Thoughts And Trivia

Most of us are unhappy with what is happening in the society and the country. There is extreme poverty. There is corruption. There is communal intolerance. The Administration acts more like an Occupation Force than Public Servants. We are unhappy with almost all spheres of public life - Healthcare/ Education/ Governance/ Media/ Law and Order/ Status of Women. Most of the time people think that punishing the guilty will solve all the problems. (Isko hang karo, usko umar kaid do). Naxalites think that revolution is the only answers (Uda-do sabko). The philosophical essence of my experience of 37 years in Public Life - is that reconciliation rather than retribution or revolution can mitigate all the ills of the society. I will flesh out my ideas later, (perhaps in a separate blog with the Heading from subtitle above). But gist of the basis of my conclusion is given here.


I will state only the conclusions here and will give reasons and logic later. All the problems that our society faces are due to the way one group of people treats and behaves with other groups. How we perceive other groups and individuals? All the problems are arising out of interpersonal dynamics of the society. The problems are not due to imperfect laws. The problems are not due to imperfections in Political structure or bureaucracy. There has to a change in this interpersonal group relations for things to change. This change cannot come about by violent means. This change cannot be brought about by the Govt. or politicians. There has to be reconciliation through intense interaction between the groups. This can come about by a social movement. This will need that type of energy - that was there at the time of independence struggle. To an extent such energies are seen in youth movements - say JP Movement during emergency. Only a countrywide motivation of young generation can acieve it. It needs kick-starting. But once started no body will be able to control it - nobody can stand in way of youth power.

Posted by Girish Bhatnagar at Saturday, August 01, 2009