The fault, dear Brutus...

Shantanu Thakur

(thakur.santanu@gmail.com)

Independence was hard earned; so was democracy; it needs to be it erated. In the course of the journey of the seventy-plus odd years, this hard fact seems to have taken a backseat. As if the plethora of problematic issues that dog the nation were not enough by themselves, we are now content with wallowing indefeatist rhetoric. As if the nagging issues of unemployment, income generation, youth empowerment, inadequate health care, a rigged education system, etc. were not enough for us to focus, we continue to waste energy over political fencing bouts. Yes, one is aware that unemployment is one phrase we have been hearing about since childhood, and, therefore, new expressions by professionals have gained ground. But the fact remains that finding an avenue for income generation and a decent livelihood continues to be a spoiler for the youth, the way it has been all these years.

A harassed electorate has, wily-nily, been given the mandate: a coalition with adequate numbers to form the government, as well as an opposition with good enough numbers to act as a responsible watchdog. Yet, both sides don’t seem to be seized by the discontent among the electorate. The opposition seems to think it has been returned to rule, and the ruling coalition seems unsure of how to start the innings bereft of imaginary glory. Part of it was perhaps of its own making. The pitch was raised so high that, after falling short of trumpeted goals, victory now rings hollow. And, as if all the pantomime was not enough, we now have Elon Musk commenting on the reliability of EVMs in India! That too, after the machines played a fair game. And, as if all the gas over the machines within the country was not enough, EVMs have to now receive SpaceX attention to add grist to the rumour mill!

The quality of discourse in our country has gotten so stuck in the vocabulary of spite and bitterness that we seem to find vicarious pleasure in dragging things beyond reasonable limits. Even as the new Parliament is gearing up to meet, vested interests have wasted no time fishing in troubled waters. Despite the set parliamentary procedure for the selection of a pro-tem speaker and all that it implies, all kinds of discordant notes are being struck to create as much bad blood as possible. Political parties don’t seem as interested in getting down to practical brass tacks as they are in washing dirty political linen in public. Again, as if there are no pressing issues of national importance that cry for the attention of our representatives, trivialities are being given priority. The media, by and large, seems to have cultivated an indifference that is harmful and not quite expected from it. A burning issue like the state of affairs in Manipur—a sensitive, crucial border state—is still at the backburner of primetime focus, springing up only occasionally. Surface-sensationalism still takes precedence over everything else at the average level of coverage. Even after a rather telling mandate, media channels seem incapable of rising out of a self-imposed myopia, awaiting to be given directions from the centres of power. Elected victors find repose in repetitive banalities, hopeful of public amnesia. A self-respecting citizen expects better returns from the representatives they have returned to Parliament.

The latest stink to explode has been the entrance test scam. For one, this cannot be seen as a one-off exception. The entire education infrastructure must have been plagued by the virus for quite some time for such an unfortunate scam to happen. Scandals of such magnitude do not happen overnight. Scamsters get entrenched in the system from backdoors well ahead in a planned manner. Not one but several states are in the grip of this pandemic in the education sector, and things have been allowed to drift with shocking complacence.

A lot of things seem to be rotten in the state of Denmark. There’s an unfortunate trust deficit everywhere. The basic institutions of a free and fair democracy—the executive, the legislature, academia, and the pillar watchdogs of the system—are all under a cloud. The faith and trust in the examination system that citizens have (however short of the best possible constructs) have been sacrosanct in our country, like faith in the judiciary or in the election process. It’s with a similar trust that Indians respect the UPSC competitive exams. One can only shudder to even imagine a dystopian situation when the UPSC exams also come under a cloud. It doesn’t take long for killer viruses to spread.

It’s not that our youth do not see the limitations of opportunities or job vacancies in the given structure of governance or the economy of the country, yet they have, so far, reposed enough faith in the selection processes, perhaps for lack of better alternatives. With the gradual collapse of that faith, democracy itself will be held to a tether hanging on to the brink. It shouldn’t be difficult to foresee in what devastating direction the situation might snowball into if this discontent and unrest amongst the youth are not sensitively and timely handled. This could just be the beginning of a nose-dive to chaos, in the same way it has happened in Europe and several other parts of the world. A large-scale youth unrest is what we must not allow to happen.

In our kind of democracy, citizens have just a once-in-five-years opportunity to participate in the great dance of the Indian elections. Once that is over, they have no choice but to simply watch the dance of those they have returned to parliament. Perhaps this is what should change now. Vigorous activism on platforms like social media and its siblings could perhaps be one way to keep our representatives on their toes. And why not? If Musk can raise a storm over Indian EVMs on X, why can’t we make our presence felt? Or, does the fault, dear Brutus, lie not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings?!