In the field of education, the nation has much to be proud of. Access to education has been widened immeasurably. Indian scholars are in the front rank of creative endeavour in the best institutions across the world. But the schools, the universities and the academies of the Republic, which should fill our minds with hope for tomorrow, cause us great concern. Teachers seldom teach and students seldom learn. Strikes, mass copying, agitations are more attractive alternatives. Where there should be experiment and innovation, there is obeisance to dead ritual and custom, smothering creativity and the quest for knowledge and truth. Where there should be independence and integrity, there is the heavy hand of politics, caste and corruption. Where there should be a new integration between modern science and our heritage, there is a dull repetition of lifeless formulae. Millions are illiterate. Millions of children have never been inside a school.

And what of the iron frame of the system, the administrative and the technical services, the people and the myriad functionaries of the stateIJ They have done so much and can do so much more, but as the proverb says ‘there can be no protection if the fence starts eating the crop. This is what has happened. The fence has started eating the crop. We have Government servants who do not serve but oppress the poor and the helpless, police who do not uphold the law but shield the guilty, tax collectors who do not collect taxes but connive with those who cheat the state, and whole legions whose only concern is their private welfare at the cost of society.

How have we come to this passIJ

We have looked at others. Now let us look at ourselves. What has become of our great organisationIJ Instead of a party that fired the imagination of the masses throughout the length and breadth of India, we have shrunk, losing touch with the toiling millions. It is not a question of victories and defeats in elections. For a democratic party victories and defeats are part of its continuing political existence. But what does matter is whether or not we work among the masses, whether or not we are in tune with their struggles, their hopes and aspirations. We are a part of a social transformation, but in our preoccupation with governance we are drifting away from the people. Thereby, we have weakened ourselves and fallen prey to the ills that the loss of invigorating mass contact brings.

Millions of ordinary Congress workers throughout the country are full of enthusiasm for the Congress policies and programmes. But they are handicapped, for on their backs ride the brokers of power and influence, who dispense patronage to convert a mass movement into a feudal oligarchy. They are self-perpetuating cliques who thrive by invoking the slogans of caste an religion and by enmeshing the living body of the Congress in their net of avarice.

For such persons, the masses do not count. Their life style, their thinking — or lack of it — their self-aggrandisement their corrupt ways, their linkages with the vested, interests in society, and their sanctimonious posturing are wholly incompatible with work among, the people. They are reducing the Congress organisation to a shell from which the spirit of service and sacrifice has been emptied.

As we have distanced ourselves from the masses, basic issues of national unity and integrity, social change and economic development recede into the background. Instead, phoney issues, shrouded in medieval obscurantism, occupy the, centre of the stage. Our Congress workers, who faced the bullets of British imperialism, run for shelter at the slightest manifestation of caste and communal tension. In this the path that Gandhiji, Panditji and Indiraji showed to a secular, democratic IndiaIJ

We talk of the high principles and lofty ideals needed to build a strong and prosperous India. But we obey no discipline, no rule.

let us build an India

·         Proud of her independence

·         Powerful in defence of her freedom strong, self-reliant in agriculture, industry and front rank technology

·         United by bonds transcending barriers of caste, creed and region

·         liberated from the bondage of poverty, and of social and economic inequality

·         An India-disciplined and efficient

·         Fortified by ethical and spiritual values; a fearless ore for peace on earth;

·         A new civilisation, with the strength of our heritage, the creativity of the spring time of youth and the unconquerable spirit of our people. Great achievements demand great sacrifices. Sacrifices not only from our generation and the generations gone by, but also from the generations to come

·         Civilisations are not built by just one or two generations. Civilisations are built by the creaseless toil of succession of generations. With softness and sloth, civilisations succumb. let us beware of decadence.

We must commit ourselves to the demanding task of making India a mighty power in the world, with all the strength and the compassion of her great culture. To this cause, I pledge myself.”

In the concluding part his speech, Rajiv Gandhi had warned against the brokers of power and influence, who perpetuate corruption and nepotism in Congress Party. But his warning was defied by people, who surrounded him.

Excerpted from With Three Prime Ministers, Har Anand Publications, Rs 495