The Fourth Front

The first draft of the national narrative is preserved in the parchments of memory.The vicissitudes of modern Indian history led to the rise of hitherto nationalist feelings which culminated in the formation of the Indian National Congress, which vowed to free its motherland of the pirates who had plundered it for centuries. it succeeded in 1947 on 15th august at the stroke of midnight with Pt. Nehru giving a rousing speech "tryst with destiny".the party also gave the country Mahatma Gandhi, he who with his loin cloth,steel rimmed glasses, rough sandals, a toothless smile and a voice which rarely rose above whisper had a disarming humility. Before 3 shots put an end to his life he had given his party the ideals to run the country.
But as temptations are galore it has lead to rampant corruption and those who aren't corrupt are perhaps too caught up in Bapu's ideals. it is true that Gandhi fathered the nation but the children need to get out of their father's shadow. The party's inability to tackle the vicious nature of terrorism has come to the fore.Congress prides itself on being secular though they fail to acknowledge that their appeasement politics is equally responsible for the simmering communal tensions in the country. Their government has blundered every now and then with no nook and corner of country remaining untouched by the ghastly terror attacks and the price rise defying every mathematical computation that the scientists can bring about. this party and govt has clearly survived because of weak opposition rather than on its own

As is rightly said a weak opposition only leads to a weaker govt, The BJP erstwhile jan sangh needs an introspection on whether the very issues and ideals which lead to their emphatic rise to power are relevant any more, the major population of India is young and this generation would rather spend its time thinking about development, their careers than worry about whether a temple would be built in Ayodhya.It is unfortunate for the country though that a party which boasted of leaders who could have brought a change the country so desperately needed lost its way. Their politics sometimes blatantly communal has lost its edge. they had a very tough stand on terrorism but decided to turn a blind eye when Hindu extremists went on a rampage.Their conspicuous silence during attacks on Christians in Orissa and elsewhere spoke volumes of their hypocrisy.the party also lost its traditional vote bank of middle class by opposing the civil nuclear deal which ironically its own govt would have supported because of their ideological support to the US.

The less said about the Left, the third front the better. their insatiable appetite to bring instability to govts is legendary, the left has traditionally not involved itself in the govt and chooses to criticise its own govts.Out of sync with current generation because their extreme communist approach and their allegiance to China they are set to face defeat even in Bengal their stronghold of several decades lest a miracle should save them.
India desperately needs a fourth front, a new national party devoid of all the baggages of the past that all the three fronts don't seem to be getting rid of. This front could be of our current crop of leaders with an ideology which is not left or right, which is not based on hindutva or islam but is nationalist. My views may sound too ideal so be it, cynicism will take us nowhere, we need a coterie of leaders who are not bound by their party's hypocritical ideologies to form a caucus so that our tryst with destiny is as romantic as it was meant to be.

one-india

an entire decade of the 21st century has come n gone but still the country stands divided today. we continue to look at our own fellow countrymen as hindu, muslim, north indian, south indian etc,etc......the list is endless. in the history lessons back in school days we were taught about the great Unity in Diversity of India but the truth is just one miniscule incident in any nook or corner of the country is enough to blow our heads off and go on a rampage against our own countrymen. this mercurial nature of ours is put to a brilliant and shrewd use by our eminent politicians. though we can blame only ourselves to be influenced by those who have nothing but their own selfish interest in their mind and history is witness to the fact that the one who has always lost in the mindless battle of religion,regionalism...is the aam junta the mango people. who lost in the 1993 bomb blast, gujarat 2002? the political parties reaped stupandeous benefits from these and continue to do so. who loses everyday in maharashtra where a politics of buffonery and hooliganism has unfolded in a manner never seen before. nothing wrong in promoting local culture and language infact it should be done, but a state will continue to be a subset of its country and this cannot or rather should not be changed. A majority of mumbai taxi drivers and dabbawallas are migrants, attacking them may scare them away to their native state but then again it will be left for the aam junta to suffer. one thing which continues to baffle is these attacks breesing on racism are against only those who are in a vulnerable position. why aren't these attacks aimed at migrant businessmen who have struck gold in mumbai, why aren't they asked to move their industries to to their own state.
Probably the greatest paradox is that The shiv sena declared in a way only the sena can that australian players would not be allowed to play in mumbai because of racist attacks on indians in australia. the sena boasted that it was taking an indian cause. this was hillarious, they themselves continue to propagate violence for state to state migrants but expect other countries to tolerate country to country migrants. needless to say they really dont the direction in which they are headed. but essentially it is for the people to understand that this dividive politics is of no use for them and it is heartening to see the vote share of sena dwindling but at the same time the vote share of MNS has increased. Well india is a country of paradox.
Rahul Gandhi recently commented that he wont allow attacks on north indians in maha. well Mr. Gandhi must have awaken from a deep slumber coz as far as memory goes he chose to keep mum when the Mns goons went on attacking spree not a long while back. it does not require rocket science to understand that the pending assembly election in bihar this year has prompted the crowned prince of india to come out in defence of the migrants in mumbai.
india being a democracy gives the public the power to create a govt which is free from the heavy baggage of religion, region, caste and creed. though it may seem a far cry from practical life to such a govt but we could move as nearer to perfection as we can let us hope that the new decade will catapault india not only among the greatest economy but also a great democracy which a great country like india truly deserves.