Of politician's crime and people's plight

Who says divide and rule policy is over once the British left the Indian soil? It is very much in the India politics, which is often branded as an art of the possibilities. So, leaders have been busy, since independence, making divisive plans to scale the ladder of political growth, i.e. grabbing power either at the central level or the state level. Political calculation is one strategy they adopt to renew or energize the falling popularity rating. More often, political leaders rake up issues that stir and stimulate the people’s sentiments just to take political mileage, least bothered in the process about the plights of the people, and more importantly the unity and integrity of the nation is at stake every time they make such a call.

Whatever happening in Mumbai for more than a week is the sheer testimony to the fact that populist political agenda is very much alive and kicking. This time it is Raj Thackeray. Earlier, it was Karpoori Thakur in Bihar in the 1970s and 1980s, who instigated caste politics, which culminated in the violent divide in the already caste-ridden state like Bihar. None but Lalu Prasad Yadav earned the fruits of caste politics more than anyone else. But it has no regional tinge.

Then, it was VP Singh in the 1980s and his Mandal Commission, which engulfed the entire nation, and whose reverberation still echoes time and again. The reservation policy that VP Singh had steered left many a young men and women dead. That was one big masterstroke whereby VP Singh wanted to grab the backward caste vote bank like the Congress, which always sought Muslim vote via false promises.

However, the biggest communal polarization was, without doubt, the Ram Janmbhoomi movement propounded and embarked upon by LK Advani in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which got climax in the form of demolition of Babri mosque in 1992, in addition to the great divide between the two communities. Whether it was anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu in 1960s or anti-south stir in Mumbai in 1970s, regionalism, by far, has come a long way in India. In all these regional conflicts, one thing is clear: people suffer while leaders get paid. Lalu benefited in Bihar and ruled for 15 years. Advani (say BJP) benefited by getting power for five years.

Since childhood we are made to listen to the usual rhetoric from the Congress party that the India got freedom from the British, and that it was the Congress that won independence for the nation. People believed it, while the Congress fooled the people. Again, BJP made the people believe that it is the party that stands for Ram, and the people started believing it. However, after five years in power, neither Advani nor Vajpayee nor anyone was able to fulfill the promise. While in the process, people were be fooled, the BJP gained.

So far, if we look for any example that gives the impression that any political leader in India has left reputation of doing something positive or concrete for the people, perhaps we would find none. But when we search for those who helped ignite the quiet realm of social fabrics of Indian ethos, we can find plenty, not one or two or those who added or adding fuel to the already surcharged fire.

Whatever happening in Mumbai is the handiwork of a failed leader, who is bent over regaining political space in Maharashtra in the presence of three major political parties –congress, NCP and Shiv Sena. First, he deliberately singled out Big B, knowing that it has enough material to ignite regional fire. And in case of his arrest, which incidentally happened, Raj Thackeray will gain much that he failed to gain in all these years. And certainly he gained; so far political score is concerned as the BJP gained via Advani’s long campaign over Ram Janmbhumi movement.

The whole drama over the arrest of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray seems pre-planned. He gained immense popularity since then. This is something that should have been done on the very first day his inflammatory rhetoric against migrant workers from UP and Bihar galvanised his supporters to go on the rampage, destroying public property and wreaking violence on hapless citizens. This is not all. Raj Thackeray went as far as to thank Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for letting him walk free.

The state government seemed more worried about whether arresting him would make a hero of Raj Thackeray than in doing its duty, namely ensuring that law and order is maintained. No doubt, his supporters will try to cast Raj Thackeray as an upholder of Marathi pride who was willing to sacrifice his liberty for the cause. For Raj, people from Bihar and UP are bete noire, who are snatching the bread from the native’s mouth. While the Constitution of India grants every Indian the right to earn living in any part of the country, regional separatism in the name of pride is just killing the very ethos of composite culture.

In all these populist call, only people have to suffer as seldom we find any leader having lost his popularity rating. The great divide that has been created between Marathi people and others would certainly give anti-social elements field day in inciting clashes whereby the poor will lose his life and property. If the poor from Bihar, Orissa, northeast states and UP migrate for living because of industrial development in some parts of India like Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra etc., they do so because of under development in their respective states. While the natives do not like to do the kind of work that the migrants usually do, the former generate a feeling of jealousy at the prosperity of the latter.

E-mail Author: The writer of this article M Shamsur Rabb Khan is currently serving as the Editor, Consumer Unity & Trust Society or CUTS, India. He can be reached at samsur.khan@gmail.com