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| See I Fooled You Source: MSN |
In a time of universal deceit- telling the truth is a
revolutionary act.- George Orwell. A
dream rose from desperation. Hassled by blatant corruption, Indians rose in
protest against a thoroughly corrupt government which largely laughed off those
protest.
Those in power were not concerned, worried. They were amused,
they laughed it off, they asked the people who questioned corruption in
embarrassed, scared voices- “Are you nuts?”
Then, suddenly it was Y2k or Java or Cloud to use a technology
equivalent. Everyone was doing it and no one knew what it meant. Technology
democratized the media and the Social media split into two. It did do something
good. It churned the politics and challenged the status quo. It broke the
collaboration of convenience among the top two national parties. Narendra Modi
was brought in as change of guard for BJP. Many called it attempt to polarize.
I do not look at it that way. It was an attempt to offer what people wanted, a
fresh face away from the conniving coterie of Delhi Darbar, where power and
opposition was charade.
On the sidelines, many people joined in the anti-corruption
crusade. They did not in real sense lead the movement. They waited for the
bubble to bloat and then stepped in the front and claimed the leadership. Many
had at one time or other tried their luck in the grand old party, Congress, and
failed to rise through the ranks. There were no ranks, only the kings and the
courtiers. Without right surnames, there wasn’t much hope. The other option was
BJP. Not family driven, but cadre driven. If you are not RSS backed, tough
call. AAP was the new startup taking lateral entries. Junior officers in old
industry joined the startup. Stuck with mid-career crisis, they found new
horizons. Suddenly they were all at the top, calling the shots, driving the
frenzy.
The political party birthed by the media, became the landing
station for the media. Just as congress is a party of rich lawyers, AAP became
a party of rich journalists. Also Just as Congress as we have it, has nothing
to do with Indian National Congress which worked against the British, AAP has
nothing to do with India Against Corruption, which worked against the corrupt
in the government.
Quickly AAP’s character and features changed. It sacked the
founders, foul mouthed the opposition, rewarded and bribed the supporters.
Illegal colonies were quickly regularized, political bribes were offered to
those who supported the party during the election. An impressive mandate, made
Arvind Kejriwal chief minister of a privileged municipality of Delhi. Buoyed by
the mandate, the party tried to run beyond its brief. Its eyes were set on
absolute rule, mobocracy replacing democracy. That actually brings us to the
question – what is the difference between Mobocracy and Democracy? Aren’t both
the game of numbers? Well, it is morality which is the thin thread which
upholds democracy. Once that thread is gone, it is brute strength of number.
That number devoid of moral force can be any grouping of people- a band of
thieves or a bunch of thugs.
The Cookie started crumbling immediately after the elections.
The promises were suddenly the commercial commitments on the insurance
brochures. The list of conditions which applied was longer than the list of
freebies promise. That list and that grievance will be too commonplace for a
citizen who has seen politics taking shape out of broken promises for a large
part of independent India’s existence.
It is broad, blatant lies which I write this about. It is not
about the stupid fight of Arvind Kejriwal with the LG, Najeeb Jung. This is
also not about carefully crafted carelessness of Arvind Kejriwal, his
ill-fitting shirts. This is about the lying Law Minister of AAP, about Jitender
Singh Tomar. The man has been allegedly claiming not only to be well-qualified
but also being a lawyer falsely. It is a matter of sheer logic.
Ah, latest news, Kejriwal is now very upset with Jitender Singh
Tomar. He claims he was misled. An sharp strategist, ex-IRS, IIT alumnus was
misled. He really believed that in the 90s, in the thick of Laloo’s jungle raj,
people would travel from Lucknow in UP to Munger in Bihar to get an LLB degree.
He really thought that the minister went counter to the usual direction of
human migration. From the capital of UP, he went to Faizabad to get graduation
degree.
It is hard to believe that Kejriwal was fooled. That he was in party to fool the nation. It was a fooling party, of the fools, by the fools, for the fools. It is hard to
believe that he believed like a kid what the law minister told him. On hearsay,
he went forward to claim it was conspiracy to defame the minister.
This was followed by erstwhile Law Minister, whose wife went
public on charges of domestic violence. Before his wife came on camera,
Kejriwal, the benefactor of the loyal, the Yug-Purush for twitter-army of AAP, who
would blame polity, police and jury for any blame on AAP, as usual blamed media
and of course, the central government.
Mr. Kejriwal must realize that he out of protected environment
of National Advisory Council of Ms. Sonia Gandhi. He is watched. When you are
corrupt, and conventional, one can blame convention. Not when you came with the
claim of unorthodox, clean politics. The layers go lifting when the winds of
lies blow wild. Then one notices that there is no Lokpal in Delhi, that for most
promises, the CM has not found time to even hold one meeting. When business as
usual is brutal and dishonest, one learns to live with it, but not when you
pretend to be a change-maker. Once you slip and once we notice that the slip
was well-intended and well- planned, even if well-covered, something snaps. You
are not then, disliked, you are doomed. A near majority in a pseudo-city is
nothing. Ceaser had that in much larger republic, and had much more proven patriotism
in him. But the Romans did not forgive him the broken promises. Remember that O
false pretender.
Post-script: The News of another AAP MLA with fake degree has
surfaced today. The MLA says he had people with me and need not answer anyone.
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