The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, December 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I L B A G

Brighter side of Haryana society

In his article "Spiritual crisis in Haryana society" (Dec 11) Mr D.R. Choudhary has depicted only the dark side of Haryana society. He should have better called it "Chautala's Police Raj". The Kandala (Jind) and Dulina (Jhajjar) episodes have nothing to do with the "spirituality crisis” in Haryana society which has its oceanic majesty with a rich cultural heritage and a potential bright future of economic prosperity, caste harmony and a world vision.

Mr Choudhary did not mention the "Gita", the Yodhai republic, Hersha's serve khap panchayat, traditional gram sabha, heroic deeds of Rao Tula Ram of Rampura (Rewari), Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabgrh, and Nawab Abdul Rehman of Jhajjar, the heros of the First War of Independence of 1857. He even ignored legendary Kisan leaders like Sir Chhotu Ram and reputed freedom fighters like Pt Sri Ram Sharma and Pt Neki Ram Sharma.

Ramayana and Mahabharat are the popular epics in Haryana. Haryana people are sensitive, chivalrous, patriotic, peace-loving, disciplined, law-abiding and morally vibrant. They lack the dynamic and dedicated leadership of Sir Chhotu Ram type. They are fed up with all the present political parties working in Haryana. The past Dharitrashtras have gone, the modern Dharitrashtras will also go unsung and unwept. The Haryana peasantry is still intact and will assert itself again. Haryana youth are morally and physically sound.

Will Mr Om Prakash Chautala pacify the angry kisan and unemployed youth and cleanse the administration? Will intellectuals go to the people and inspire them for an action-oriented leadership which they deserve?

HARI SINGH, Kheri Jat (Jhajjar)

Women neglected

D.R. Chaudhary in his article on Haryana (Dec 11) has rightly pointed out the historical connection while stating that Haryana society was “in a state of spiritual atrophy, moral decline and social disorientation” but what perhaps is all the more worrying for us is the fate of women in a society which seems to have several Dhritrashtras who cannot see beyond their male progeny.

The role of the so-called illustrious warriors of Mahabharta days has now been assumed by the police, bureaucrats and lawyers who, unlike the earlier times, are not the mute spectators but derive sadistic pleasure at the plight of women as some of them have a hand in abetting crimes against women. The ruling elites of earlier times had their moral conscience but the present-day ruling elites are back in the role of Ravana. They have no respect for the female members of their own family. The sharp decline of women in proportion to men is a sharp pointer to the crisis that obtains in Haryana.

What is shocking today is the fact to which D.R. Chaudhary has rightly pointed our attention that there is “no stirring of conscience. No sign of any public ire”. A positive discourse in public is the need of the hour. The spurious, motivated public outcry for the short-term gains arousing caste sentiments of the public is definitely counter productive. In fact in response to the Dulina tragedy the conversion of Dalits is an indication of this fact.

It is high time the educated lot of Haryana and those at the helm of the affairs realised the sharp moral degeneration of Haryana society to involve people in positive discourse to fight against the social evils to reverse the spiritual decline of Haryana society.

SANGEETA PRASAD, Rohtak

Social malaise

D.R. Chaudhary's write-up tends to convey the political mayhem and social malaise prevailing in Haryana where people have been facing constant suppressive and coercive tactics adopted by political godfathers since 1952. He equates arrogance with ignorance. The arrogance of a few political families without a twig of conscience at the mass level reflects caste consensus artificially created by cohorts and cocooned supporters of the collective caste conscience ranging from the grandfather to grandson rule-pattern. Haryana has remained a constant victim of such pattern of mechanical solidarity since 1966. He could not decipher the trends currently emerging from the “money-mania” land grabbing symptom of suburb people whose kin do always gun-totting and mask raiding exercises in akharas and gyms supported by vested interests.

This nexus of arm-twisters and money-grabbers is above caste-classification. The metropolitical fringe and suburb of Haryana are in the tight grip of such symptoms of social deviance as often called "advanced society people". D.R. Chaudhary could not focus on such trends which are far ahead of “fiefdom” notion of a few. Certain political foxes divide the society for the change of rule and spread rumours of caste-hegemony and class-hegemony. The one plays with words to oust the other who gained power on cheap populist policies to beguile the gullible masses. Even the writer may have shared the cake of power politics as a member of the HPSC in the nineties. He knows the corrupt corridors of power enjoyed on caste lines and now the pangs of power-distance find expression through his write-ups in The Tribune.

The writer could not reconcile his two selves even now. The collective nexus of five elements — Dada, Neta, Babu-Thela-Lala -- work fruitfully in Indian politics. Haryana is not at all an exception to V.N. Vittal's paradigms. It is a national feature based on five elements proposed by Vittal in his book “Restructuring Governance and Corruption”. The writer should avoid thriving on fiefdom and ignorance-arrogance paradigms. and expand the horizon of social thought beyond the stereotyped cliche-ridden articles. The hidden agenda of the neo-elites determine the polity of the state which is not at all accessible to the ignorant-arrogant lot of Haryanvis.

The tricks and gimmicks of political rule are now semi-globalised and talibanised to certain levels. What a simple formula disseminated by the writer! How can we simplify such a complex system of rule by stating gross generalisations of facts and figures.

RAMAUTAR YADAV, Rewari

A welcome gesture

It is heartening to note that the state government has decided to release 20,000 pending tubewell connections in the near future. It is important to evolve a foolproof mechanism to ensure proper distribution, lest this rare gesture should be marred by discrimination at the lower level.

SUPINDER SINGH, Halal Pur (Kharar)