The Disastrous Gandhi-Nehru Legacy

Once Cyrus Broacha put forth an interesting question in the CNN-IBN comedy show "The week that wasn't":Rahul or Priyanka?? Well, this has nothing to do with their look or sex appeal or even their political flair. The question is about the legacy the title they carry with them that is creating resonance among the illiterate and poverty-striken mass in the world's largest democracy.

Rahul Gandhi understandably has been exploiting the the resonant title "Gandhi" which upon closer look never happens to him(I will publish the Gandhi-Ghandy controversy sometime) and in turn defaming the father of the nation. But upon closer look, I found out that this Nehru-Gandhi family is nothing but disastrous for our country.

Jawaharlal Nehru was one of our foremost freedom fighters, but the freedom he fought for was restricted to the political domain. Once the British had been ousted, he replaced them with a new oppressor: the Indian government. He distrusted free trade, and once famously told JRD Tata that profit was a dirty word.He shackled private enterprise with a license-and-regulation raj and tried to build a command economy where the state was all-powerful.

One can be charitable and say that the well-intentioned Nehru was a creature of his times. It is hard to give his daughter similar benefit of the doubt. Indira Gandhi not only took Nehru’s policies forward at a time when it should have been obvious that they weren’t working, she systematically began to strip away the little economic freedom that existed in the country. In colleges it would make good material for a course titled "How To Savage An Economy".

She nationalised all our big banks. She stopped foreign exchange from kick-starting the country’s development, and thus creating employment and productive growth, with the Foreign Exchange Regulation act in 1973. The Urban Land Ceiling Act of 1976 distorted land markets, thus raising land prices and aggravating the problem of slums in cities. The Industrial Disputes act (1976 and 1982) distorted labour markets and acted as a disincentive to industrial expansion. And so on and on.

With our natural strengths, India should have dominated labour-intensive manufacture and become a manufacturing superpower decades before we started doing well in services, but Jawarharlal and Indira never let that happen. The consequences of Indira’s policies look dry in economic terms, but by perpetuating poverty and shackling growth, they unquestionably had an impact on millions of lives.

Indira attacked more than economic freedom, of course. The emergency was a period of shame for our country, and yet, quite what you’d expect from a leader who took ruling India as a birthright. Her son, Sanjay, had authoritarian instincts even more pernicious than hers, but we were thankfully spared his rule. Rajiv Gandhi, when he took over, seemed a good man, if an inexperienced one. But can naïvete during his prime ministership serve as a sufficient excuse for, say the foolish intervention in Sri Lanka?

Sonia Gandhi, while she had the character to refuse the prime ministership, also has all the wrong ideas. Her doubts about foreign investment and her support for well-intentioned but short-sighted programs such as the Rural Employment Guarantee Act demonstrate that the lessons of the past haven’t been learnt, and that the communists aren’t the only forces holding back India’s progress.

It would be unfair to hold this shameful legacy against Rahul Gandhi. Even if political leadership comes to him as inheritance, he may turn out to be his own man, and compensate for the sins of his forefathers. But the best we can do staying in elite houses, watching elite news channels and reading elite magazines is that hoping Rahul to be a good person. Isn't it worrisome? Can't we act against it?

Save International Cricket

I am a trench follower of cricket especially International Cricket. I always have advocated International cricket. But does any body has absolute idea about the current state of international cricket? Yes, my friend, international cricket is in dilapidated condition. And who to blame for this? The answer here is us, the common cricket fan. Let's discuss how this happened.

It all started during the 2007 world cup, the lengthiest ever cricket tournament to my knowledge. Many would have noticed the mismanagement by the ICC. The perfect example is the world cup final. Add to this the first round exit of India and Pakistan : the countries where the secondary religion is cricket. After this debacle, ICC wanted to compensate for the loss and planned first ever world Twenty20. In the mean time, ZEE group had started Indian Cricket League(ICL): a club level Twenty20 tournament. Fearing about its revenue, BCCI disapproved ICL and planned to start Indian Premiere League(IPL) in the same line as IPL. This plan was further fuelled after India came out with flying colours in the first ever world Twenty20. So, the first edition of IPL was a grand success as the concept was something innovative. Riding with the success, the IPL chairman Mr Lalit Modi even announced IPL to occur twice. This idea got scrapped afterwards. Taking this thing to the next level, first ever Champions League announced which is currently going on.

No doubt, these type of tournaments have pulled audience like any other International match. People have also enjoyed it a lot. Now, what's the problem with this. This process will degrade the international cricket. Early signs also started to come. The ultimate aim for professional players is not to represent their country. I have met some budding cricketer in my home town who now dreams to join Kolkata KnightRiders rather than representing India. Take the case of Andrew Flintoff. Such was his haughtiness is that he rejected central contract. Due to this idolization of club cricket, Andrew Symonds is going to be a freelance cricketer. Jacob Oram is in the line to follow the suite. And time will come sooner than longer when International cricket won't be best versus best. And whom to blame for this? I think it's we who have followed this club cricket like anything. If this trend continues, then time will come when cricket will become totally mechanical. It will be like today's WWF matches. Script will be written by organizing committee and the players will follow the script. Innocence and excitement of cricket will no more be there.

Can we eradicate this unforeseen consequence? Yes , of course. We have to take less interest in club cricket like IPL or ICL. Consequently, the sponsorship and ultimately the player remuneration will come down. Furthermore, we should take more interest in International cricket.
Save International Cricket.