Revolution

The happenings in Egypt have not got the kind of coverage expected of such an event in India. Right now we have out own set of domestic issues that has caught the nations attention. High-end corruption tops the list.

Ordinary taxpayer is frustrated at the insatiable appetite of the politicians. The scams run in to billions of dollars and with a new case being uncovered these amounts are setting new records.

How much does one need for a good living? In a country where majority of the population still struggles for basic necessities, billions are stashed away by the politicians hobnobbing with the elite business class.

The government when it comes to taxes says there is not much room left to offer reprieve to manage the budget deficit. The ordinary man on the street has to bear, taxes, frequent rise in petrol prices and also inflation.

If we take in to account the loss caused to the public exchequer due to corruption, the funds are enough to cover the budget deficit caused by tax cuts.

The issue with ordinary Indians is that we are very tolerant people. Politicians have looted the country for ages yet we allow them to be the in the centre stage of politics. Indians might have the best minds, but they have the shortest memory. We have become a nation of people who have lost hope that change is possible.

Economic prosperity has pushed a whole lot of population from middle class to upper middle class status. The more the person moves up the ladder, less affected he is by the happenings around. Gap between the rich and poor also has widened. Rise of the Maoist forces in the country is also a result of this. We express our frustration or lack of it in extreme forms, a middle path is not visible.

Mass activism like the kind witnessed in Egypt is required.

Initially I thought lack of leadership could be the reason for lack of activism. The Egypt uprising showed us how in the new age no one is needed to lead from the front. What is required is awakening. Indians are sleeping, or rather pretending to be asleep. As the saying goes “you can wake up a sleeping person, but try waking up a person pretending to be asleep.

Wake up my fellow countrymen.