Diminishing Breathing Space

Ram Krishan, who used to be a farmer in a small village in Gurgaon, was found dead few days ago. His cadaverous wife and four children were forced to work on a building being constructed on their ex-land; the land which was confiscated by the government to a lot an SEZ to a renowned group of Industries, on a promise that an appropriate compensation would be given in lieu of their land. After two months of treading twelve miles daily, to the municipal corporation, Ram Krishan was left with no choice but to commit suicide. His case was also filed like hundred’s of others and heaps of files are still gathering dust.
Reminiscing a meeting with Mrs. Kalawati Bandurkar, who was badly afflicted with the maladies of abject poverty, the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said that electricity could solve many of her problems. Indirectly, he was stressing on the need of nuclear power. Thanks to our philanthropic political leaders (particularly the members of the Left Parties), the so called leaders of the nation and the representatives of the citizens, an imperative deal took almost one year to get the final nod.
On completion of the first quarter, when the aviation industry was facing a tragic period and government took some steps to appease the corporates, Left came to the forefront, condemning the government on the grounds of supporting the corporates and not the common man. A little bit of common sense would be enough to justify that a country, where the service sector and manufacturing sector contribute to 62% and 20% of the GDP respectively, it becomes imperative to take care of the corporates. These benefits will finally permeate to the common man.
History speaks volumes of the instances when our political leaders have proved to be roadblocks in the way of national growth. And finally the one who suffers is the common man. The populace of West Bengal is the witness in the present scenario. The motive behind the agitation started by Ms. Mamta Bannerjee was fine, but the implementation has been fallacious so far. Blocking the main highway and thus jamming the supply for a fairly long period can not be considered moral.
On similar grounds, let us take the example of the Jammu turmoil, which started over the issue of granting 40 acres of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board to shelter the surplus pilgrims. The reason for the opposition to the above was stated as a possible change in demographic profile of the area. After nearly three weeks of curfew, a proposal to open the Muzaffarabad-Uri highway, to counter the blockage of supplies. What about the demographic profile now? Would it not lead to immigration of people across the border?
Sometimes we are not left with any other option but to rebel for our rights. But ask a common man. He knows no Hinduism, no Islam; no Tata, no Reliance. All he knows is the pressure of feeding umpteen family members as he gets up, and the same before he sleeps. Our honorable political leaders keep stuffing their accounts with more and more bullion, but the breathing space is diminishing for the common man.