Democracy:
India
is a multi party country. There is no upper limit to the maximum number
of political parties we can have. But today we see that mainly there
are 2 or 3 major alliances that represent majority of the political will
of the citizens both at the national and the state level. The major
part of the development that has happened in this country has happened
without the much needed political impetus in the Governance machinery.
It is through the sustained efforts of individuals of this country that
we have done some development in the technology, education and the
economic sectors. But that development is sparsely distributed across
different social sectors. Merely 3% of the population of India earn a
livelihood of more than Rs. 6500 per month (World Bank data). The rest
97 % earn below that to different degrees. So if I look at it, I see no
development at all. The entire government machinery both at the national
and state levels is nearly ineffective.
Politics:
Politics
was actually understood in the ancient days as the authority created
for the welfare of the society. (My definition of society includes human
beings + animals + plants + nature + environment.) Today politics
implies the means to enjoy the power and privileges of Government and
even misuse of the same for fulfilling ulterior individual motives. And
we as the voters continuously cast our votes based on cast, religion, regional biases at the state and the national levels. The new concept of “rationalism” which implies nurturing “pseudo intellectualism”
which limits itself within the books of Karl Marx, Maxim Gorky etc.
etc. I have never seen such pseudo intellectuals taking to the streets
when heinous atrocities are committed on women and children. I never see
them working in the relief teams when there are natural calamities. The
lesser intellectual mortals like the jawans of Indian Army or the
volunteers who risk their lives in relief operations show-up
unconditionally during those times.
Society:
Society = human beings + animals + birds + plants + nature + environment
Indian society though diverse is actually very simple in nature. Our ancient way of living was that of “One World Family”.
People of all religions, sects and casts have continued to live in
harmony throughout centuries. Today I work with engineers of diverse
religious backgrounds in my team. I have friends who are from diverse
religions, serving in the armed forces of India. So the reality is that “Religion is not the problem, politics on religion is the problem”.
In ancient society caste system was a mere division of work in the
society. It was not meant to belittle one caste over another. Over the
periods some opportunists took advantage and divided people into castes
for their own ulterior motives. Also caste system is prevalent in all
religions. So “caste system is wrong, all human beings are equal” and we must strive for social equality. Another important aspect is gender equality.
In ancient India women were considered at par with men. All the
scriptures are evidence to that. Even women could perform all the
rituals. Somewhere in the middle ages this was distorted and atrocities
on women started. We must wake-up and stop this immediately.
Economy:
Today
India’s economy gets maximum boost only because of the service sector
which was enabled because of affordable technology. But again I will
reiterate here that only a small portion of the population gets
benefited because of this. Farmers are committing suicide because of low
crop yield, as a result of ignorance. Nobody taught them naturally
sustainable agricultural methods. Nobody taught them how to manage their
money when the yield is good. We are buying lot of foreign goods at
higher rates e.g., soaps from some cosmetic companies. But we get much
better natural soaps like sandal soap etc. which are locally
manufactured and are chemical free, and lesser in price. I believe in
order to make the local economy stronger we must strive to buy locally
as much as possible, of course the local product should be good. So for “sustainable development” we must “think globally but buy locally”.
India is a big enough market for Indians so big that the entire world
looks at it to market their products, some like China would go one step
further to dump their products.
The wise and the intelligent citizen:
1)
Doesn’t align with any political party, but rather keeps a check on the
political party by exercising voting rights as well as using the power
of expression by being vocal about what is right and what is wrong for
the country and the society, from time to time. Our loyalty is towards our country and society, not towards any political party.
The political party on the other hand has to be loyal to the common
citizen of the country. The remote control should remain with the
citizen/common man not with the AAM ADMI party or Congress or BJP. The political party is the instrument of the common man not vice versa
2) Is vocal about social injustice, in whichever form, without any bias or prejudice
3) Is protective about the natural resources and environment. Honors environment
4) Connects with the underprivileged and works towards bringing more social and economic equality
5) Is scientifically tempered and looks at cause and effect from a broader perspective, with an unbiased insight
6)
Is aware of the threat of foreign elements that try to disturb the
peace of this country. Hence strives to maintain national integrity
through vigilance and alertness
7) Believes in long term sustainable development over short term opportunistic gains
8) Believes in the concept of “One World Family”
9) Takes interest in world events and is concerned about the well being of the “society” across the globe, and works towards it, as much as possible
10) Honors life, festivals, celebrations, culture, traditions and customs of all sections of the society
This is what I could think of, you can add many more.....
What do you say..
