MARCH 28 Political Realism

We, on the other hand, have adopted as our motto: “The government will do it!” This realistic approach of the developed countries, which entertains only limited hopes of the government’s performance, is what has enabled them to involve themselves in non-political fields in the full conviction that it is they themselves who must perform the necessary tasks. Unlike them, having come to regard every task as the government’s responsibility, we have failed as a people to shoulder the burden of national reconstruction. This is a matter of the utmost importance, but we have allowed our attention to be diverted—in the political process—to matters of infinitely less importance. This shift in emphasis has resulted in our paying dearly for the many lacunae in the building of our nation. Those of us who travel to Germany or Japan are amazed to see the progress that has been made in these countries. And we would do well to consider what the key is to such success. It is, in fact, that there the people are far less interested in elections and government than they are in non-governmental organizations for national construction—those, for instance, which are concerned with educating people, bringing awareness to them, particularly about consumerism, inculcating civic sense, organizing public sanitations, inducing respect for the law, checking adulteration of food and medicine, etc., and eliminating noise and air pollution. There are innumerable other social arenas in which the people of the developed countries engage themselves having set up efficient organizations and associations to this end. The satisfactory performance of these tasks at the social level provides us with the foundation on which to build the system of a better government. Prior to 1947, we used to lay the blame for all evils at the door of the British. With this lingering tendency to fasten the blame on others, we began to expect all reforms and progress to stem from the post-independence government. This is the principal reason for the rot which has set in this country in the present day. A study of developed countries’ newspapers reveals much less coverage of political news and commentaries as compared to economic and scientific news. By contrast, in our country, political events are given the maximum coverage, our press having become almost totally politicized in its orientation. The need to correct this lopsidedness is something which cannot be overemphasized.