The New Indian – Fundamentally Correct or Wrong

We all came across the dreaded Mumbai Terror attack last week and the massacre was condemned by all including myself in a blog-post. We all blamed the Government for being do lax about it and a lot of finger-pointing and blame-gaming followed. A lot of my readers said, asking questions is a good thing, but is there any answer. This made me ponder deeply and on a hind sight, the question that I asked myself and which “we”, the educated people should ask ourselves is, “Do we actually have the right to blame the Government? Did we actually go to vote when the Government was being chosen that we are now damning?” If the answer is “NO”, you belong to the modern Indian society where the educated and earning people feel going to exercise the Fundamental Right to vote is nothing but a waste of time.

If the answer is “NO”, we do not have the right to complain about the terrorism or the other Political issues. We see that all the so-called reforms the Government makes is for the poor or for a specific community but when we look at it from the perspective of the political candidate, he finds them as a reliable source of “vote-bank” as compared to us, the educated mass who lap up what we get and yet at the time of the polls say that all the politicians are worthless and hence we should not go to vote. The ideal example for this is that of Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh, who brought tremendous development to the city of Hyderabad, but since he did not do much for the rural areas in that term, he lost the next elections. We also see complete injustice in the policies made by the HR ministry regarding the reservations and all, but all in all, the politicians do what they do for gaining the votes and we are not helping them by not voting and hence we feel we are exploited/ not represented. The last straw also includes forgoing a whooping 60000 crore in loans to farmers in the election years.

Have we faced enough already?

The answer should have been “YES” decades ago, but we Indians are a very dormant society. We will not react as long as the issue does not affect us directly. We look ahead calmly even if our neighborhood is on fire unless we are unsure that the fire will not reach our house. This attitude of ours has costed us a lot in the past. Suddenly the hidden bombs which blasted in trains, buses or cinemas look like a small thing and the terrorists have reached places like the Taj, the Oberoi and the Gateway of India after the previous attacks on the Parliament.

We also see a higher amount of confidence in their attacks, more sophistication in their weaponry, and use of much more advanced technology coupled with perfect strategic planning. After this grueling experience, what do we get in return? Plain old finger pointing and prejudices from our Politicians; and sacrifices from our Police Force and Army. I am not blaming the Government for the lax in their response, this is the system that “we” the educated masses of this country have allowed to be molded over time and today when the same seeds we had sown have become deadly plants with venomous thorns that are pricking us, do we really have the right to criticize the system? I don't think so.

So what now?

All said and done, a problem that we have allowed to be formed can be resolved by our own actions. The time has passed when walking in a few processions and lighting a couple candles and then hoping that we won’t need someone to light a candle for ourselves the next time an incident happens. These things we did in the past to satisfy our conscience that we protest the inaction against terrorism and condemn the politicians don’t work anymore. Of course, we don’t want to join politics, we all wish to stay in the comfort of our homes and have the security of our jobs. So is there anything we can do?

Fortunately, there are a couple of things. First of all, we need to show the Politicians the Power of the masses. The educated masses need to exercise their “right to vote”. It is not just a luxury given to us by the Democracy, but it is the duty of a citizen to be responsible for what you get. Unless you vote, you do not have the authority to condemn any of the Government’s mis-doings. Once the politicians see the faith of the Indian voters and realize that their good work will be supported with votes, they will go to any extent for the good of the city, state and the country. This emotion was visible in the Gujarat Polls of 2007 and people from far and wide came forward to vote, with just the hope that the Government that delivers should not be toppled.

A lot of people ask what if we do not have any good leader to support. For that, the Indian Conduct of Election rules, published in 1961 does have a provision called Section 49-O, i.e. a way to mark yourselves as voted, but to NOT VOTE for any candidate. Unlike an email that is being forwarded as hoax that the Section 49-O when exercised the politicians in that constituency will be debarred or that there will be re-polls, this opting to exercise the option not to vote does not in any way render the election invalid or disqualify the candidates irrespective of the number of people "deciding not to vote".

Specifically, section 49-O of "Conduct of Election Rules of 1961" states:
"Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark."

So, how would that help?

Though the common man is unaware of this provision, The Election commission, since 2001, has submitted two proposals requesting that a separate option called “None of the above” be provided on the Electronic Voting machines. But the Politicians are smart and hence nothing’s moved so far! But the point is, if it can get that simple and we do have a sizable number of people using the option, can’t we file a petition requesting an amendment be made to Rule 49-O?

Though exercising Section 49-O does not have results as spectacular as a re-poll and debarring, a high number of voters of exercising this option does make a statement that people are dissatisfied with the current setup and it also shows as a buffer of votes to the politicians who know that if they work well, these votes will be shifted to their vote-bank. Coupled with a strong media support, the change which is already “over-due” can be finally brought apart.


A Ray of Hope

The Mumbai-blasts have rekindled the spirits in the people of India. For the first time, I have seen a lot of Indian communities come out and condemn this brutal act of terror. Various International Forums have decided to help India in this menace for the first time and this has made the country or more importantly the country-men come closer. Various youngsters have started taking active interest in the state of the affairs of our country and the concepts like http://www.jaagore.com are helping awaken the lost sons of India.

Bottom-Line: For all the protests we have done till now: Was the entire slogan shouting required? Were the rallies required? What did we ever achieve? Were politicians ever going to listen to what we say if we shout one day and forget the event the very next day? Like Bhagat Singh said, the deaf need blasts to listen to what we say and the “right to vote” is the biggest bomb that a democracy can give us.

The change begins from us and we have to make a beginning. And as said in India's Most Wanted, India Fights Back - "Together We Can, and We Will."