This article by gurumurthy in 'the new indian express' lists out some intersting and valid points on the current state of our country. I have given a few excerpts; link for the full article is given at the end.
When exactly did the decline start?
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Lal bahadur sastry:
When exactly did the decline start?
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Political morality, he said, crashed with the “advent” of Indira Gandhi, and business, he added, became buccaneering with the “rise” of Dhirubhai Ambani."
1: Indira Gandhi:
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She blatantly used political power and discarded political morality by engineering the defeat of the party candidate for presidency and ensuring the victory of the opposition candidate. Raw power became her weapon to subdue her own party and government and ultimately the country itself.
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It was during her time that the office of the prime minster, always beyond reproach, lost its moral stature, faced charges corruption (Maruti affair) and was even suspected of other crimes (Nagarwala scam). It was in her time that thick-skinned politics evolved, shamelessness replaced shyness in public life. Finally, she imposed Emergency in 1975 and threw all political leaders, including dissenters in her own party, into jail. Thinking that the nation was dead and her government alone was alive, she ordered elections in which the people threw out her regime.
2: Ambani:
"Ambani. He became invincible by co-opting the rule-makers to make sub-rules comfortable for him comply with, thus making the breaking of rules unnecessary. Partnering the state and non-state actors and sharing with them the illicit fortunes of his business, Ambani vaulted over Tatas, Birlas, Mahindras, Bajajs and the rest. If a J R D Tata was the symbol of business ethics, Ambani became the model of business success.Ambani shifted the paradigm, transformed business into buccaneering.
Today’s scams of billions of dollars or cash-for-news have their origin in the Ambani model of partnering the main state and non-state actors and sharing the spoils with them.
What is the solution?2: Ambani:
"Ambani. He became invincible by co-opting the rule-makers to make sub-rules comfortable for him comply with, thus making the breaking of rules unnecessary. Partnering the state and non-state actors and sharing with them the illicit fortunes of his business, Ambani vaulted over Tatas, Birlas, Mahindras, Bajajs and the rest. If a J R D Tata was the symbol of business ethics, Ambani became the model of business success.Ambani shifted the paradigm, transformed business into buccaneering.
Today’s scams of billions of dollars or cash-for-news have their origin in the Ambani model of partnering the main state and non-state actors and sharing the spoils with them.
Lal bahadur sastry:
"When Shastri resigned as Union railway minister owning ‘moral responsibility’ for accidents, he forthwith surrendered his official car, stood in a queue in a bus stand for a bus to his home. After he had resigned under the Kamaraj Plan, Ramnath Goenka saw him waiting for a bus again and drove him home. Goenka used to recall Shastri tearfully as the decline had started after him. An illustrious Shastri had kept his personal life and political office of the prime minister he had held, clean, investing both with the highest moral authority.
"Ordinary people still retain their simple and non-corrupt lifestyle. They all await a Shastri-like leader to emerge.
In my opinion, only narendra modi fits the bill.
Success sans ethics - New Indian Express"Ordinary people still retain their simple and non-corrupt lifestyle. They all await a Shastri-like leader to emerge.
In my opinion, only narendra modi fits the bill.
