so that you can have an easy ride. Now the question is, do we value our tax money or a good ride on the smooth road enough, that we can make an effort or give some time or thought to them?
If yes, then it was worth. If No, then we don’t deserve such great people. We can extend it to many examples. Do we deserve people like Arvind Kejriwal fighting against the system for us? Do we deserve Dr. Kalam as our president? Do we deserve an Army which is fighting for India?
This is very important because this indifference has led to the core problem in our political system. We just don’t care whom we elect as we believe everyone is a chor [Thief] in system. Arvind Kejriwal once said that Indian democracy means, casting a vote once in five year and we are done with our duty. Really? No, democracy is much more than casting a vote once in a while. It is a participatory mode of government where people have the right to express themselves. The Parliament was not, is not and will not, be above Indian citizens.
We need to extend our support to the civil society. In fact we need a certain system of accountability. But we can only achieve that if people care about surroundings. Only when the ‘wrong’ starts bothering us. I remember that most people, who make an effort to file an RTI or question why something is happening, are mocked like “isko koi kaam nahin hai kya? Faltu time waste hai” [Does he have no work? He is wasting time].
A strange thing is that even when we should be “supporting”, leave alone the support we actually mock such efforts. Looking at team Anna today, I feel ashamed that we let such people down. I feel angered when I listen to the statements of the elite and political class.
This country doesn’t deserve any sacrifices until we respect sacrifices. Start caring. This is our country, our money and our future.
For the next part we’ll talk about our day to day life.