Saree bait: Claims of India Shining sound hollow By RAJEEV SHUKLA Although the Election Commission has acted in a most fair manner, the Lucknow stampede is a stark reminder to all of us that everything is not well in our society. We must heed this loud and clear warning bell. Politicians, government officials, econonmists, corporate leaders and industrialists -all must stand up to the grim reality facing us.
India's population is growing rapidly while job opportunities are shrinking. Make-believe poll slogans are fine for publicity, but if we continue to fool ourselves in the illusion of India Shining, we may soon enter a time zone when a saree costing less than Rs 40 will become incentive enough for the poor and deprived to risk lives. The Shining India myth has finally exploded. The central government spent Rs 4 billion singing paeans about its elusive achievements, while a senior BIP leader herded thousands of women and kids, by dangling baits of saree worth Rs 40 each. In a country where citizens are ready to risk life for something as petty, the tall claims of Shining India sounds completely hollow. What is even more pathetic is the fact that the game of avoiding responsibility started right over the dead bodies of the victims. From whatever I have come to know, the event -organised by a BJP leader known for his proximity to Lalji Tandon -was widely publicised with the lure of free saree distribution. On the day, the organisers actually arranged for fewer sarees than they had promised. And eventually when more than 10,000 women and children gathered, the organisers threw the sarees in the crowd to avoid a situation when their bluff would be called. Surprisingly, without even attempting to ascertain the facts, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister made an ir-responsible statement: These things do happen. Read more.... at www.gulfnews.com ----------------------------------------------------- Source : Gulfnews dt.18th April, 2004. Plz excuse the mistakes if any, page scanned from news paper prior to posting. No time for spell check. - Seb - HAVE A NICE DAY - ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
