|
More
than ever in a democracy people get the
government that they deserve. If the people of
Bihar find themselves shackled with a corrupt
and insensitive government then they have no one
to blame except themselves. The ones who vote in
the state elections, the average Bihari voter,
have they ever aspired to engineer a change for
the better? The answer obviously is a big NO.
The chances of a more responsive government
being formed subsequent to the October elections
are eminently bleak. First of all, there is no
popular movement in Bihar that could aim to
usher in better governance. In quintessence the
state elections can be seen as a concomitant of
a Lalu versus Lalu syndrome. If the ruling
coalition is corrupt then so is the opposition.
If the ruling coalition has bad governance track
record then so has the opposition.
Even if Lalu Yadav is trounced at the polls,
chances are Nitish Kumar will form the
government. But the point is Nitish Kumar is
nowhere better than Lalu Yadav. In fact, if
their respective performances as railway
minister were to be taken into account then it
is obvious that the railways are faring much
better under the incumbent Lalu than it did when
it was under Nitish Kumar.
The fact that everyone in the media is busy
ignoring is that in Bihar the key problem is not
one of governance, rather it is of the severe
demoralization of the populace. The average
Bihari hardly has the courage or the mindset to
work for betterment of his life, vitiated as he
is by an overabundance of negativity. A
festering sort of an ego that usually is the
hallmark of the ill informed prevents the
Biharis from breaking free from the web of
cynicism, casteism, and obsolete traditions.
It is wrong to blame Lalu for what is happening
in Bihar, the ones to be blamed are the average
denizens of the state. What can Lalu do when
people of his state just don’t seem to aspire
for better living conditions? Being a politician
he has to give the people what will win him
their votes. If casteist politics does the trick
then that is what he is going to give. If lack
of development does the trick, then he must make
sure that there is no development at all.
Taking to a reporter he is reputed to have
bragged, ‘bikas ka rajniti se kya matlab hai.’
(What has politics to do with progress?) And he
was absolutely right in ejaculating those words.
Progress has nothing at all to do with the
politics of Bihar. People of Bihar don’t want
any progress; they are quite content with their
abysmal state of affairs.
The most laughable of all is the news that some
Bihari NRIs in US are busy collecting funds for
undertaking charitable projects in their state.
Why bother! I want to ask them. They will only
be pouring their money into a dark bottomless
hole, out of which nothing ever comes out.
But there is one thing worthy of taking note of.
The NRIs from Karnataka and Maharashtra tend to
start viable businesses in their states, so that
the economy improves and there is general
prosperity. Not so in case of Bihari NRIs, who
would rather appease their conscience by
squandering some nickels and dimes in the form
of charity.
What Bihar needs is trade and not aid! What
Bihar needs is inspiration, something to look up
too, something that has in itself the strength
to break the monotony of cynicism that has had
the state in its thrall for the last few
decades! But who can tell that to a Bihari who
has already perfected the art of ignoring the
obvious.
|
Comments: |
From
the article it appears that the
author is either a non-Bihari or a
NRB (Non Resident Bihari). He has
written only what he found in the
media. Not a single sentence seems
to have been written out of personal
experience or knowledge. - B P
Verma, Patna - Sept. 14, 2005
The
author is not from Bihar. I mean (he
has) no personal experience. Used
his journalistic view. Its very
generic statements seem true on the
surface but actually not true. In
last 2 terms (10 years) Lalu was not
given a mandate to rule, its pimp
Left and impotent Congress leaders
who have supported Lalu under the
garb of secularism. For them
casteism is better then secularism.
What Lalu has done in Bihar? Nothing
except demolishing the legal system.
Just can't blame Biharis. -
Satyanarayan Kantiwal - Sept. 14,
2005
Perhaps Non-Biharis or NRBs do not
know the reality of interior parts
of the state. It is worse than that
in the media. I have witnessed the
change of mindset of the people of
Bihar in last 15 years. When you see
all sorts of thugs ruling the state,
what else can you expect? And please
don't tell me that I am a NRB and so
I don't know the reality. I come
from one of the most rural parts of
the state and unlike Mr. B. P.
Verma, I am ashamed of the present
condition and believe in the reality
that your glorious past is not going
to help you and your children in
future. Mr. Verma talks like Lalu,
if you are talking of bad shape of
Bihar or mentality of Biharis then
you are NRB, Non-Bihari and so on.
But then problem with NRBs is that
they have seen both the worlds and
so they expect their state to be
developed. From my personal
experience, I can see that Bihar or
development of Bihar is not a
concern for Biharis otherwise how
can you justify the continuation of
Lalu-Rabri raj. If you are
justifying the rule of Lalu, Rabri
and company then either you are not
in right sense of mind or you are a
politician. - Arun Kumar - Sept. 15,
2005
Mr.
B. P. Verma is living in a world of
denial. So Anoop Verma writes like a
journalist. Does that make his
points invalid? Far from it. And
let's talk about the NRBs for a
second since we are already
discussing it. I am an NRB. At age
37, I came to US. I am 45 now. Does
that mean I have forgotten about
Bihar, or India, or its conditions
or its politics or its leaders?
People like Mr. B. P. Verma are too
quick to jump on the bandwagon of
NRI/NRB bashing thinking they are
the only one who understands the
root politics of Bihar.- Kesri
Kishore, USA - Sept. 15,
2005
‘Bikas ka rajniti se kya matlab hai.’
(What has politics to do with
progress?) are the golden words of
Laloo which amply illustrate that
democracy and illiteracy produce a
dangerous mixture.
Bad politicians will keep the voters
illiterate. Illiteracy produces bad
politicians. A good number of
Biharis apparently do not know what
is good for them and end up voting
on caste lines because they know no
better.
So we are back to the story - which
came first the chicken or the egg?
We can keep going in loops till
eternity. How do we break the loop?
The loop can only be broken by
positive external forces. By that I
mean the well wishers of Bihar. PD
has given us the platform to
interact for finding and
implementing ways to break the loop.
Should we all give up in disgust?
It is common knowledge that it is
the Indian brain that is pushing the
frontiers of knowledge in many areas
like space, medicine, IT etc. Had it
been possible if people threw up
their arms in disgust when
confronted with a problem?
The basic question is: Do we care?
Is there a feeling of belongingness?
If yes, then be driven by your
conscience, find ways to help. If
no, then a diarrhea of high sounding
words has no meaning. It is
encouraging to learn that people the
world over are brain storming and
trying to do whatever they can to
help their motherland. - Rajesh
Chaubey - Sept. 16,
2005 |
|
Discussion on this topic is now
closed. |
Return to previous Page |
