DO WE NEED ANOTHER EMERGENCY

When the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi declared emergency in 1973, the whole world condemned her autocratic way of functioning and called her the biggest threat to the Indian Democracy. But, almost forty years down the line, we seem to be reaching another stalemate where the govt. may have to resort to declaring another emergency to safeguard the interests of the nation.

Kashmir valley is burning. Stone pelting, curfews, demonstrations, police excesses, etc. have become the order of the day. The separatists and their Pakistani handlers are having a field day and neither the home ministry nor the foreign ministry has been able to find a solution. The terrorists are striking at will because we are too soft a state to punish the guilty. We are not hanging Afzal Guru or Ajmal Kasab because the govt. may lose Muslim votes in the next election.

The army which is ‘nuclear capable’ and other border security forces like CRPF and BSF have become a regular fodder for ULFA and Naxals operating in the north-east. You find police informers among the Naxals and Naxal informers among the police. It all looks like Asterisk comics and the ultimate sufferers are the families of poor soldiers.

When it comes to opposing the government all the parties join together and call for national ‘Bandh’. Their main agenda, destruction of public property, is religiously carried out by party workers and paid goons with clinical precision who don’t realize that their bosses are the real gainers at the cost of their personal lives.

Now, let us examine the scenario in south. Maharashtra wants Belgaum to be annexed to the state because it has more Marathi speaking people. Whether the Maharstrians residing in Belgaum wants it or not is irrelevant. The politicians want it. Again let’s burn buses and destroy public property so that we can have an amicable solution. This is a priority issue and let’s shift issues like terrorism to the back burner. Did the common man gain anything by changing the name from Bombay to Mumbai, Calcutta to Kolkatta or Madras to Chennai? Nothing, but political gimmicks.

Karnataka govt. is rampant with corruption. The MLAs have converted the state assembly into a hostel as part of their protest against the illegal mining lobby which enjoys state protection. Added to this, a senior minister in the UPA govt. and a key ally in the coalition, has requested the Prime Minister to dilute his national responsibilities as he is unable to cope up with work due to his new found lucrative position as ICC president.

Mr. Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi are really in hot soup. I strongly recommend the declaration of a second emergency. Our politicians have made the UPA govt. ineffective and unfunctional.