Now, Let's Awaken the Liberal

Indian politics has come a long way. Democracy has deepened and elections have become a 24X7, 365 days affair instead of becoming a 6 month campaign affair just before the 5 year term ends.
The socialistic liberal democratic ideals which governed India for decades have changed into a completely opposite conservative religious right governing the country in full majority now.

The fringe has become the mainstream. Bigotry is on the rise, so as political colouring of the institutions. Mediocracy in governance as well as in institutions is slowly creeping in. Religious right of all hues and colours are gaining dominance and the country is going through times which it has never imagined.

Marketing of governance has become more importance than actual governance. Without advertising and packaging the dreams and promises won't sell. People have also started buying this exuberant public relation exercises by governments.
Whether you govern or not is not really important, the fact that you seem to be governing should reach the masses like a 24X7 campaign.

Instead on focusing on real socio-political issues, some political protagonists have started focussing on simply exploiting issues in order to garner support.

The churning which begun in 2011, which political commentators believed would clean up the system and bring about some transparency has completely failed them.

Corruption and so called corrosion of institutions are still the biggest issues and have maintained a status quo.

So called mirage of cleaning up the governance by agitating and launching an anti-corruption movement has yielded no results. The only result it achieved was to change the nature of the regime, this attaining its political objective

In the past 15 months of this so called 'Change'; there is no real change which has transformed the lives of Indians. Instead it has further corroded valuable institutions, casted aspersions on important pillars of democracy like the judiciary and the media.

Authoritarianism has risen. Governance has been reduced to a business between the rulers and few cronies, with policies being drafted which will send the underprivileged into the dustbins of economic order.

Voices of reason are being suppressed. Illiberal voices are being encouraged. Hate in our society is being pandered. Rationalism is being punished. Civil society participation in governance is being throttled.

The liberal slept is watching all this. The sleeping liberal after its political and social defeat has till now remain asleep .

They remained asleep when anarchists took over, they remained silent when communalists took over. They remained asleep when the society accepted bigotry and fundamentalism in the garb of so called political 'Change'. They remained asleep when their world broke up by narrow domestic walls They remained asleep when the clear steam of reason lost its way. They remained asleep when there country needed them the most.

15 months down the line, it's time to wake up this sleeping liberal.

My father let my country awake!