Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'When will Indian middle class wake up?' that was published in Newsband

When will Indian middle class wake up?

Large sections of India’s political class live a life of ill-gotten wealth and undeserved privilege, whether they are in power or not. Recently, the Supreme Court did well to denounce the practice of appellate courts suspending the sentence of VIP convicts on grounds of their health. A person convicted in a case and sent to a prison is just a convict in the eyes of law irrespective of his clout in the society.

It is true that the law cannot deny a prisoner hospitalization if it is needed. The recommendation rests with an authorized doctor/panel of doctors. Such recommendations that are binding on the court cannot be condemned outright as deceitful. It is when corrupt doctor/panelists collude with the corrupt VIP that the law is hoodwinked; that every VIP gets the benefit, points to that sort of collusion between the said parties. It is a malady that cannot be remedied unless the character, conduct and morality of the participants of the deceit improve.

The system has been hijacked by these so called VVIPS. Ultimately it is a gross injustice to the citizens of the country who elect their representatives to serve them and not rule them. Despite enjoying unmatched power, perks, privileges and security no sustained pressure for results are raised on performance with this class of self-seekers. Moreover politics is emerging as a family fiefdom where crime and corruption go unchecked hand in glove. Unless younger dynamic leadership emerges with self before service as the policy the state of affairs is bound to continue unchecked.

Person who has been sentenced by the judicial system of country should

not be treated as VIP and shouldn’t be given VIP treatment. We are giving VIP treatment to many court convicts in our country. This situation will never improve till our respected judges of courts will take up this matter seriously. They should judge criminals on the basis their crime not on the basis of their so-called VIPness.

Equality remains only in the constitution and the statute books. In real life those who have power, position and money are the maharajas and those who do not have at least one of these will be a praja, who should obey the orders of the maharaja. Unfortunately, most of the prajas prefer to fall in line with the diktats of the powerful (forgetting that this is a democracy) and do not assert their rights. The bitter truth is that those who do not fall in line with the high command have to pay a price for it.

Indian democracy as one perceives is ‘to acquire power by any means so that public tax money can be spent at will, to gain booty in this process and to keep the nation poor and illiterate forever'. National interest is the least priority.

There is one set of laws for the rich and powerful and another for the rest of the population. This must be halted. There is a lot that needs to be done. And nothing will change until Indian middle class wake up to the calamity their children, grandchildren are facing, and come together to demand better governance, and build a better India for all.