Page 94 - EW November 2024

ANNIVERSARY ESSAY

Inevitable exposure of the

mediocracy

RAJIV DESAI

EDIOCRACY IS A LEGITIMATE WORD. IT Since 2014, leaders who hold the reins of
refers to a system in which members of the
dominant group lack the intellect and skills power are singularly bereft of expertise.
Mthat leadership demands. Applied to govern- They don’t understand the demands of a
ment, the word sums up the current dispensation. Since
2014, the men and women who hold the reins of power country that is poor but has unconcealed
have proved themselves singularly bereft of expertise. ambition to become a great power
They don’t understand the demands of a country that is
poor but has unconcealed ambition to become a great
power. of intellect followed cowboys and carpetbaggers.
One doesn’t have to be a genius to recognise that Similarly, it’s important to understand the saffron
atavism has limited appeal. Yet, they widely believe that projection of Hindutva as the manifest destiny of India.
dogma and bigotry can mobilise sustained electoral sup- Like American exceptionalism, it is clouded in myth and
port in an aspirational society. Appeals for support based fantasy. Both beliefs try to dress up greedy adventurism
on religion, a hidden caste agenda, terror-style threats of to make it look like nationalism. But bigotry is bigotry, no
violence may realise temporary gains, but cannot last in a matter the amount of makeup you apply. People will see
society that is rapidly modernising. through it.
Regrettably, most in the saffron world actually don’t un- Having said that, the saffronistas have their hopes
derstand this. They continue to mobilise voters by spewing set on a fourth term, no matter the cost. Never mind the
hate and anger against identified targets. But as results of money spent, never mind the threats. The sad truth is
the last General Election showed, they lost seats. The ruling they may pull it off again. This time, they’ll be banking
party’s seats dwindled so significantly, it had to turn to on the lethargy of the electorate to see them through.
two of India’s most mercurial politicians for support. Most And that, perhaps, is an even more powerful factor than
analysts agree it won’t be a lasting arrangement. sectarian violence or threat of it.
Nevertheless, leaders of the ruling party believe divide- hat can undermine the saffron project for a fourth
and-rule can work. And indeed, it is working for the mo- Wterm is reality. Meanwhile, the propaganda ma-
ment. For instance, in Haryana, the saffron party defied chine churns out fantasies about the domestic economy
all predictions to win a narrow majority. Many Congress and India’s standing in the world. The reality is slowed
stalwarts who lead the party’s state unit were left with egg growth and its concomitant joblessness. Soon to follow:
on their face. It proves again that the Grand Old Party unrest and civil disturbances.
has what the Americans call “too many chiefs, not enough They think they can obscure the grim picture by spray-
Indians.” ing Holi-style colours. Look, here’s red, yellow, green,
The phrase emanated in the Wild West of America. As pink. But behind it, the darkness is spreading. The rising
the pioneers headed West from the original 13 colonies of number of vagrants and beggars in cities; the prolifera-
the East Coast, they overran and vanquished hundreds, tion of slums in outer Delhi… even under the elevated
perhaps thousands, of native Indian settlements. And that tracks of the Metro; growing disparity manifest in traffic
was the truth. From sketchy histories of American Indians, jams in shantytowns that are springing up everywhere.
it is clear they were overcome not just by superior technol- Delhi’s just a step away from being engulfed by gigantic
ogy of the white-skinned adventurers but by dismal lack slums like Dharavi.
In his epic Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens wrote:
of leadership, notwithstanding what you may have read in “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it
comic books about Chief Sitting Bull and various others.
The story of how the West was won underpins Ameri- was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it
can faith in manifest destiny. Portrayed by artists and was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
historians as a glorious achievement, the triumph of was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….,
“civilisation” over “savagery,” the genocide of Indians and
the march West sparked the belief in manifest destiny that we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to
underpins the non-negotiable belief that America is great Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
and Americans special. Yet the fact is the natives failed to Dickens could well have been writing about India
unite and were ruthlessly massacred by the settlers look- under the mediocracy. Of one thing, we can be sure: few,
ing for land and living in the vast undeveloped landmass if any, in the current saffron leadership have read it, let
now known as the United States of America. The narrative alone understand it.
of how the West was won is riddled with tales, rumour, (Rajiv Desai is president of Comma Consulting and a well-known Delhi-
gossip. Scholarly treatises came later as men and women based columnist)

94 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2024