All our politicians are panautis
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| Why did Justice Katju call all the leaders panautis? |
By Justice Markandey Katju
Rahul Gandhi has called Prime Minister Modi a 'panauti' ( ill omen, inauspicious, or 'ashubh' ) and a pickpocket.
But I would expand that statement.
All Indian politicians are panautis and pickpockets. They only seek power and pelf, and have no genuine love for the people's welfare. They are mostly selfish rogues, rascals, looters, deceivers, and mafia type bandits, who have taken India to the verge of ruin.
In fact the worst panauti in our country is our parliamentary democracy and electoral politics, which runs largely on the basis of caste and religious vote banks ( as everyone knows ). Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which have to be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them, as it largely runs on that basis.
Is Rahul Gandhi any less a panauti, a man who has only his arrogance of belonging to India's 'royal family', but has nothing in his head about how to solve India's huge problems of massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnourishment ( every second child in the country is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), and almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses ? And are any other of our politicians, who only have expertise in polarising the people, and spreading caste and communal hatred, any different ? They no doubt make a lot of tall promises to the people before elections, only to be forgotten once the elections are over.
Parliamentary elections of 2024 are fast approaching, and the BJP will no doubt step up religious polarisation. But our 'secular' parties will not be left far behind.
Nitish Kumar, who like the French politician Talleyrand kept changing sides, depending on which way the political wind was blowing, has played his gambit of the caste census, with an eye on the backward votes, and many of the other 'secular' parties have supported the move.
Owaisi is just the counterpart of the BJP, playing the Muslim card.
So what is the way out of this predicament for the Indian people ? I have explained in the articles that the only way out is by waging a mighty, historical, united people's struggle, rising above caste and religion, led by modern minded leaders, who are determined to create an alternative political and social system under which there is rapid industrialisation and modernisation, and all Indians get a high standard of living and decent lives.
(Justice Katju is a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India. These are his personal views.)
