While ‘Ordinary Thieves’ steal your valuables, ‘Political Thieves’ steal your future, career, health, environment, peace, general well being as well as your money!
Jesuin George Fernandes
Every election provides citizens an opportunity to cleanse the rot. Lok Sabha Election 2019 is believed to be much more as it could go on to decide whether India remains India (a secular democratic country) or not. Politicians and governments will come and go but the various institutions - the pillars on which democracy stands - once destroyed will be rather difficult to rebuild.
If the government of the day tries to subvert the autonomy of institutions like the judiciary, the investigating agencies, the financial and banking institutions, the Election commission and use them to further its own political interest, democracy is bound to crumble.
We need a government that respects the Constitution and the lofty ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity enshrined therein with heart, soul, mind, body and action.
The main virtues of democracy are that it reduces the gap between the rulers and the ruled by restricting the power of the former and enlarging those of the later. Paradoxically, if citizenship rights are better respected in monarchies (at least technically) like Britain than in democracies like India, its simply because they have stronger institutions there!
No country can survive in disunity and strife, especially one as large and diverse as India. For a prosperous thriving India, we need a government that unites and takes everybody along without discrimination and ensures social, economic and political justice to every citizen.
For many of us, Election 2019 may be the last election that can possibly be called as free and fair, if we, the people of India, fail to choose wisely at this crucial stage. If the institutions needed for the healthy functioning of democracy, the delicate checks and balances, are systemically undermined and destroyed, democracy itself will get derailed. The strength of the institutions decide and ensure that the rule of law is not overwhelmed by the sheer weight of numbers.
And institutions cannot remain strong in the hands of small men trying to look big! As we brace up for Election 2019, we need to ask ourselves some important questions: Can any country afford a pompous ‘leader’ who loves flaunting the achievements of the country’s armed forces and the scientific community as his very own personal achievements?
For the first time in the history of independent India, ruling party leaders are trying to politicize and virtually claim ownership of our Armed Forces by referring to it as “Modiji ki Sena”!
This dangerous trend if left unchecked can slowly turn India into a Banana Republic... Can the country be safe and secure in the hands of a political dispensation that brazenly stoops to using war as a means of garnering votes? Should we support political parties that keep taking pot-shots at a neighbouring country to create mass hysteria and divert attention from the government’s failure on all fronts? Where will a political dispensation that is bent on branding every dissenting voice in the country as ‘anti national’ lead us to?
Goans are mature, civilized and broad-minded enough not to fall prey to politics of pitting one community against another.
In South Goa there are three serious contenders in the fray – an old horse in Francisco Sardinha, an ageing ‘Chowkidar’ in Narendra Sawaikar and a promising but yet to be tested bureaucrat turned politician in Elvis Gomes.
To put it politely, the performance of both Sardinha and Sawaikar as Members of Parliament have been mediocre.
Elvis Gomes on the other hand is a great idea whose time is yet to come. As his AAP Party has no vote base as such, a small wave in favour of Elvis will only help the ‘chowkidar’ to sail through... What Elvis needs to win is a big tsunami which is simply not there in the making.
In a situation like this, it is prudent that all well meaning citizens stand together, overlook trivial matters and look at the much bigger objective of putting up a good responsible government at the centre.
Sardinha is an old horse with good bones - haddani ghott - and still capable of running a race! Elvis has age and calibre on his side and moreover we need him more at the State level.
The rising sons of departed leaders are exposing the ruling party’s hypocrisy on dynastic politics. The lone woman MLA in the ruling coalition, a capable lady by all counts, is being blatantly ignored for any important positions in the government.
The difference between OT and PT: while Ordinary Thieves steal your money, gold and valuables, the Political Thieves steal your future, career, health, environment, education, peace, prosperity, general well being as well as your money! The more interesting difference between ordinary thief and political Thief is that while the former chooses whom to rob, we ourselves choose the Political Thief to rob us.
Let’s vote to elect a good responsible government, a government that will ensure that India remains India - an India where religion does not divide people into narrow fragments by walls built by politicians.
We need to vote wisely to ensure that on the 23rd May, the country wakes up to usher in a India where the politics of hatred is subdued by the hand of unity.
