India’s Arab Spring; A recipe for disaster

This was supposed to be the biggest change in the Arab world till date; at least this was what was widely believed, reported and opinionated on all form of media.  But if you have a cursory look at the Wikipedia page on this subject, you will find that most of the countries are going through a horrible time. There are either civil war going on like Yemen and Syria or military has taken over (in the form of direct military intervention or temporary interim Govt.) in rest of the countries in Arab as I write. The Arab Spring has turned out to be the harshest Arab summer.  Why?

The Arab spring was attributed to the young and the restless. The world saw in them revolutionaries with strong shoulders for the future. They were bundle of energy.

But, they turned out to be just a bundle of energy without any purpose; even if they had purpose they filed to see the larger picture. The picture that is so important to build a country. Building country was for them a fast food recipe; can we blame them for that? The revolution they headed was one Fast food outcome; it happened with sudden burst of rage among the youth, an assembly of people with a Chow mein like interdependence of purpose, and a violent mix of emotions on the simmering SQAURES.

But, when the actual work was asked to be done, they failed to:

•  Modify their rage in to enthusiasm of positivity to usher in a better future
• Recognize the each varied aspirations of each strands entangled in the Chow mein of protest
• Understand that a constant state of anger will only make you blind to the actual issues at hand

Source: Economist

Let’s focus our interest on the subject. All these things are happening in India, but democratically; thanks to our Indian DNA. But you scratch it, you would find a similar:

• Rage among the youth about their so called unfulfilled
• Interdependence among varied forces to create an environment of seething anger without any  basis

So, our Arab Spring is being fought on social media, office cubicle and each such place where we have some place to occupy and talk glibly. The supporters of India’s Arab Spring are constantly resorting to high pitched propagation of at least two different strands:

1. Certain Development Model that they believe exists at least in Gujarat. So, they shout in unison that India should follow that model unequivocally.
2. My way is highway

Anything coming in their way is brushed aside with a common argument emanating from both the strands; what have you done in the last 60 years, Babajiki Thullu?

When you pick each stand to examine closely, you find:

One: Follow Gujarat without knowing what kind of model that is; has it really:

·         Grown in terms of GDP better than the other states?

·         Reached the benefit of growth (Whatever it has) to the bottom of the pyramid?

·         Reduced poverty better than the other states?

·         Managed to improve social sector indices such as Health, nutrition, education, child mortality and male-female ratio

Two: You cannot question us because we are new to politics, and you have committed mistake to

be doing this for far too long. But, should not they be questioned for their:

•         Opportunistic move, which made Delhi, their first tryst with governance, a guinea pig?
•          Insistence that they are learning and they are making this excuse far too frequently
•          Attempt of resorting to theatrics when India needs serious player to tackle its issues

The India’s Arab Spring is spearheaded by these forces; one relies heavily on lie, and the other on unrealistic ideas, which they themselves have been found to be trampling upon. An interesting convergence between the two has also been reported in a recent survey. It says that a third of Kejri fans want to see Modi as their PM. So, this interdependence of diverse forces in disturbing the India story in the name of challenging the status quo is a destructive trend in our polity today.

Thus, beware of the recipe that is being cooked. The real work of disturbing the status quo has been: 

• RTI - Information is knowledge
• ADHAR - Identification is first step to empowerment 
• Telecom revolution - Information flow at lowest cost
• Tribal land right - Recognizing the right to land
• Rural road connectivity - Connecting India to Bharat
• Rural wage appreciation - Appreciating your contribution in building India
• Infrastructure development in power, road, metro, airport and education sector - Bharat nirman

So, why bring in a spring that has utterly been destructive elsewhere?   Do we need a spring at all? We need a balance of all the seasons.