Travelure
By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer
In the bad old days towns were walled islands of civic order set in wildernesses haunted by brigands. Their gates were closed at night and when their guards spotted approaching enemies, they rang the town’s warning bell. This warning was called a Tocsin. It was a signal against the approaching danger of the poisonous disorder, or Toxin, of an enemy invasion. We were ruled by invaders for many years before we threw off their yoke when we passed our own Constitution on November 26, 1949, which came into effect on January 26, 1950. The date of January 26 was chosen because it was the day in 1930 when the Indian National Congress proclaimed PURNA SWARAJ, or complete Independence.
What we have highlighted are facts inscribed in the granite of history. It cannot be wished away.
We would also like to debunk two other politicised terms. The first is high command. This was invented by the Nazis of Adolf Hitler, presumably its present users admire the political philosophy of that German dictator. When it was invented it referred to the German Armed Forces High Command who knew about genocide and Nazi atrocities, they approved it, and they encouraged it. The German High Command cooperated fully in the NAZIS’ Jewish extermination programme. The German economy suffered after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and unemployment increased. It had nothing to do with the Jewish community but the German Jews had become prosperous by hard work and thrift and so they were resented by others in their country. This racial hate is what fascists pick on as they try to make everyone conform to a single standard. The emblem of the fascist is a bundle of faggots neatly trimmed to the same type and shape and bound around a large axe. The term double-engine Sarcar referred to the same obsession with conformity.
BUT INDIANS ARE A MULTI-RACIAL, POLY-LINGUISTIC, RELIGIOUSLY VARIED MOSAIC. THIS HAS BEEN RECOGNISED BY THE CREATION OF LINGUISTIC STATES. IT HAS BEEN FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE SIXTH SCHEDULE OF THE CONSTITUTION. THE SIXTH SCHEDULE GIVES SPECIAL PROTECTION TO TRIBAL MINORITIES TO PRESERVE THEIR CULTURES AND NOT TO BE OVERWHELMED BY AN INSENSITIVE MAJORITY. OUR SOCIETY PRESENTS ITS UGLIEST FACE TO THE CIVILISED WORLD WHEN WE MAKE HATEFUL STATEMENTS ABOUT OUR MINORITIES, THOSE WHO PROTECT THEM AND EVEN SHIELD POLITICIANS WHO EXPLOIT OUR WOMEN FROM THE NORTH-EAST TO THE SOUTH.
As for the totally misused term DOUBLE-ENGINE SARKAR, it is nothing more than an excuse for the higher political power to drain the resources of a junior one by forcing the subordinate government to pay for schemes which the junior does not want. We think of the collapse of a certain bridge and the trapping of a group of miners. We also recall a young woman named Ankita Bhandari who died in strange circumstances which have not, as yet, been explained. And then we come to the mysterious matter of laying expensive and colourful tiles on a stretch of road on which they were not needed, not asked for and seemed to serve no purpose other than imposing an additional burden on the National Highways Authority. Very naturally, concerned citizens are searching for the quid pro quo!
These are only some of the problems that continue to simmer below the surface of our society. All such societies have such problems and they can only be solved if citizens feel that they will not be penalised for expressing their anguish. But this necessary right is being sapped away by such acts as a seemingly deliberate removal of the right to question authority. What is the current state of the Right to Information Act? Was it morally justified to pass important legislation after a large number of the opposition has been deprived of their rights to participate in Parliamentary Proceedings? Why are a larger and larger number of people fearful of expressing their anguish at the high-handedness of the Government in sanctioning expensive civic work without due diligence? The present dispensation may be cash-rich because of various reasons but the Sircar must not forget that that cash was extracted from We the People.
As we write this we get a foreboding sense of restlessness. It worries us …
(Hugh & Colleen Gantzer hold the National Lifetime Achievement Award for Tourism among other National and International awards. Their credits include over 52 halfhour documentaries on national TV under their joint names, 26 published books in 6 genres, and over 1,500 first-person articles, about every Indian state, UT and 34 other countries. Hugh was a Commander in the Indian Navy and the Judge Advocate, Southern Naval Command. Colleen is the only travel writer who was a member of the Travel Agents Association of India.) (The opinions and thoughts expressed here reflect only the authors’ views!).