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Today a large number of Indians are living in fear with deep anger and frustration. Maybe the anger and frustration was hidden somewhere deep in our hearts and has now surfaced because of the unprecedented misery that has befallen on this nation. I wonder if there is a single indian who has not lost a family member, friend or acquaintance to COVID. It is even worse because a common man is left with the feeling of having been abandoned by those who were voted to power.

So heart rending are the scenes on television and the stories one hears. What makes it worse is when those in power instead of acknowledging that they should have been proactive are either passing the buck or carrying on huge PR exercises to wipe the slate of all the negative publicity. Even though the government machinery has started to get its act together, the damage is irreparable.

I wonder how long it would take our countrymen to heal. The fault lies not just with those in power, but the people who surround these politicians. It is the bureaucrats who are supposed to have their ears to the ground and keep the politicians abreast of reality. They keep their eyes closed, their ears shut and their mouths sealed in the hope that they will retire from their service with some coveted post. They only speak once they retire especially if they did not get what they hoped to.

But of course our politicians are also averse to negative reviews.

Does it mean that our country was a ‘ramrajya’ before the present dispensation. Sadly not, the politicians from all parties have just one aim, to be in power. Citizens are mere votes and they the vultures. They target the most vulnerable sections. Why do you think we still have a large population that is poor and illiterate. Why is it over the last 75 years our child mortality rates have continued to be high? Well this is an ideal situation for the politicians.

This is the section of the society they mislead sometimes by doling out goodies just before election, or rousing their religious sentiments. It is not a question of Hindu-Muslim hatred. A poor person does not have time to think about all this, earning their livelihood is the focus. These anti social hoodlums who are on the pay rolls of various parties are there to create the divide. The present dispensation does it shamelessly but the other parties cannot absolve themselves of this crime against the nation. There were riots and killing long before the BJP came to the scene. Of course today the likes of some CMs do it as though they have been authorised by our Constitution.

So dear Indians, most of us want to see change but let us hope those who come to power will stop treating us as votes. I hope they will no longer think that they are the rulers and we the ruled. Let us educate every Indian that we are not in an age of monarchies. The political leaders are there because of us and not the other way round. It is our constitutional duty to demand the best out of them. The money that they talk of doling out, is not theirs but the tax payers hard earned money. It is time we educate the people that the elected are answerable to the electorate even if they have a majority. They exist because we allow them to exist.

Dear Indians, stand up and let the politicians from every party know that each Indian matters, their voice matters, do not dare to stifle it, their dreams matter, do not dare to trample over them.

These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.