Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Manmohan Singh: Just A Nice Man To Know

"Threats posed by terrorism and other challenges like poverty eradication, sustainable development and inequitable international order were issues on which India and Africa should work together" -
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (India-Africa Summit 2011)


"I welcome it as a significant step forward and hope that it will deal a decisive blow to al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups ... The international community and Pakistan in particular must work comprehensively to end the activities of all such groups who threaten civilised behaviour and kill innocent men, women and children".
- Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (hours after US President Barack Obama addressed the nation after Osama's Capture)


We have the opportunity to give concrete meaning to the concept of sustainable and balanced development, and produce innovative models of development.                                                                                                      - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the BRIC Summit after the Japaneese Nuclear Tragedy.

When he was first given the mantle from Sonia Gandhi after the 2004 General elections unexpectedly, Manmohan Singh rose to the occasion. That time though, with the leftists constantly needling all his policy moves, there was little that could be accomplished on the economic reforms front.

It would be fair to say that the first term of Manmohan's Premiership had to be sacrificed at the altar of the ruffled millions that had cheered the party to power in the first place. At halfway point, the advent of the controversial Indo-American Nuclear Deal edged out the communists and gifted Manmohan Singh and his team the mandate they had always yearned for.

Two years ago when Manmohan Singh was re-elected for his second term by a comfortable majority things seemed to be set for the long haul. However, upon retrospect, that seems to have been the pinnacle of his innings in power. For since then, his image, his party and the nation have been in a slow and steady decline!! 

Ironically, 7 years down the line, India's Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh has gone from being the acclaimed architecht of India's reforms to a mere nonchalant (and at times speechless) observer. Every now and then, when the public outcry gets louder, he simply raises his mild voice and makes the same old usual expected statements.

Surprisingly, unlike his predecessors, this Prime Minister has an obsession with maintaining his clean image. Scandal after scandal has rocked the nation and apart from his usual political promises of "cleaning up the system", what has stunned the many political observers was the ample amount of scribbling that lined the walls leading up to the crisis. Whistleblowers from high places were just brushed aside with sheer apathy.

A recent piece of video footage of the Prime Minister in parliament amidst the uproar over the scandals depicted a stern-faced chief who seemed unable to produce any kind of magic and has just simply run out of ideas. All the speeches he delivers, are at most,  predictable in nature and the quotes (listed atop) he intersperses to drive home his message are nothing more than lackluster.

This leaves one to wonder, whether we really have the best man for the job, on the job!!

It was PM Manmohan Singh who after all, ably steered the nation out of the Balance of Payments crisis in 1991, and alongside the then PM Narasimha Rao ushered in the reforms that brought India where it is today. At quick glance, his list of educational qualifications would leave most of the other world leaders gasping in shock and awe!! 

But then, education alone maketh not a consummate politician in this largely connected Greenhouse we inhabit today, where a ravaging tsunami halfway across the world could edge food inflation in the wrong direction elsewhere. What flabbergasts most analysts is that a person of the stature of our PM would probably be the best fit to steer our country out of its present economic over-heating.

Yet - There is a silence. Nothing - but a deafening silence!!

Its quite difficult to believe that very the man who took India out of its Economic Isolation in 1991, now remains a mute spectator as his sub-ordinates run themselves aground,  pulling his government down with them.

2 possible reasons for this are of course rather obvious even to the man-on-the-street. The first being that the Prime Minister gets his orders straight from the Party President, Sonia Gandhi. Successive years of constantly yielding to her whims (even when he didn’t like them) may have left him weary and depleted of energy.

The second reason is closely linked to the first. When there is a power behind the throne, the head of state psychologically loses whatever authority he has, or thought he ever had. A glance at the political stalemate today gives one enough evidence to substantiate this. Cabinet Ministers are trampling on each others feet while important economic reforms are getting stalled.

Scandal Management is completely out of control. Corruption has reared its ugly head for far too long now and social activists have now taken to starving themselves amidst 
a frustrated electorate in order to force the governments hand.

Oh - and just where is the Prime Minister in all this chaos!!

Well - The answer has already been stated!! - either making some usual statements or .. as expected .. Silent. We somehow really need a grand awakening to get out of this stupor. India was once quoted to be a land of great Ideas with rotten implementers. One can only hope and wish that this quote remains relevant to an age gone by.