National

We The People

The khadi-clad representative of the aam admi is busy playing the blame game

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We The People
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Arun Jaitley, BJP
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Omar Abdullah, National Conference "We shouldn’t forget we’re fighting a war and a little cynicism is justified."

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Jaipal Reddy, Congress "People all over the world are angry with politicians. Should India be anydifferent?
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Kapil Sibal, Congress "Politician-bashing has become a fashion more popular than a television soap opera."


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Raghuvansh Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal "We’re with the victims and their families. What are we to do? Should we go onsatyagraha?"

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Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) "Politicians too share the grief of the common man. They too have been victims of terror attacks."

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D. Raja, CPI "Why should anyone be cynical of my party? BJP sending Modito Mumbai was crude."

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There is outrage across the country in the aftermath of the Mumbai blasts which killed 200 and injured 800 commuters. Much of the public anger is directed at the ruling political class. There is a feeling that nothing has been done to inspire confidence in the people and make them feel secure. In fact, many feel the response from our politicians was far too muted and not of the proportion warranted by the scale of the horrific terrorist strikes. Would the reaction have been any different if our netas had been targeted?

Rewind to December 13, ’01, when the Parliament complex was attacked. The then NDA government was quick to launch Operation Parakram, an offensive against Pakistan which involved a massive troop build-up along the border. MPs, cutting across political parties, came together and vowed to fight terrorism. But there has been no such show of solidarity after the Mumbai blasts. Instead, politicians seized the opportunity to trade charges. The BJP blamed the Congress for doing away with the draconian anti-terror law, POTA. It also despatched Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to Mumbai to head an anti-terror march. On its part, the Congress saw an opportunity to train its guns on the Samajwadi Party, given its proximity to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) which is said to have carried out the strikes. The victims of the blasts and their families seem to have been forgotten in the blame game. This has only sharpened the public disillusionment with politicians.

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Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy says the cynicism is nothing new. "People all over the world have been angry with politicians. Should India be any different? But I take hope from the fact that an average Indian is more appreciative of the infinite complexities of the Indian polity," he adds.

Jaipal admits the resentment towards the government’s inability to protect the common man is justified but it should be viewed in the proper perspective. "The targets are not known. The enemies are faceless and the people who die are ordinary men and women. The enemy has the advantage of choosing the time and place. But politicians who are rulers have to protect the common man." That does not, however, prevent Jaipal from lashing out at the BJP for its narrow-minded approach to counter terrorism by invoking POTA. "With POTA, they got an excuse to put Muslims in jail without trial," says Jaipal. He hastens to add that the 150-million strong community of Indian Muslims is still the least affected by the happenings around the world.

BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley says people still have faith in politicians: "If you ask the common man whether journalists are doing their jobs well, there will probably be a cynical response to the question. The cynicism is targeted at the helplessness of the government to counter terror. Every time a life is lost to terror, the government stands exposed in its inability to protect ordinary lives." Jaitley maintains the NDA’s Operation Parakram was justified. "In many ways, it was a tribute to the men who protected the highest institution of democracy," he says. He blames a weak administrative mechanism, the lack of coordination among intelligence agencies and the absence of a strong law which could act as a deterrent for dealing with terror.

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The mere mention of POTA sets CPI leader D. Raja’s teeth on edge: "The BJP is guided by an obscure view. What did they achieve with POTA?" He says the common man can see through the gameplan of political parties who are out to cash in on their misery. "Why should anyone be cynical of me or my party? People around the world don’t get cynical so easily. They have to build their lives. But when the BJP sends Narendra Modi to Mumbai, I won’t be surprised if people resent the attempts of a party to take mileage out of a national grief. The people have to question the party which makes a crude attempt to capitalise on tragic events such as this," says Raja.

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It’s unfair to paint politicians in one colour, says CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury. "I don’t think people are cynical about politicians. Politicians do share the grief of the common man. They too have been victims of terror attacks. There have been political assassinations right from Mahatma Gandhi to Indira Gandhi and much blood-letting that followed in their aftermath. This is a terror of a different kind," says Yechury.

There are others like science and technology minister Kapil Sibal who are willing to take criticism on the face. "Politician-bashing is a fashion more popular than a soap opera." According to him, the cynicism is worldwide and the entire political system stands more and more exposed due to progress in technology, specially information technology. "There is greater political debate and people are communicating their feelings directly to the media, which has unfortunately become a one-way channel," says Sibal. He admits that the politician is perceived to be a little more equal than others because his office comes with all the trappings of power. "The truth is, the CEO is more important than the officer below him. The same is the case with the politician. But that is not to say every life is any less precious," adds Sibal.

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An MP who frequently comes face to face with violence, Omar Abdullah, says he doesn’t buy the view that the common man’s life is less ordinary than a politician’s. "We (the NDA) traded terrorists to save the passengers of IC-814, hijacked to Kandahar, and the money spent on Operation Parakram was huge compared to the returns after launching the offensive." But Omar insists it is wrong to say people are getting increasingly cynical towards politicians. "There may be a little cynicism. But let’s not forget we are facing a war. This is not a simple one-off act of terror," he says.

Union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal says he cannot perceive any antipathy towards politicians. "We have expressed our solidarity. We are with the victims and their families. What are we to do? Should we go on satyagraha? Picking soft targets like the common man is easy as he is vulnerable. The only way to counter it is a strong resolve to fight it together," he says.

While politicians continue to take potshots at each other, one can take heart from the fact that there is also a consensus emerging among them that security needs to be reinforced to ensure July 11 doesn’t happen again.

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