The English media can be very infuriating. In the aftermath of the Mumbai siege (whose horror cannot possibly understated), these guys have launched a concerted campaign aimed at depoliticizing India's polity. A blanket condemnation of the entire set of current politicians as no-doers is annoying enough, but what really ticks me off is what they propose to do about it. Among the 'gems' that have come from the exalted mouths of the pretty guys and girls from CNN-IBN, Times Now and even NDTV 24X7 is that we guys should stop voting, cast a 'no' vote in the elections and not pay taxes. Even more ridiculous thoughts are packaged as angry Mumbai's reaction - stuff like 'Kill Politicians'.
Stop voting? Vote for a 'no'? Why? Dont these anchors realise that we are a democracy? That if we feel none of our current politicians are good enough we are allowed to stand ourselves? Shying away from elections is merely an attempt to avoiding responsibility. We cannot expects our leaders to discharge their duties if we do not elect those leaders capable and willing to do the same. Frankly, the Mumbai siege is as much a failure of leaders as it is of us people. And running away is no solution.
Not pay taxes you say? Ratna Pathak Shah was kind enough to remind us of the non-cooperation movement. Thank you ma'am. But do you realise that British being colonial masters left us with few options. In todays India if you want a regime change of the kind our freedom fighters launched a hundred movements for, all you have to do is vote for a change. JP Narayan wanted Indira out. He launched satyagrahas. He got jailed. But what eventually caused Indira's ouster was not loud chest-beating by Janata Party guys but the power of the ballot. Rajivji legitimized Shah Bano's plight, opened the gates (should I say the floodgates?) of the Babri and closed his eyes to Quattrochi's dealings. But to oust him we didn't have stop paying taxes - all we did is vote. By airing such fringe thoughts and presenting them as legitimate 'solutions' the media is doing great disservice to the us all. Not paying taxes will just cause mayhem and anarchy - probably cause our defence budget to collapse. Will anyone tell this to Mrs. Shah?
Anger is not necessarily a bad thing. But when it results in irrationality of the kind we are seeing, it becomes destructive.