You complain I am not worried about your sordid plight or I cannot raise my voice to highlight the miseries you are being put through by the largest democracy in the world. At least this time you are right in assessing my state of mind and have correctly recognised my apathy towards you. There are other matters of concern I am worried about at the moment. Believe me these matters are deliberately put under the carpet by our liberal and secular democrats. Our leaders do not want the world to see the ugly face of their politics which has destroyed the social and economic fabric of our traditional society. If you are also overwhelmed by the skyscrapers or big cars in metropolises and think that India has become the powerful economy of the world, you are mistaken; listen to the woes of thousands who are living in slums in the backyards of these huge buildings. You can hear the cries of poor and hungry people even if you have shut yourself up on the top floor of the building. The new breed of industrialists has built castles on the bodies of poor farmers who were forcibly deprived of their agricultural land by the modern economic mafia.

Why do you feel you are the only one left out of the ‘India Shine’ factor or barred from enjoying the fruits of the flourishing democracy? You have not seen the whole picture.

You complain that the international community is witnessing the charade of democracy like a mute spectator at best and a cheerleader at worst. What you do not understand is that the international community comprising the most powerful is safeguarding its own interests. The superpowers are in search of big markets for their service and heavy industries and have found India an ideal market for both of them. Our policy makers at the helm of affairs tell us that we will benefit from the latest technology. Instead, they are snatching our land, our pride and dignity and are making us homeless. 

At the moment I am worried about the forty percent of the population of India which according to a UN report still live under the poverty line.  Most of them sleep without enough food and without shelter in the evening. They are demonised by the elitist press as scavengers, rag-pickers or beggars. Our politicians are discussing rising growth rates in the Parliament with their stomachs fully stuffed with the choicest dishes whilst the poor continue to suffer. The forty percent poverty stricken population have no idea of India shining, nor do they seem to enjoy the fruits of the largest democracy though they are very enthusiastic voters. The politico-criminals take advantage of this enthusiasm by holding rallies, making speeches full of lofty ideas and tall promises, and winning votes on the basis of deception. Often, the poor belong to places that are remote, inaccessible and without roads. They never ask for better life standards. What they strive for is two times bread and a bit of sleep and shelter. The Indian media does not like to show these naked and hungry faces to the world. You know we can watch either the glamorous bollywood stars or ‘drawing room debates’ talking about liberal economy on the Indian channels. Once, I was watching a debate with my English friend and it was about ‘India, emerging economy’ with known faces of participants who can talk on any subject and are always available on different channels like Mani Shankar Aiyar. The debate was portraying such a glorious picture of India that my friend was tempted to ask me, why don’t we both start something of our own in India? I burst out into laughter and advised her to go through the recent UN report about India’s seventy percent poverty. She did not believe me or the UN’s report claim that seventy percent of India’s population live on one dollar per day and have no other means of livelihood. How can they survive? She was aghast over the fact that media debates keep talking about the miniscule of the population while ignoring the majority of the poor and hungry people whose voices are silenced either by guns and or beaten to death by lathis.

I am concerned over the plight of tens of thousands of peasants who are at present fighting against the political-industrial complex that has started to snatch their agriculture land. The industrialists of the country need their land for economic zones to show the modern world that they are not lagging behind in creating economic monsters in the land where seventy percent people can only watch big departmental stores and cannot dare to enter let alone to buy. Recently, in one of the stores of modern Gurgaon I saw dozens of beggars with different disabilities watching the stores outside from the corner of their eyes where only elite boys wearing Levi jeans were busy in buying the latest albums.

You feel bad that the police or other security agencies beat you when you protest for Azadi.  No! You are not the only ones. The police and security agencies do not leave their own farmers without beating or silencing them whenever they protest. Out of fear of torture the farmers do not dare to come out again on the streets to demand respect for their rights. They prefer to stay hungry rather than to fight for their land because they know they are not going to win in the current political set-up which is ostensibly democratic. It looks rosy on the surface but it is dirty and rotten inside.

What? How innocent of you calling media a watchdog? It is a different story in India where most of the media works at the behest of the establishment and then do not ignore the ‘nationalism’ factor. It is too much imbibed into our journalist fraternity. They are frenetic about the India shine factor and do not want to unveil the filth beneath it. Well, I can’t call them ‘partners in crime’ if they do not raise your plight because you know they will soon brand me anti national. And, because I am from demon religion they might club me with ISI, CIA or Taliban.

My heart bleeds for those girls who are raped, tortured and tormented to the extent that they have become numb and do not dare to ask why they deserve such treatment. I am sure you have got your records correct that women in India outnumber the male population but they are still week, vulnerable and exploited by the elite male politicians. Do not believe the Bollywood version of Indian women where she is being portrayed as the ‘Goddess’ and energy of Lord Shiva. It is all farce; she has been rendered a useless creature, and more since the country entered the club of growing economies. She is paying the huge price for it by losing everything: land, relations and society.

I hope you have now realized why I am wrapped up in other issues and not yours? You are demanding political freedom from the country that has become slave to those democracies playing havoc in Iraq and Afghanistan. You are challenged with the identity crisis and claim to live and die with dignity and honour. Your dream of giving your children a state free from terror doesn't have much chance of happening. The problem with you is that you are demanding ‘unthinkable’ from those who have made the whole nation hostage to their ego. There are thousands of people like you suffering in every nook and cranny of the country. They do understand your misery and they do share your pain. But they feel helpless like you.  How can you expect me to demand answers from the politicians whose coffers are filled with the blood and sweat of seventy percent population of the country. How can I make them feel the pain and misery of those mothers whose sons are trampled to death on the streets of Kashmir? How can I tell them that your police have dashed the hopes of hundreds of budding youths?

To tell you the truth your war is still dignified and you are fighting it with gusto and pride. The seventy percent poverty ridden masses, beaten farmers and humiliated girls on the streets of India are living an undignified life and are forced to die with no dignity and honour. Whose plight do you think I should focus on first, theirs or yours?  Please tell me.

(Feedback at nayeema7@gmail.com)

Lastupdate on : Wed, 1 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 1 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 2 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST