Thank You DMK

Often, there are unfavourable means that lead to favourable ends. How upset some of us were when DMK won the Lok Sabha elections, how those of us were huffing and puffing in angst wondering where our country was heading.

All’s well that ends well. Before I dwell into that, apologies are due to the direct victims of the DMK ruling, from rich fellows like Aircel’s Shivashankaran to poorest residents of Madurai who had their lands snatched away from vile cronies of Alagiri. Despite all those numerous atrocities, on a larger scale, the rule of DMK appears to have done the nation a huge favour.

Look at the Anna movement. People would hardly remember JP movement but in living memory we have not had a decent movement to quash corruption in public life. We have had mass movements to build temples that we claim were demolished by invaders, to ban movies that disturbed our worldview, to recall the quota system for backward castes, etc. But corruption, one of the biggest problems plaguing our country, has somehow escaped our attention. Being busy bribing everyone, from RTO inspector for driving license to tehsildar for caste certificate, we have gleefully accepted corruption as a national culture, often even part of our Hindu conscience. If somebody pointed out bribery as an issue we smiled condescendingly, not at the mention but at the person’s naivety.

What shook this complacency? What enraged us so much as to make corruption, our everyday reality, into centre stage? All hands should point to A Raja and DMK. If not for the audaciously unbelievable figures quoted in the media (and thereafter hotly contested) we would not have woken up from our slumbers. We would not have realised that our harmless fifty rupees slapped to the palms of traffic constable would have such a huge repercussion, to the extent of gaining international infamy by featuring in Time magazine; that incompatibly conflicted with the cultivated image of ‘rising’ India we have in our mind. The India as tomorrow’s superpower, the only contender to the big dragon China. The reality collided violently with that image. The reality where entrepreneurs were arm-twisted into selling their companies to politicians’ cronies, tribals were violently chased out of their home because their lands were sold to greedy miners at throwaway prices and stray dogs slept and defecated on the beds intended for international athletes.

For which we must thank Karunanidhi. For being what he was: not just a corrupt, nepotistic leader, but stupid too. He had been mastering the knack of fomenting trouble for himself ever since his political career began. For decades, his excesses and selfishness didn’t lead to anything fruitful except punctuating his political journey. We wondered and waited despairingly. For that elusive Karma to kick in.

It has, at last. Years of our patient and impatient waiting has finally yielded in the form of the domino effect of 2G to Anna Hazare. Whatever becomes of this movement, it is not going to stop the RTO inspectors from selling driving licenses or tehsildars from selling caste certificates. Regardless of the perceived futility of this movement, it’s good that we’re talking about corruption rather than temples.

Unfortunately, the DMK is not going to be remembered as the unwitting crusader of this movement. But it’s good to gently remind ourselves of it.