I am worried about two things
a. How can reform come in without individuals reforming themselves?
b. Why don't people react to the doings of ground level activists who fight against all odds for justice?
The first question irks me to no end. How can people expect others to be moral and righteous when they themselves are no good? How many people report their incomes properly? How many don't produce fake medi-claim bills? How many pay the entire amount in white when they buy a property? How many pay a bribe to a policeman on road when they jump a traffic signal? Or worse still, how many people use a public toilet for urinating? I can go on. But that's not the whole point. Agreed, they are not as important as plundering the national wealth. But what we are talking here is the character of the people. If that doesn't change, how can those people who are in the highest echelons of power change? If tomorrow the government brings out stringent laws to curb all these practices, wouldn't the same people cry against government tyranny? Have we forgotten Singur? The real question is, are people ready for a clean government? Are they ready to accept rule of law? If not this exercise is futile.
Going to the second question, do the people know or does the media care about the number of RTI activists killed? If they don't care, the only possible explanation for all that is going on is mindless hypocrisy. How else can you explain people being indifferent to deaths of grassroots workers while they come out in hordes to endorse some celebrity hunger strike? The problem with this scenario is that, people are coming out to protest not out of genuine sense of responsibility but because it is "cool" to take part in such melas and it helps them live up-to their image. It has become something like going to an IPL match or owning an Iphone. If you have not done that, you loose your status in your social circle.
The need of the hour is to first cleanse our own character and prepare for a life of personal excellence before pointing fingers at the system or at individuals.
a. How can reform come in without individuals reforming themselves?
b. Why don't people react to the doings of ground level activists who fight against all odds for justice?
The first question irks me to no end. How can people expect others to be moral and righteous when they themselves are no good? How many people report their incomes properly? How many don't produce fake medi-claim bills? How many pay the entire amount in white when they buy a property? How many pay a bribe to a policeman on road when they jump a traffic signal? Or worse still, how many people use a public toilet for urinating? I can go on. But that's not the whole point. Agreed, they are not as important as plundering the national wealth. But what we are talking here is the character of the people. If that doesn't change, how can those people who are in the highest echelons of power change? If tomorrow the government brings out stringent laws to curb all these practices, wouldn't the same people cry against government tyranny? Have we forgotten Singur? The real question is, are people ready for a clean government? Are they ready to accept rule of law? If not this exercise is futile.
Going to the second question, do the people know or does the media care about the number of RTI activists killed? If they don't care, the only possible explanation for all that is going on is mindless hypocrisy. How else can you explain people being indifferent to deaths of grassroots workers while they come out in hordes to endorse some celebrity hunger strike? The problem with this scenario is that, people are coming out to protest not out of genuine sense of responsibility but because it is "cool" to take part in such melas and it helps them live up-to their image. It has become something like going to an IPL match or owning an Iphone. If you have not done that, you loose your status in your social circle.
The need of the hour is to first cleanse our own character and prepare for a life of personal excellence before pointing fingers at the system or at individuals.
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