‘He who is a just protector will be deemed the Lord’s deputy’, says Thiruvalluvar in verse 388. Now, I am not about to begin a Budget speech, a la, FM PC. Rather the discourse that follows is on an extremely ‘trivial’ issue, an issue that is fast becoming as commonplace as a greasy constable, a pot-holed road, dry taps, a local dada or a pompous politico, all legacies of a degenerate polity. I am alluding to ‘terror’ which is currently just one of those hazards of living in India, which is no longer a soft State, but an immune one. Bombs and blasts? No big deal!
But let’s get back to T’valluvar & co first and later to terror.The celebrated savant, in that verse, is referring to the primary duty of a ruler: That of protecting his subjects. In performance of that duty, a just protector is deemed an agent of God. From time immemorial, the Ruler, the Rajya (State) and Statecraft have received copious attention in the treatises of Bharatavarsha. From the Vedas and Upanishads, to Ramayana, Manu, Mahabharatha and the Gita to literature of recent vintage, and on both sides of the Vindhyas, one finds profuse references to the role of a State and the ruler. In all these works the stress is on the ruler’s role as a protector of Dharma and the ruler would have performed his dharmic duty if he protects his ‘subjects, the society and its culture’. That was called Kshtriya Dharma. It was no allusion to caste, as modern rationalists would love to brand it, but rather an emphasis and delienation of societal responsibilities.
Chanakya’s Arthasasthra, by far, remains the foremost authority on Statecraft and its greatness lies in its continuing relevance in the current times. Chanakya alias Kautilya admits in all humility that his work is only a compendium of the treatises of as many as 18 teachers, but that only adds to the value of Arthasasthra. The King and the State are used interchangeably throughout his work. Says Chanakya: ‘the king and his rule encapsulate all the constituents of the state’ and adds: a king who observes his duty of protecting his people justly, according to law, goes to heaven, unlike one who does not protect his people, or inflicts unjust punishment …’. An important attribute of a Rajarishi, a king with the wisdom of a sage, is being ‘ever active in promoting the security and welfare of the people’. Another great political theorist, Somadeva, says: ‘How can he be a king, who does not protect the subject? Protection surpasses all regal duties in importance and religious merit. The protection of the subjects constitutes the King’s willing sacrifice and when the King protects his people in just and equitable ways, the skies beneficiently shower all benefits…’ There are also some interesting caveats —don’ts — for a ruler. The vices he must avoid include daydreaming, capriciousness, falsehood and extravagance and also avoid association with harmful persons!
These are no religious rituals or orthodox injunctions, but values that would stand the test of both common law and common sense. Therefore, the temptation to benchmark India’s ruling class with the country’s own time-tested wisdom is overwhelming. Clearly, while vices have been observed dutifully, the modern monarchs of our democracy have steadfastly refused to look beyond their own noses. People figure nowhere in the rulers’ scheme of things, except as voters. If terror today has become a day-to-day problem for the common man, it has got more to do with delinquent rulers than the terrorists themselves.For, it cannot be said that the enemies of the State are invisible. Rather, the terrorists have been advertising themselves, their identities and motives, quite adequately. Yet, if the rulers, bound morally and Constitutionally, to protect the citizens, throws them to the wolves instead, is it not enough proof that a soft, immune State is also a failed State? A self-inflicted internal failure than one wrought by any external aggression? With many PoK like pockets right inside our heartland who needs invasions from Pak? Indeed, after corruption, cronyism and caste politics, this criminal failure of the State apparatus to safeguard the lives and limbs of people comes as the final nail. For all his faults, G.Bush has ensured that there is not a single civilian death so far owing to terrorism since 9/11. But, India ranks next only to Iraq on that count!
Much has already been written, in these columns and elsewhere, about sleepless PMs, secular Jihadis, innocent Afzals, all-important peace processes, all-consuming appeasement politics and such other causes for ordinary individuals becoming sitting ducks in theatres, eateries, trains and even in their homes. But the scenarios in AP and TN offer a special dimension to the failure of the ruling class. The CMs of the two States can even put fiddling Nero’s to shade. But while the Roman emperor’s was only an act of omission, our heroes are busy with hectic pursuit of private passions and profit even as their States burn. They have time neither for the people nor the terrorists!
Y.S.Rajashekara Reddy is all set to become the biggest media moghul in AP. With his Telugu newspaper venture set to be launched from twenty centres by Jan 1, possibly under Sonia’s auspices, the entire State machinery is said to be burning midnight oil in the company of YSR’s kith and kin to meet that deadline. Now how would there be time and mind for such mundane things as governance and security? Little wonder, he ignored crystal clear intel warnings as well as tell-tale signs of terrorists activities. Indeed, with YSR’s current priorities, the terrorists would fail to get the CM’s appointment even if they wish to surrender at the secretariat.
Cut to TN. The SC transfers a murder case against the CM’s son to another State, heeding a plaint that there could be no fair trial here. And this is not seen as an assault on their much touted self-respect, but we will leave that. Three newspaper employees get killed in the CM’s family feud, but there is not an official whisper in this land of Manu Needhi Chozhan. Instead, here too, the CM is busy preparing to launch his own TV … to protect his family, not the people, stupid! That’s the rational Rajadharma here. But while these rationalists can be expected to ignore the Arthasasthra, which for them is an Aryasasthra, what about the exhortations of T’valluvar? Well, it is easier to quote him or erect tall statues of him than to follow him.
And we do not know what T’valluvar or Chanakya had to say when protectors become predators!
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