Destroy the bad, build on the good

Destroy the bad, build on the good
Tara Sinha

One of the saddest casualties of over 50 years of misgovernance is the profound sense of despair and hopelessness that pervades communities across the country. Few brave souls make sporadic and occasionally successful attempts to buck the system and improve their neighbourhoods. More often than not, time brings back the decay and rot that has so thoroughly engulfed our cities and towns.

Roads are pot-holed, pavements -- what little is left of them after blatant encroachments -- are hazards to be carefully negotiated to avoid broken bones; open manholes swallow innocent lives; shops, houses, apartments, offices, religious shrines sprout everywhere, openly flaunting their illegal status. While localities wallow in dirt and filth, steeped in poisonous and disease-rich garbage, the people in charge look the other way. No one reacts, no one is accountable, and no one actually gives a damn! Till now, that is.

Finally, there is a faint light at the end of this dark and dingy tunnel. Finally, a man of conviction and courage has been given the powers to act. And that is precisely what he has done. Jagmohan, an MP from Delhi, and Union minister in charge of Urban Development, has set out to provide good governance. Displaying great grit and determination, he is demolishing illegal structures and reinstating property to those who are the legal owners. Expectedly, illegal occupants, who paid handsomely to bend the law, called in their tokens and activated politicians and others to oppose actions to uphold the law while shamelessly acting to shield those who have broken the law. This unashamed support for unlawful actions is a terrifying example of how badly we have been betrayed by those in power. It is such gross irony that those who worked so tirelessly to corrupt and destroy the institutions of governance, now posture as saviours of the people whose lives they destroyed.

How can anyone who cares for India and its people fight to preserve the status quo of our godforsaken cities and towns? Would any of these good people, V.P. Singh and Shabana Azmi included, care to live in the squalor and deprivation of the slums they so keenly want to retain? Why do they not want to give the `poor' a chance, howsoever slim, to move to healthier surroundings? Can they truly justify the destruction and decay of cities and towns all across India -- a direct result of illegal settlements and unauthorised construction? Can they in all good conscience state that lawbreakers should be protected, while law abiders should suffer degradation? When Jagmohan posed these questions (not in my words but in his) to the people of Delhi, he secured their overwhelming support. Such outreach meetings are slowly rebuilding citizens' confidence, encouraging them to put their trust in those who aspire to provide good governance.

Stray reports coming in from other cities across the country suggest that citizen groups and individuals are actively supporting similar initiatives taken by caring politicians. The challenge now is to spread the word. The purpose now is to pressure other politicians and civic authorities to implement the law and to stop their overt and covert support of callous lawbreakers. The approach now proposed is to use mass media to motivate people, to give them the confidence and courage to face up to the machinations of vested interest groups. The message is of hope -- that things can get better; that there are good people in government who will genuinely and sincerely work to make things change. The good news is made credible by publicising what is happening in Delhi, in Hydrabad, in Surat, in Mumbai and elsewhere. Public opinion is created in support of change and against those that would seek to maintain the status quo.

We must recognise that demolitions can be constructive, enabling us to destroy the bad and build and protect the good. We should no longer have to be ashamed of being Indians living in ugly, rundown and polluted habitations.