The board is set, the pieces are now moving. The battle is won, but the cause is lost. Do you sense the same?
The roads are all strange these days, without the smattering of a thousand flyers and pamphlets. It is almost disappointing to not see the flyers fall around the campus. Almost consoling are the misspelt names on the Wall(s) of Democracy. As the campus finally breathes in all its silence, the screaming political sobriety is in question. So, what follows now? Is it too early to recede to our apprehensions? Some might agree, but then there was never much space for agendas in those swanky BMWs on roads so choked with flyers. Beards and gold rings drove these SUVs and sedans, and beards and gold rings drive politics now.
Politics is a progression in the sense that it has always followed patterns. There are changes, but not necessarily as we would like to have them. After a raging contest of power in the past fortnight, the election results were in favour of some, while many others were left baffled. In an endless volley of blames and shaming, we saw some candidates rise to power recently. You hope to make sense out of it, but it all reduces to a clout of pointless manifesto promises. How long before these promises are fulfilled? Will the year be enough? Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the idea of politics will know what it means in practice. Agendas are good, but for a change, we would like to see some action too. Ironically, the only action we see is the action of the fist. In multiple brawls and the loss of public property, what is damaged most is the very idea of politics. Most of our representatives think that all politics has to offer is power, and power in India is scarce anyway. Responsibility is fantastical, so we cannot use this word for our politics. Politics is always about differentiated representation because two opinions can never be alike. This is what democracy implies, after all, it is the freedom to choose a representative. However, politics has become more divisive than ever before – it is driven by everything but democratic ethics. In DUSU, caste politics prevails, for instance, and in the national perspective, the division extends to manifold realms.
This year, like most years, political outfits claimed their primary objective to be that of women safety and claimed to improve their representation, the opportunities available to them, and provide a better environment to them in general. Introduction of U-special buses has been on the card since long, and new ideas like under INR 10 thali have been introduced this year. What we fail to observe amongst these tall promises is the question of what could possibly be their plan of action here? Being apolitical is a choice, but indifference can only mean ignorance that refuses to see the truth, and ignorance seems to sit at the core of all our problems. It is only right then, to be informed, aware, active, and to fight back with our form of dissent laced with logical arguments. The agendas might find fulfilment or hope to do so still, but only with an initiative from our side and that of the elected leaders.
Power gives you the strength to change, to reinvent, and to exercise an idea for the betterment of a cause. No one is wrong to expect this from those who stand for the upholding of power, but we all know who has the last laugh.
Kartik Chauhan
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