Mohammed Sharique Anwar for BeyondHeadlines
I must confess that the emergence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Indian political firmament is a positive sign for democracy. Visions of both Congress and BJP don’t meet up the growing expectation of the common people.
I am not a politician nor do I think I will ever be. I am a common Indian who feel pissed off by seeing the degradation of politics and political institution in India. Some politicians are well-poised to take the country to the brink of disintegration.
It is being done in the name of religion, regionalism, casteism, patriotism etc. to name a few. It comes to sheer manifestation at the time of election. As I have no allegiance to any political party, I enjoy the freedom to criticize the politics which is exercised against the very nature and foundation of secularism and Gandhian concept of nationhood.
I am free to criticize the politics which is exercised against the interest of common people. Politics has such a wide domain that people can’t remain unaffected. A person may like or dislike but he or she can’t ignore it. It affects their daily activity. It shapes up their way of living.
On the whole, it has the potential to mar their daily routine if it is exercised with a disruptive bent of mind as it is happening in our country. This month we witnessed the power and importance of common men in the state-level election in New Delhi.
I must confess that the emergence of AAP in the Indian political firmament is a positive sign for democracy. In the mainstream politics, we heavily relied on two major political parties for our internal and external policies.
They both have their own visions on running the country. Their visions don’t meet up the growing expectation of the common people which led the arrival of New Ear in Indian political system. The era of government based on alliance.
From a layman’s point of view, both of them (Congress and BJP) are practically opportunistic, corrupt and directionless. They go to the masses very humbly at the time of elections, and show the real face time and again once the election is over.
This systematic and organized debauchery created a sense of despair in the public minds. In such a time, the disgruntled public was looking for a positive change. They were looking for a political party which can address their primary issues and take care of their basic needs.
They were looking for the party which can hold governance and the basic needs of day to day life together. The congress is the creator of corruption in the country in the name of good governance. In the same breathe; BJP is nothing less in harvesting the grains of corruption.
The BJP did the same work in 5 years what the Congress took 50 long years in terms of strengthening social evils. I don’t claim that the Congress and the BJP are good for nothing. Of late, both of the parties have done some commendable work.
While on the one hand the former managed to enact some laws like Right to Education, MNREGA, Right to Information acts etc., the BJP did the nuclear test and tried to normalize the relationship with the neighboring countries e on the other.
However, these efforts could not impress the AAM AADMI. The top priority of the AAM AADMI at the time of election in New Delhi was how to beat Mahangaii (Exponentially increasing cost of living).
This burning issue led the ouster of Mrs. Sheila Dixit from Delhi after 3 consecutive terms. It was a shameful ouster. Her first press conference after the losing to Arvind Kejriwal (Popularly known as AK – 47, AK is the short form his name Arvind Kejriwal and 47 denotes his age) explains the desperation she went through.
The emergence of AAP in New Delhi should be seen in the same context. The unique selling point of Arvind Kejriwal is he is brilliant, highly qualified, hard-working and above all a common man. He received high dividends in his electoral debut because of his ability to connect to the masses.
India, at the moment; is grappling with a lot of social evils like corruption, riots and pogroms, linguistic biasedness, lack of transparency and clinging to power etc. In order to change the system, there must be an effective strategy in place to eradicate them all. This goal can be achieved by educating the people about their rights and responsibilities. Not only that, we need some tough laws against the culprits.
We should rehabilitate the victims and NGO’s should come forward without and prejudice or bias. The Modis and Gandhis cannot do that because of their limited vision and power hungry attitude.
Ak-47 is the man here. India needs the people like him who can act by their convictions, who can bridge the gap of religious animosity and national chauvinism, who are not afraid of winning and losing the polls. He is the man all the Indians across the globe are looking up to with eagerness and excitement. He is the ray of hope for the desperate and down-trodden people of the country.
[The author is an NRI working in Dubai, UAE]
