From crisis to crisis

Winston Churchill exuded leadership with statesmanlike dissent. Here we havea fractured ruling party. There is talk almost everyday of camps within our External Affairs Ministry. The national security advisor is more concerned about ambassadorial appointments than he is about containing the spread of militancy. The prime minister and the home minister are said not to look at issues from the same perspective. If all this is true, then who makes merry? Obviously, the Veerappans and the Hizbuls of this world. I have often stated that we have a ticking time bomb in the shape of Farooq Abdullah but, if you talk to some sane politicians, then all they say is he is the best choice. But is the best any longer good enough? That is the moot question. We are unable to come to terms with certain harsh realities and it is these that I wish to place in perspective.

We have a genuine law and order problem which cannot be solved by either rushing paramilitary forces all over the country or moving our troops. The problem is one of astute diplomatic manoeuvring coupled with an understanding of the fact that at times unpopular measures will need to be adopted. The fact that we choose to react to every crisis is even more shocking. We are now at a stage where we must force sense on Pakistan. There is no point in the prime minister accusing Pakistan of destabilising the talks with the Hizbul: what did he expect Pakistan to do — sit back and just let India and the Hizbul talk? Are we not carrying our optimism too far?

The prime minister also needs to recognise that Pakistan will not listen to India repeating that Pakistan’s ISI supports and plans the terrorism we see within our country. We must recognise that in Kashmir we have serious citizenry issues as the Abdullah government has alienated the people. But the manner in which we held talks with the Hizbul was also amateurish. You cannot have talks of such a sensitive nature in the glare of publicity since two parties get compromised: those militants who have taken the courage to break away from their guns and our troops who are engaged in constant strife. Given, as this government is, to populist measures and to trumpeting the cause of transparency, we held these talks when the whole world was watching. The world continues to watch as we now wipe the egg off our face and do what we are best at: blaming our inadequacies on Pakistan.

The government needs to realise that the people are now disgusted with the quality of governance that is emerging: this ridiculous suggestion that some of us make when we ask, “Is there an alternative?” cannot be the solution. We have to be realistic and wary of the kinds of excuses we proffer. We cannot hide ineptitude behind the facade of doing the right things because simply put, we are not doing so. We have fires all over the country. True, these fires have been lit by previous governments but the mandate today rests with Vajpayee and he alone will be made responsible. He must show the same alacrity of will and intent as he did when he sacked Ram Jethmalani though, in that incident too, one of our institutions took a beating. The judiciary came across as scheming, which it never ever should come across as. You had senior judicial officers washing their dirty briefs in public. This could have been avoided. But, once again, who was willing to take a stand? No one.

India today is at the crossroads of change. With change comes accountabilitybecause people want to know what this change will get them. They wanted this government to solve problems. Instead, they are seeing an escalation. The government is hapless in some cases owing to the politics and policies of the past but then for how long will the whole process of governance be clouded by the past? For how much longer, will we have to wait to see action being taken for our lapses in Kargil? Whom can we convince that we have stamped out air-terrorism since none of us has ever been told the real story behind Kandahar? Who is going to be responsible for the lives lost every day not just in Kashmir but in many parts of the Northeast?

We must stop practising the art of deflection. No sooner had the Jethmalani episode ended than Veerappan swayed us. Then came the Srinagar blasts. We wait with bated breath for the next crisis, which may be too late.

So what should we citizens do? Address all our problems to some handlebar-mustachoed bandit and expect him to solve them? Or should we take them to some golf-club-swinging modern-day Nero and hope he can distinguish golf course bunkers from the real ones that his state is infested with? There are no spin-doctors at work here, but just plain and harsh reality! It is tragic that we call ourselves a functioning democracy while there are millions of fellow-citizens still waiting for relief after the Orissa cyclone. While Rajkumar discovers the joys of nature in a remote forest hideout, millions of school-children have not been to school for weeks. While we are delighted that our prime minister has been invited to address a joint session of the US Congress, we are far away convincing Bill and his men of the need to declare Pakistan a terrorist state.

It is clearly going to be Vajpayee’s last term as prime minister. Has be stopped bothering about his place in history? I would imagine not. So why does he not act? The time has come, Mr Prime Minister, for you to lead and lead the hard way. We have been a soft state for far too long. As an elected representative of the people, your mandate is to govern, not to placate. To prevent things from going wrong and not from merely seeing that they don’t recur. The bureaucracy needs to know that this government is not a divided house. If there are people within it who believe they are powers unto themselves, then they must go and go soon. As Jethmalani did.