CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS IN INDIA
Antonio Villaraigosa once said, “Let me be clear – no one is above the law. Not a politician, not a priest, not a criminal, not a police officer. We are all accountable for our actions.”
It’s been 60 years after India got her independence. A time when we were ruled by the Britishers, we lacked even the basic necessities. We had no rights, and merely a loaf of bread to survive the day. Those who had power shamelessly lived their life in 5 star hotels with a table full of cuisines. While people are busy paying out taxes for their extra large diamond crusted houses, other half of the nation is dying of starvation.
We got independence in the year 1947. However, even now the condition is far worse than the situation that was present under the condition of the British rule. Gandhi forecasted about a country that is free of corruption and malpractice. He believed the youth will be given the best advice to run the country. However, things took a turn for the worst. Murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc became a role model for the tomorrow’s generation. Various posters saying ‘’Behave India. Youth is watching.” came up.
India seems to have set up a bad role model for the generations to come. The youth believed that legislature was all about corruption and those good things never happen. Money was given priority. And the youth did the same. Humanity seems to have lost its role.
A typical example, Election Commissioner Krishnamurthy made a horrendous discovery on the 28th August, 1997. According to his statistics – 1, 37,752 candidates who had stood for elections in the General Election of Lok Sabha in 1996 had about 1500 criminal records.
Many of the notorious criminals are portrayed as heroes and leaders of various political parties. While some leaders are mere puppets to the real play behind the stage others stage actions that they never intend to do and bring good for the people.
The truth is overruled my money power and muscle power. The criminals are paid on and off the screen for various purposes. It may be either to beat the people of other party or to increase the votes in the vote bank illegally. Somehow they find a loop hole in the functioning of the Election Commission and take advantage of it. Rather than working for a better tomorrow, they are bothered about how much gold they can get their hands on.
It is the duty of our generation to raise awareness against such malpractices and react to the situation. Such people should be brought to the spotlight not as leaders of tomorrow but the criminals that ruined this beautiful country.