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| A. A. Kasab |
We must understand that after the
hanging of Kasab, the noose is being tightened on Afzal Guru. People of the
likes of Afzal Guru are political pawns. Kasab was a pawn. And every citizen
could be a probable pawn. To clarify, the preceding statement should not be
read that Guru is innocent.
As a citizen of India, this is
not a time to ‘celebrate’ the death sentence. It’s the time to ask questions.
The question that comes to my
mind is that why an Arnab Goswami of Times Now doesn’t shout for the thousands
of innocents who are wrongly implicated and deteriorating in Indian Jails?
Similarly, why is it that only Sarabjit Singh is the only Indian that all
Indians care about? After the media coverage of vandalism, who pays the damage
to the public and private properties that are vandalized by the members of infamous
political parties?
Independent media is not
independent the way we all assume. It is run like corporations, backed by
corporations and corporations are backed by parties in command. This is
something what we all know!
Dear citizens of India, please
understand that this is all a façade to keep us occupied in verbal banter. To
overlook the more important areas that directly affects our lives. Yes, the
media asks the questions; but are these
really important questions?
As citizens we should organize
and with or without the support of media, let us not just ask questions; Arnab and company are doing a good job of questioning; let’s ask the right questions and
follow up till we get the answers.
Authority was the second point of
Henry Fayol’s 14 Principles of Management. I would like to word it as,
‘Responsibility without authority is difficult. Authority without
responsibility and accountability is stupid’. But this adage, in India, unfortunately reads
like this: ‘Authority without accountability is a political right and
responsibility without authority is ordained for the people’.
The basic problem lies in
accountability. Let’s start with the biggest question and to the people whom we
know the best, i.e. ourselves; the question being: How can we become
accountable?
Corruption and delay in
administration, etc. etc. are like the bacteria in our intestines. They were
there and will be there. They were and will be present in all the countries. Once we accept this, only then can we move ahead.
The difference in the largest
democracy (India) and the some other smaller, yet functionally better
democracies is that they are accountable. And I believe, our democracy is not.
If governments and its officials have authority, they should be accountable for
their actions. And the same should be true for the citizens.
When an ordinary citizen writes
derogatory comments on a social networking website, he is held accountable and
is arrested without proper procedures and then let of with an apology followed
by an inquiry. But when an official, appointed by the government, be it a minor
babu to a minister, commits a crime, there is an inquiry first and then action
later! Is it because the citizen is more responsible than a public servant? No, because the public servants claims zero accountability as a matter of rightful inheritance!
It is a matter of accountability
and nothing else. The RTI Act is a wonderful tool in the hands of the citizens to measure the public servant's accountability. It is already proving to be a thorn in their dhotis. But it is a curative measure. We need a system to make the public servant's accountability acting as a preventive measure to avoid further pain to the ordinary citizen.
The day people holding public office are made accountable, that day we would be a better democracy. Let us build a case for accountability.
For that we need to stop
obsessing that we are the largest democracy. Large is quantitative, lets aim to
be better, which is qualitative and that is what matters!
