MY HEART CRIES FOR MY PEOPLE AND MY UTTARAKHAND
The humongous tragedy that has struck the affected
districts of Uttarakhand is the beginning of the end of the Congress party in
the State. While in the political system which obtains in the country, the
alternative to the Congress is a Hobson’s choice, and is the BJP. Not that it
is any better than the existing Party, which comprises the government of
Uttarakhand. But, in a morbid political system which abounds in the country and
the States, politics is no more a people’s thing, that provides good governance
and serves the needs and interests of the people. It is about power, arrogance,
venality, self and plunder of the country’s resources, behind the veil of a
republican democracy. This is the manner
in which the National and Regional political parties have interpreted the
meaning and purport of democracy, and have hoodwinked the rural and semi urban
masses by playing the card of religion, caste, creed and faith to ensnare them
into exercising their ballot in favour of one party or the other. Political
empowerment without social and economic empowerment has been the bane of this country.
The Congress which has been in power and has formed the government in the
Centre as also the States, for a greater part of the 65 years since we became
independent from British rule, is the main perpetrator of this imbalance and
has further exacerbated the situation by its flawed policies and a completely
subjective interpretation of secularism in a pluralistic polity. Politics in
India has not evolved but instead either remained stagnant or else deteriorated
to abysmal levels of muscle and money power, which gets factored into the
matrix of a populous vote bank strategy.
When Uttarakhand was given State hood in 1999 and Dehra Dun
became its interim Capital, there was a complete vacuum in political leadership. The able bodied or else those who were
capable and had found their various callings in the country’s mainstream activity in commerce, industry or
public and private service were pre occupied and far removed from the
opportunity that thus arose. Those who were left behind to dabble in kitchen,
local, panchayat and municipal level of politics were thrown up by a quirk of
fate to take centre stage and guide the destiny of Uttarakhand. Thus, the quality of the political leadership
which emerged was inadequate and challenged in its perception, about what
should be the centre of gravity for the inclusive and wholesome development of
Uttarakhand. The bureaucracy which side stepped from the Uttar Pradesh cadre
was average and unaware of the demands of a hill State. The mix of these two
categories of people who were responsible for and entrusted with the governance
of Uttarakhand, made a complete mess of their charge and planned for its
covert destruction.
Real estate and property which had by now established
itself as the main source of wealth elsewhere, in other developing and
progressive States of the country, became a catchment for wealth in Uttarakhand
too. And this is where the combined avarice and lust for lucre in the political
class and the bureaucracy manifested itself. The Neta, Secretary, Collector,
Developer and Builder nexus mushroomed and proliferated in an exponential
manner, virtually raping the natural resources and putting a mix of iron and
concrete where there was none earlier. Sustainable and symbiotic development in
an environmentally and ecologically sensitive zone/area should have been the
bottom line for all developmental work, but who cared? It was the money which
was pouring into the coffers of the government’s representatives, from the
spout of the land and construction mafia, which mattered. This is all that was
of concern to this category of public servants, who have today become the
merchants of death of the thousands who have lost their life in the present
deluge and catastrophe. The topography of the Bhagirathi, Bhilangana and
Alaknanda valleys has been permanently and irreversibly changed by the
construction activity, which has besieged these areas; and all this in the name
of generating hydro electric power from the river waters for the industrial
demands of India. Uttarakhand and its people are paying a huge price for this
demand; by their life and livelihood. How callous and hardnosed can the
government be to those very people whom it has vouched to serve and protect.
While it is not my brief to canvass for the political
fortunes of any political party, but the two governments which were headed by
Narain Dutt Tiwari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, as also the present one of
Vijay Bahugana, are guilty of the crimes of culpable homicide and of destroying
the livelihood and culture of Garhwal, for which they should be proceeded
against in either the courts of the country or else the people’s court. My heart cries for my people and I appeal to
those who feel similarly, to strengthen social activism against corruption and
plunder of natural resources in Uttarakhand.
Brigadier S D Dangwal
5339,W 64th Street
Ridgeview Avenue
Edina
Minneapolis
Minnesota 55439
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