THE unprecedented collapse of governance on all fronts has spread despair and gloom across the country, causing distrust amongst people against Congress-led UPA government, as witnessed never before. People, especially the youth, have taken to streets, protesting against the misrule and callous attitude of the officials and UPA ministers. The masses have vented out their frustration, threatening the establishment to teach a lesson in the polls. The UPA chairperson, Prime Minister and their colleagues lack accord in thoughts, words and deeds.
The CWG, 2G, helicopter purchase, coal block allocations, Vadra-DLF game, growing Islamic fundamentalism at the behest of government, all this and more have brought the government’s credibility to lowest level. What adds fuel to the fire is the leaders of ruling coalition singing the tune of pseudo-secularism, and equating the patriotic organisations with terrorists.
During the national outrage witnessed after December 16, 2012 gang rape incident, the Congress-led regime had assured to act tough against rapists and also to provide full security to women. But the net result, as proven by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) as well as Delhi Police, is that there is 600 per cent rise in molestation cases and 783.67 per cent hike in harassment cases in first four months of 2013. These statistics reveal the dismal picture of the national capital, especially after the shameful incident of December 16, 2012. This shockingly rising trend produces a frightening scenario, inasmuch as now we have come across—gang rapes of even the five or six years old girls. The news that stunned everyone was that a policeman offered Rs 2000 to the parents of a victim to keep mum, and an ACP publicly slapped a young girl, who dared to question him over the issue. It all shows the depth of the public anger against the UPA regime.
The situation is disappointing on all fronts—sharp decline in economic growth rate, misuse of CBI to silence the political opponents, discrimination in punishing the culprits, corruption scaling astonishing heights, government openly shielding the corrupt, Law Minister brazenly vetting the CBI status report, the list is endless. Last week the government’s managers applied their ‘sharp’ minds and did a ‘brilliant’ thing—shifted the entire blame of 2G scam on A Raja and got a clean chit from JPC for PM and FM, who everyone knows by now, happen to be the real culprits in the scam.
On international front also the UPA has blatantly failed. Our borders are not safe at all. Between 2010 to 2012 China intruded Indian side of the LAC over 500 times and the UPA always downplayed the issue, calling it ‘difference in perception’. The latest incursion of April 15 in Ladakh indicates the subtle and deeper designs of the dragon. Instead of giving them a befitting reply we are just waiting for the third flag meeting. How can the government forget that China has never respected dialogue? It understands the reply in its own language.
Leave China apart, the UPA government has failed to negotiate with Bangladesh, which has been our own creation—liberated with the help of Indian Army in 1971. There are reports that the UPA Government is soon going to ratify the 1974 Indira-Mujib Accord. There were 15 border related issues over which a settlement was arrived by the two nations on May 16, 1974. Those issues relate to states like Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal. The manner in which the UPA is now dealing with these sensitive issues smacks of meekness and disregard for the sovereignty of the nation. The nation wants a review and renegotiation of all pending issues before the Pact is ratified.
At this juncture, we lack the leadership whom the nation can trust. Such mistrust was not visible even during the days of fierce opposition of Indira Gandhi in seventies, when Jai Prakash Narain led the anti-Congress movement. The loss of government’s credibility was not so much even then. The time is ripe when the opposition parties must come with an alternate national agenda to give direction to the nation and its policies.
