By Poonam Arora

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.” This has been aptly said by Mahatma Gandhi but leaders in our country are trying to satisfy not their need but their greed thus ignoring what Gandhi ji suggested.

But what has happened to the youth of our Nation? Have we forgotten Bhagat Singh and Netaji who infused the spirit of freedom in the young minds?

After Baba Ramdev incident, it appears as if we are back in those days of Jallianwala Bagh where General Dyer mercilessly opened fire on innocent people and here we have the lathi charge by the police. Just ponder “What we are heading towards?”

In pre independent India such activities were measures to control and suppress the freedom fighters but who are suppressed in post independent India?

The civilized citizens of the society who were protesting against the corruption and black money; the same that has been deposited to satisfy the avarice of many big names ranging from bureaucrats, politicians, business men and many others.

This clearly indicates that now we don’t have right to register our grievances. UPA is United Progressive Alliance not for the growth and development of our country and countrymen but it is a self progressing alliance that aims at fulfilling their selfish motives.

Above all when it comes from the captain of the ship of democracy in India there seems no hope of any improvement in the prevailing condition.

On the other side of the coin, Inflation has broken the backbone of an average middle class person. It is the gravest economic concern which has gripped India and almost all Indian states are reeling under it.

The dire consequences of this are levied upon the common men especially those working in private institutions. The increasing list of the number of scams in our country depicts the level of corruption and at this moment I am reminded of a few lines I read somewhere that says:

They take millions from the government to help the poor, But swallow it all themselves… And who’s going to take care of the posted letter, If the postman himself, is one of the corruption’s slaves!!!

Thousands and lakhs have no value these days. The sum directly goes in millions and billions. But my question is “Are they enjoying sum thing very different than the aam admi?” When sceptre and crown have to tumble down one day and death levels them all then why this greed?

James Shirley has very aptly said that ‘only the actions of the just smell sweet and blossom in their dust’ and therefore this lust for wealth leads a man to no good. It has invariably endangered the morals of the entire country.

We can see around us and we will find out that we all are directly or indirectly corrupt.

If there is no one to give bribes how can one accept it and therefore I strictly feel that both the sides should be punished.

What is done if an official is caught with black money? Taxes, surcharges and penalty are calculated and as the same is deposited he is free.

Hearings in the court keep going with lawyers minting money for each hearing. Such culprits should be publically castigated so that others dare not do it in their life else corrupt practices always tempt and one falls to it.

Here it is worth to quote lines from Black Suga’s poem Married To Corruption:

My nation is married to corruption I wonder if she will ever see redemption He came to her with sweet scent and song His aura full of attraction She couldn’t refuse the temptation… Instead of a caress, he gave her a thorny scrub Took her from the light to the dark… I wonder if she will ever be free Because when I look at her lost hope is what I see I wonder if she will ever have a divorce Or is the marriage for better or worse?

Corruption has its own motivations, and therefore, one has to thoroughly study that phenomenon and eliminate the foundations that allow corruption to exist else it will bring an end to the established social order by increasing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Thus we must stress on preserving the good seeds and our leaders must also realize this that tyranny or suppression cannot lead to development.

They must take out a few moments of introspection from their otherwise busy and corrupt life to realize that their confession and right conduct might take us to the path of growth and development and we all can prosper in all ways; material, moral and spiritual.

Thus, this issue needs immediate concern else it will deprive common men of basic amenities thus giving rise to economic instability and social chaos.

If the leaders are not interested in introspection it is time now for all of us to awake and act to make them understand that India is a democratic republic where all the powers are vested in the people and if we could channelize our efforts in the right direction no power can curb it. Therefore, it is very important to be united because ‘Union is Strength’.

About Author

The author is holding PhD from Department of English, M.L.S.U, Udaipur. She is working as an assistant professor in one of the reputed colleges of Udaipur.