Feel-good in tatters

Sometimes slogans have a way of backfiring horribly. Can India really be shining if the distribution of saris costing Rs 40 in the capital of the country?s most populous state ? and the prime minister?s own constituency ? provokes so much greed and frenzy that a resulting stampede leaves 26 people dead?

Sometimes slogans have a way of backfiring horribly. Can India really be shining if the distribution of saris costing Rs 40 in the capital of the country’s most populous state — and the prime minister’s own constituency — provokes so much greed and frenzy that a resulting stampede leaves 26 people dead? This is an image more suited to the distribution of relief supplies in a famine region than a symbol of a newly resurgent India in which all citizens can hold their heads high. No woman who risks her life for a cheap sari can be feeling very good.

HT Image

Ultimately, it’s this image that will linger long after the tragedy has been forgotten and the political controversies have died down. Ram Jethmalani, the independent candidate standing against the PM, did well to say that he did not want to politicise the tragedy. Unfortunately, he then went on to politicise it anyway, arguing that the distribution of saris violated the code of conduct for candidates. This claim was echoed by other political parties including the CPI(M).

Prima facie, it is not clear whether the distribution of saris, an annual event which normally passes off without incident, violates the code. That is a matter for the Election Commission to decide. Equally, attempts to drag the prime minister into the tragedy by arguing that Lalji Tandon, whose birthday was being celebrated, is his principal campaign manager in Lucknow, are also silly and illogical. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in Jharkhand and had nothing to do with the distribution. As absurd is the suggestion, already being whispered by BJP insiders, that it is all the fault of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and the state administration.

The victims of this senseless tragedy deserve some respect in death. They should not be used as weapons in a political battle. The more we cheapen the tragedy, the clearer it will become that India is not necessarily shining.