Pratik Shah
ENG 102
Prof : Teddy Chocos
WHEN DID POLITICS BECOME SO GRIMY?
After independence, the politicians in India were considered the wall the country
depended upon. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were considered the minds
that unchained India from the suppressive rule of the British. However, the word
“Politician” now represents something else. Something unlike a leader, unlike a
person who controls the economic and social politics of a country; the only entity,
which the mind processes, is corruption.
In the article “Do India’s political parties condone corruption?” published by BBC
NEWS India, the statistics of a third of the politicians in India face criminal charges
are alarming. It is shameful that it is the politicians themselves have been involved in
the cases of murder, rape, kidnapping, and various other misconducts. The distressing
thing about this is that political parties still give them tickets and positions for
elections, which reflects the idealistic that Indian political parties do condone
corruption. The thought of how the country is in the hand of such fraudulent human
beings is menacing.
There has been a lot of distress and turbulence in the country, after several cases like
the gang rape of the girl in Delhi, and several terrorist attacks in different parts of
India. However, even though measures are apparently being made, there have been
very slight changes in the infrastructure, and rapes and homicides have become events
of the daily news.
The question which is adjourning the progression of this vast country is that “ Why
are changes so hard to make?” as there have thousands of campaigns, including the
recent drive by political hero Anna Hazare. In the article “Stirring the Pot and striking
fear in India” published by the New York Times, it has mentioned the working of
Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare, who both are fighting against the stubborn
corruption of India. Anna Hazare went on a fast for 288 hours, which he refused to
give up until the politicians came out with all the black money they possessed. This
hunger strike brought the willingness in the people of India to rebel, and hence
campaign after campaign started to occur, blasting through the wall of the debase
politicians and the exposure of many criminals hiding behind the curtain of a
politician. This drive led to the strict illegalizing of “bribes” which is the one of the
most common signs of corruption in India today.
Although all these improvements did take place, there are still thousands of politicians
who still remain unmasked, and are still a threat to India. There have been some
politicians who have tried to make a change, and have chosen the path of fair politics
and the welfare of the people, enhancing a pure democracy, but to survive in the
political world of this country, it is necessary to be corrupt, otherwise it will eat you
up. Without having underworld connections, and stashes of money, there will be
hardly a number of people voting for you, as campaigning has to be ridiculously
enormous, full of fake promises like electricity in villages, running water, and a
refined infrastructure, the truth being that conditions in these areas have been the
same for years and years to come.
Politics in India has switched from being for the people, to against the people, as it’s
just about power. These views may seem slightly harsh, but the truth remains, as the
people have waited long enough, for improvement. However, the light and the end of
the tunnel seems to be distant. Politicians are supposed to be leaders, and the
supporting representatives of a country. This representation seems shameful though,
as we are looked at as a corrupt nation with a corrupt government, because of these
individuals, who have a totally different purpose of being there. These people aren’t
protagonists, they are antagonists, who don’t know how to run a nation.