THIRD FRONT CIRCUS: A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE

Now that the general elections are around the corner, a bunch of political opportunists from various regions are forming a grand unholy alliance with only one common objective, i.e., capture the political power at the centre. Having failed to strike a deal with other parties who have a reasonable national status, this disgruntled, power hungry lot have no national agenda, no vision and their sights are set on the Prime Ministerial chair. Even before agreeing to agree on the basic issues, some one in the caucus wants the alliance to declare their prime ministerial candidate even before going to polls. Fully assured of a big fight over the PM’s post, in the event of a very unlikely scenario of winning a majority, attempts are being made by some quarters for a pre emptive strike so as to cement their position after elections.

The declaration of emergency in 1975 was, no doubt, a sad chapter in the history of Indian democracy. But when Indira Gandhi released all political prisoners and declared general elections in 1977, the hitherto warring factions formed a formidable but infamous alliance called Janata party with the sole objective of throwing Indira Gandhi out of office. Voted to office by a nation that wanted to avenge the excesses of emergency, they concentrated on taking revenge on Indira Gandhi rather than focusing on the national priorities. They had no common program and once the main objective was achieved, they manifested their true color, disagreeing on every issue, which frustrated the common man who voted Indira Gandhi back to power in 1980. This is exactly what we are witnessing in third front alliance.

Mayavati, Jayalalitha, Chandrababu Naidu and Sharad Pawar are all regional leaders with big political ambitions. They will never achieve a consensus if elected in that they have all their own personal agenda and national issues will be shifted to the back burner. Together they will tarnish the image of Indian democracy already tarnished for fielding tainted candidates and make a mockery of parliament. There is a severe shortage of honest aspirants and even parties with a national presence are looking for popular candidates drawn from entertainment and sports industries regardless of their background. Successive governments have deliberately ensured that no one enacts a law against fielding candidates convicted for various offences.

It will be black day for Indian democracy if regional leaders voted to power. It is unfortunate that the people have been reduced to a mere spectator who can do nothing but to choose the lesser evil.

WHY BLAME PAK ALONE?

We have been blaming the Pak government for their inaction in dealing with terror outfits involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. While the neighbor’s cold attitude is understandable for obvious reasons, what have we done with the culprits already in our custody?

The brutal attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 seems to have been forgotten. Eight Indian security personnel paid with their lives while trying to save our politicians who seldom bother about the soldier. Even the return of the gallantry awards conferred upon them by their families has no effect on our thick skinned leaders.

The accused has been convicted for capital punishment by the highest court in the country, but, till today, the sentence has not been carried out using an ‘obsolete’ provision in the law that the court order cannot be carried out until the President disposes of the clemency petition filed by the convicted.

The clemency provision was introduced in our legal system in good faith to enable the President to commute the death sentence to life term imprisonment under special circumstances. That does not mean the provision can be misused to bail out terrorists.

Now that the elections are around the corner, the chances of hanging Afzal Guru are very remote in that it will affect the minority vote banks. Communal politics practiced by our politicians have grown alarmingly and this will have wide repercussions on national security. If Pakistan is a safe heaven for terror outfits, India is a safer heaven for convicted terrorists.