Swarajya, October 21, 1961
Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to me with respect and affection and expressed his wonder why I speak in so much anger. Let it be called anger, but can he not guess why I am angry ? Does he not see how a people who were on the whole honest and God-fearing have now been everywhere made by the policies enforced by Government into a greedy and dishonest people? Does he not realize that a fine cadre of officials with a keen sense of justice, honesty and public service have now been made into spineless flatterers and partisans?
And I feel all this is due to the policy of over-government adopted by the Congress Party under Mr. Nehru's leadership which gives it a powerful instrument for perpetuating itself in office.
Ignorant officials and, worse than that, ignorant and insolent ministers are placed in positions of great authority over all the men who follow avocations of service to the motherland and who have proved their worth… The rural people are being deprived of leadership and the peasants made into sheep without shepherds.. I see tyranny, insolence and corruption made the permanent official atmosphere. I see Chief Ministers of States, Finance and Food Ministers at the top level of the regime going about extorting money for the party without fear or shame… I see waste on a stupendous scale going on with borrowed money. Our foreign liabilities are pyramiding up with no plan or possibility of honourable discharge. Graft is growing into an accepted convention.
I can't help being sad. I am not entirely hopeless; so my grief looks like anger.
When slavery was part of the economy of the nation in America, I have no doubt the slaves who were treated as favourites and enjoyed concessions and privileges were very happy with the slave system. They would not support any movement for the abolition of slavery or the extinction of such special privileges. The badly treated slaves, too, in an economy where there was no room for free labour, must have thought that the slavery system was good because they were fed and cared for to some extent, whereas those who were not slaves were starving.
Similarly in a permit-licence-economy such as the Congress Party has, in its wisdom, established in this country, the businessmen who get favours and flourish under it, relative to those who are not favoured, want it to continue and so support the Congress Party. The scarcity conditions created by the policy give opportunities for illegal profit- what is called the black market- which would disappear in a free economy. Businessmen therefore support the Congress and in turn this gives a sense of confidence to the Congress bosses. These do not know that in spite of all this, the business community as a whole would much prefer to be free of the humiliations and harassments of the officials who are employed in enforcing the restrictions inherent in the permit-licence-raj. Freedom is certainly more conducive to happiness and prosperity, and the better sense of the world of businessmen would vote for it if they could overcome fear and short-sighted selfishness. I do not believe they enjoy the humiliations they suffer at the hands of ignorant officials working under the umbrella of the Congress Party.
Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to me with respect and affection and expressed his wonder why I speak in so much anger. Let it be called anger, but can he not guess why I am angry ? Does he not see how a people who were on the whole honest and God-fearing have now been everywhere made by the policies enforced by Government into a greedy and dishonest people? Does he not realize that a fine cadre of officials with a keen sense of justice, honesty and public service have now been made into spineless flatterers and partisans? I see fear enveloping everywhere like a poisonous tog on all the significant sections of the people.
I see God disappearing and mammon occupying His place in the hearts of men. I see traditional values of life centering on compassion steadily being starved out by an all-devouring State.
And I feel all this is due to the policy of over-government adopted by the Congress Party under Mr. Nehru's leadership which gives it a powerful instrument for perpetuating itself in office.
Ignorant officials and, worse than that, ignorant and insolent ministers are placed in positions of great authority over all the men who follow avocations of service to the motherland and who have proved their worth.
The rural people are being deprived of leadership and the peasants made into sheep without shepherds. The guarantee of compensation for any property that the State takes away from a citizen is turned into a fraud and unworthy pretence, and the gates of justice are closed against the transaction. I see tyranny, insolence and corruption made the permanent official atmosphere. I see Chief Ministers of States, Finance and Food Ministers at the top level of the regime going about extorting money for the party without fear or shame. The Prime Minister's confessed shame in connection with these collections is used as a further sanction for a monopoly in such extortions. I happen to remember a time when such things could not be thought of. I see the field being ploughed up for communism and total loss of freedom. I see waste on a stupendous scale going on with borrowed money. What do we need aircraft carriers for? Or atomic power enterprise? Occident-mania misleads the dictator and the fawning crowd around him eggs him on. Our foreign liabilities are pyramiding up with no plan or possibility of honourable discharge. Graft is growing into an accepted convention.
I can't help being sad. I am not entirely hopeless; so my grief looks like anger.
