'If we do not wake now, our civilisation will become extinct'
Who do you think is responsible for the present situation in
the country?
Perhaps this is a global phenomena. The freedom struggle was a
fight against foreign domination. We didn't have any power with
us, so whatever we did was to free the country from foreign domination.
Whereas with Independence came power and power has a tendency
to corrupt.
Secondly, television has led to further deterioration. I do not
say stop viewing television or put a ban on it. But we should be more
careful about the programmes we televise. I also feel there should
be some timings fixed. Watching films depicting sex and violence
the whole day is not right. We have just opened our doors to all
and sundry media companies.
Each individual should be given some civic training. He should
be taught to live as an ideal citizen which is not being done
today.
Is idealism dead in the country. Or is it still alive somewhere?
No, we should never lose faith. There is a silver lining. In the
country there are a substantial number of dedicated workers trying
to work for real development. They do not care for anything and
that is a good sign. Consciousness among the people has certainly
increased and that is one of the saving factors.
What we have to do now is to build up an infrastructure for the
successful working of democracy. It is not merely our boundaries,
the mountains and rivers that make a country - it is the
people and the type of people. You have to build the character
of these people.
Was idealism bypassed by the Congressmen after Independence?
Yes, the Congress of pre-Independence days was certainly much
much different from the Congress of today. The Congress of today
should not claim to be the continuation of the same Congress.
What I would like to assert is at that time also there might have
been some blacklegs. There were lots of funds collected by Gandhiji
and other leaders. There were people like Jamnalal Bajaj, Godrej
and others that gave substantial funds to the Congress and never
asked for accounts. But Gandhiji had trained all his followers
in such a way that not a single penny went unaccountable. This
discipline that they imbibed from Gandhiji is now missing.
Do you think there could have been some flaws in the policies
made by the nation builders that have resulted in this degeneration?
The policies followed by the Congress at that time were quite
correct and in the right direction. They were meant for an equalitarian
society but the only thing is that we were not able to implement
them at all.
The rot set in especially after Indiraji's coming to power. It
is not that Nehru's time there was no corruption. Corruption was
there but not to this extent.
I wish Lal Bahadur Shastri had survived a little longer then the
picture would have been different. After him the standards started
coming down and today it has reached its nadir. We could not imagine
that our ex-prime minister would stoop to this depth. Sometimes
I think we are going down the drain.
Even then I feel this is not the eleventh but the thirteenth hour.
As Swami Vivekanand had said, 'You awake, arise,' we can still
wake up. If we do not do it now, the battle is lost and our civilisation,
the oldest will become extinct and I do not know what will happen
to India as a nation.
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