We have rushed to you in the New Year like a fresh breeze. Nothing has changed, though, except the calendar and once again we shall vindicate the victory of the Dictator. On our Republic Day January 26, we recite our National Anthem Jan-gan-man-adhinyak jai he Bharat bhagya vidhata… But have we ever wondered what it means in letter and spirit? Jan-gan means "we, the people" and adhinayak means "dictator" and jai means "victory". So, a plain and simple translation of our National Anthem would be: "We, the people, the down-trodden by their minds wish victory to the dictator who is the ultimate fountainhead of Indian fortune." We, the people of India have by their collective wisdom have adopted Democracy instead of Dictatorship. How then we can wish a victory for dictator? But we are compelled to do so.
One celebrated principle of logic is "an erroneous base sentence would always result in wrong conclusions." In electoral parlance, a conclusion means mandate. The base sentence of our National anthem is "Jan-gan-man adhinayak jai he" (We, the people collectively wish victory to the Dictator). The fundamental principle of democracy is that sovereignty 'belongs' to the people. Our Constituent Assembly has made the declaration that the sovereignty is 'derived' from the people. That is the dangerous departure from the generally accepted principle of democracy. We, the people of India have a pathetic tale of toil, torture and trauma seduced by the 'system' and adduced by the Dictator. We have had already flattered the Dictator for last 60 years expecting the democracy to deliver but in vain. Is mother India incapable to deliver?
Have a look at the leaders of our freedom movement- Gandhi, Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar 'Azad', Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaq. They all were born before independence. But we did not produce even a single leader post-independence whom we could cite as an icon. In every society, youth needs an icon – actual or fictional – to emulate. If it is not Hanuman then it could be Pokemon. Since political leaders have lost their charm and bonafide so we have been left with no other option but to adopt personalities from our film industry or sports as icon. The youth of this nation does not want to be yet another Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar 'Azad' or Subhash Chandra Bose. Rather, he would prefer to be like the Scindias. Or, if is Gandhi, then it is certainly not the Mahatma Gandhi type but of Rahul-Prinka type. Nobody knows what happened to the progeny of Rani Laxmi Bai of Jhansi but everybody knows about Scindias who opted to backstab the freedom movement in general and Laxmi Bai in particular by siding with the British. Scindia's are still ruling the roost be it BJP or the Congress. We are no more interested in the grandson of Nana Phadnavees or Tatya Tope who still reside at Bithoor (Kanpur). For us the blood and the blood line of Rani Laxmi Bai, Bhagat Singh, Bismil, Ashfaq etc are lost forever and who shall succeed the European origin Sonia? Obviously it will be the half-European Rahul.
We praise adhinayak and not the loknayak (mass leader). We are a clone of colonial Constitution. As in our National Anthem, we appear to stand in support of dictatorship instead of democracy. Be it Judiciary, Legislature, Executive or even the Press, every functionary is trying to impose its dictatorial superiority. Judges hesitate to declare their assets. It would be hundred per cent dishonest to say that the judicial system is honest. At the lower court, District Judge or Munsif Magistrate level one just has to watch the handshake between the Court's Reader (Peshkar) and litigants – their transaction is not of emotions alone.
We must talk about the dictatorial attitude of our Union Legislature that is Parliament. The nation has seen the goings-on live on television. The voice that addresses the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort is that of a person who not widely known to the nation but the name is associated in hushed tones with a chit fund case, a cooperative society scam. Manmohan Singh also qualifies this debate. The Prime Minister is not elected but "appointed" in India so they are not the legitimate child of our "ballot" or to say democracy. Rather, they could be described as "test-tube baby" of this system.
(Published in By-Line National Weekly News Magazine (Hindi & English) - in January 16, 2010 Issue)
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