MP Shames India
By Poonam I Kaushish
“The officer should apologize…He threatened to complain…..I hit him 25 times with my sandals, tore his clothes and broke his specs….I have no regrets…I have many criminal cases against me….I am an MP and will not tolerate any insult.” Thundered Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad as he assaulted an Air India manager because he was denied a Business Class seat on an all economy Pune-Delhi flight. Worse, even though an FIR was filed against him and all domestic carriers refused to fly him, the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan refused to take suo moto cognizance of the MP’s criminal conduct. Sic. And we call ourselves a democracy!
Alas, this latest high jinx of our ‘don’t-you-know-I-am-a-VIP’ underscores that our neo-Maharajas MPs and MLAs suffer from the Acute Orwellian syndrome of “some are more equal than others” with in-your-face boorishness being their trademark. Daily we are treated to some mindless antics, inane tantrums, silly shenanigans et al by our rulers. For them politics translates in to the conduct of public affairs for private advantage with two sets of laws: rule of law for us where innocents are jailed for trivial crimes and rule by law for them read ‘follow-no-rules’.
Undeniably, we seem to live in an India where only VVIPs matter, living life in the slim strip called ‘official’ in a race for privilege. Wherein there is a wide chasm between the aam aadmi and our khaas aadmis. Add to this the high octane decibels of Saada Haq whereby, just about everybody, who’s anybody abuses power and public resources topped by being protected all at our expense.
Question them? God forbid be prepared for open fury. Main khaas hoon, tum kaun? Which translates in to not only living life king-size but nauseatingly flaunting it. Showcasing their power via elaborate power trappings and freebies that go with it. Never mind we pay for their narcissism.
Sadly, this mindset runs across the political spectrum. Last fortnight BJP MP and Delhi Chief Manoj Tiwari admonished a teacher who asked him to sing a couple of lines. Blasting her, he angrily bellowed, “How dare you ask me to sing is this the way to speak to an MP?” telling her to get off the stage and officials to take action against her. Two other BJP MPs misbehaved with hospital staff and a Dalit doctor in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier a Samajwadi leader was caught on camera for being raucous with a college lecturer. And how ‘pushy and rude’ Sports Minister Vijay Goel flouted rules at the Rio Olympic last year with organisers threatening to cancel his accreditation.
Remember six MPs and ex-MPs abusing their privileges by putting in fake travel vouchers or six Goa MLAs going to Brazil to watch the FIFA matches with taxpayers footing their Rs 90 lakhs bill. Shocked? Not at all, simply because the more things change the more they remain the same.
The icing on the cake: All live like Burra Sahibs! Costing the tax payer an extra Rs 60 crore annually to maintain their seven-star plush 5-acres mansions in tony Lutyens Delhi with manicured lawnswhere they grow wheat and vegetables, free pani upto 4000 kl per annum, bijli upto 50,000 units,furniture Rs 30,000, 1,50,000 local calls for 3 telephones and 50,000 free local calls during a year for Internet, air-conditioners, fridges and maintenance to boot down to a Rs 10 tube-light all for free.
Moreover, our jan sevaks have a battalion of policemen to protect them from the janata they profess to serve! Over Rs 450 crores of the tax payers hard-earned money is spent only on protecting 400 plus VIPs annually. Scandalously, there is a 1,200% rise in policemen cover for VIPs in Mumbai over the last 5 years, in Punjab 703 VVIPs get security.
Trashing a 2008 Delhi High Court judgment which stressed, “VIP security is obnoxious. It’s nothing but a status symbol, a scandal when a common man is killed on the street and old people strangled and these politicians get so much security at taxpayers’ money”.
The tragedy is that in 21st century India for our ruling neo-Maharajas the vestige of 19th century still lingers on. No IDs’, no frisking and long queues, in-your-face security on roads with an entourage of gun-toting commandos they flaunt their “power status” by blocking traffic, jumping red lights etc to exhibit their ‘power’ might. God forbid, if anyone questions their misdemeanor be prepared for open fury.
Issues which have left a bitter taste in the aam aadmi’s mouth. Already grappling with sky-rocketing prices, shrinking budgets and rising unemployment, it raises several questions: Can our poor country afford expensive legislators? Do they actually deserve this extra importance? Aren’t symbols of authority contrary to the basic feature of republicanism enshrined in our Constitution?
Whatever happened to democracy by the people, of the people, for the people? Considering, most rulers barely discharge their responsibilities honestly and honourably. Do our leaders know the reality of Asli Bharat which they ad nauseum vow to protect? Where over 700 millions live below the poverty? Succinctly, they don’t give a damn.
Look at the absurdity, our Right Honourables have given a largesse to even ex-MPs which includes life-long pension even if he is a member of the House even for a day, free train travel in AC sleeper, free medical to him and family and after his demise 50% to his pension to his spouse etc. No matter that 80% are crorepatis and do not require pension.
What next? Plainly, our leaders need to dispense with the jo hukam sarkar culture which is outdated in a democracy. That over one billion people should be beholden and subservient to their maibaaps is anathema and does not hold.
Modi needs to cry a halt to all financial pampering and perks to our rulers and dismantle their privileged fortresses. Isn’t it ridiculous that we are paying Rs 6 lakh per month to keep an ex-Minister “in coma” alive, in a private hospital, as his ex-MP wife refuses to take him home.
Contrast this with developed democracies where equality before the law governs the demeanour of public servants. In America baring a sitting President all others are frisked. Public officials routinely drive their own cars, meet people, go to restaurants and mingle with the hoi polloi. In UK MPs, Ministers and other VVIP travel in regular trains like aam aadmis and no one bothers to give them a seat. Unlike India, where a Chief Minister is ferried in a 35-car cavalcade. Sic!
For our democracy to enter the next level of maturity we need to rethink the entire gamut of privileges and freebies. Clearly the time has come for our polity to realize that any increase in privileges is co-terminus with an increase in accountability.
Clearly, if India is to be seen as a potential great power, our leaders must dispense with unnecessary privileges. As a new generation comes of age our rulers need to remember a home-truth: Gone are the days when leaders were revered, today they symbolise everything that plagues India, warts and all. It remains to be seen whether our polity will go beyond symbolism or continue to live life Maharaja-size and indulge in inane tokenism? —- INFA