By Sunil Kumar
“Are ye Serfs or are ye Freemen,
Ye that grovel in the shade?
In your own hands rest the issues!
By themselves are nations made!’-
Old Man’s Hope= A.O Hume- Founder of the Indian National Congress(1885) addressing the enslaved nation.
In the 21st year of the 21st century, the ‘freemen’ stand at a unique crossroads in history. India is facing an unprecedented challenge that shrieks out like a ‘black death’ of old, once again shaking its very foundations barely a few months before the country had gone back to its usual nonchalance which has helped it overcome some of the most horrific episodes in human history.
For a book that is ostensibly about the Congress if we go only by the title, there is a lot of emphasis on the BJP and PM Modi.
As Mufti Sayeed, former cabinet minister said, ‘Modi is a force of nature.’ Given the overwhelming amount of newsbytes devoted to the current Prime Minister, he has certainly cemented his place in the history of this republic and the world.
Mr. Amit Bagaria’s work is well-researched and has many prescient insights for everyone to ponder on. Although it is structured in an intelligible and informative way, I would have preferred more analysis of the Congress as such. The Indian National Congress today is technically a morphed mutant, that is ideologically more a byproduct of the Indira era and has absolutely no resemblance in shape, intent and ideas to the hallowed institution of pre-Independence times.
Shockers abound in the book that probably affected the fate of billions. From the Mundhra scandal, UN Permanent Seat issue, Kashmir and Ladakh fiasco to the sensational treachery of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the list of scandals that marked Manmohan’s second term, the author has laid things out threadbare.
To make matters worse, the so-called GOP has run out of ideas. Merely regurgitating the ‘done-to-death’ tropes of a failed pseudo-socialist raj that was intrinsically flawed and hypocritical, the Congress thinks it can revive a weak, often-flogged horse. The Indian voting public swings like its politicians on a pendulum of wise sagacity to utter sycophancy and self-destruction.
Recent events in the country often reinforce this negative dystopia. Facts cannot be denied but an optimistic outlook based on realism is desirable.
To his credit, the author is objective and factual and it is apparent that he has the country’s best interests in mind. Apart from a scathing indictment of the Congress and its position as the dominant force in Indian politics for most of its independent existence, the author has also critiqued the present dispensation in a succinct manner.
Some flaws in the book in my opinion; at some times there is a heavy overdose of facts and figures that could be interlaced with more analysis. That however does not take away from easy readability and a high ‘informative’ quotient. Also, bank nationalization took place in July 1969 rather than 1979, an obvious misprint.
A very important aspect here covered in less detail is the role of the media. From nothing but official government spokespersons that gave us a filtered, rose-tinted perspective on the truth, it has morphed into a multi-headed hydra that is as dangerous as it is constructive.
As it faces multiple crises, India needs a constructive, free, fair, non-hyphenated journalistic setup as much as it needs a more cerebral, positive opposition that can actually help take the country forward.
The sordid episode of KGB ideological control in India as discussed in the Mitrokhin archive to the present penchant with verbose anti-national posturing has been discussed but not as much as I would like. Macaulay’s hangover and the engendered intellectual subservience that refuses to go away makes our herculean problems even more unique, inflammatory and divisive.
Even hardened supporters of the GOP(a misnomer for the Congress in our context) agree that asking for foreign intervention to dethrone an elected PM(US or Pakistan) is an anti-national act that no self-respecting nation would condone. But, that is a very miniscule event in the litany of crimes and corruption that scream out from every page of ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’.
Nobody is going to help the tax-payer of the world’s biggest democracy unless he is proactive on issues that really matter.
But, a fiefdom of mafia-like political parties, reservations, vested NGOs or billionaire-funded interest groups, votebank politics, bent judiciary and a corrupt police setup are a veritable minefield and quicksand in the path of real progress. We need a dragon that breathes fire to overcome so many challenges. Even a one-man army falls short on many counts as honestly discussed and deliberated on in this book.
I would certainly recommend reading this book regardless of your ideological affiliation due to its informative nature.
