The real challenges begin where ‘Peepli [Live]’ ends …

It is very rare that a realistic film is made in Bollywood. ‘Peepli [Live]’ is one such film which portrays the plight of the ordinary Indian farmers and exposes the rotten political-administrative system and the hollowness of the frenzied corporate media without preaching any quick fix solution. Although it does not require great intellectual ability or superb artistic acumen to realize, empathize and portray the pathetic living condition of the majority of the Indian people and the callous and predatory nature of the ruling establishment, looking in the context of the kind of films which are made now a days ‘Peepli [Live]’ is indeed a refreshing and welcome departure. The debutant director and writer of the film Anusha Rizvi definitely deserves commendation for this break.

The film revolves around a poor rural family of two brothers Nattha and Budhia who are on the verge of losing their land on account of their failure to repay the debt to a bank. They come to know about a scheme in which the government provides a relief of Rs. 1 lakh to the farmers who commit suicide. Finding no other alternative to save their land they decide that Nattha would commit suicide so that the land is not auctioned and his wife and children live a happy life. Originating from a local daily this news spreads like a forest fire to all the TV news channels and suddenly becomes national-international news and a political issue in the upcoming by-elections. The satire on the media and the politicians-bureaucrats is really the core of the film and it does it brilliantly. Most of the actors hailing as they are from the theatre background (Naya theatre of Habib Tanvir) do proper justice to their characters.

While watching the film one is reminded of the stories and novels of Munshi Premchand which are the most realistic and poignant narration of the condition of poor peasants in feudal and colonial India. One would have expected that the reality would be different in the post feudal and post colonial India but it is disgusting and a telling statement on the nature of the ruling class in India that even after more than six decades of independence there has not been any qualitative improvement in the condition of the small and marginal farmers and landless labourers. Government after government and party after party came to power with the promise of eradicating poverty, ignorance and misery and all of them failed miserably. Now the ruling class is busy selling the dream of an ‘emerging Indian superpower’ and wants us to believe that the poverty would be eradicated by rapid industrialization through free market capitalism which incidentally is in moribund state in its western citadels. The hired intellectuals and propagandists of the ruling class have spread their tentacles in the corporate media to convince the people that the solution to the rural distress is to industrialize rapidly so that new jobs are created for the excess rural population and hence poverty would be eradicated. It is important to understand and expose the true rationale behind this logic.

The film in its climax shows that the main protagonist Nathha migrates from the backward village to a rapidly developing city and works as a construction worker there. While the film ends here, the real story and challenge of 21st century India actually begins at this point. To fulfill its unending lust for profit, the capitalist class in India needs regular supply of very cheap labour to work in the industries to run the machines, to build the factories, malls, apartments, roads, airports, ports, rail tracks, bridges, dams etc. It is in their interest that poor peasants like Nattha who are in the first place dispossessed of their small landholding due to the spread of capital and market in the villages migrate in huge numbers towards urban areas so that part of them are utilized as employed wage slaves and remaining form the industrial reserve army of unemployed and semi employed who would ensure that the wages remain low so that profit is maximized. So the rural distress, rural to urban migration, poverty and unemployment are actually in the interest of the ruling capitalist class. Their crocodile tears for the poor and the ritualistic poverty alleviation schemes are aimed only to contain poverty to a manageable level so that the people keep on living with false hope do not revolt. While majority of people in India still live in villages, the rapid rural to urban migration is bound to change this equation and even in rural areas most of the people work not as farmers but as labourers in the fields of big farmers or in the growing corporate farms. In last two decades there has been a huge upsurge in the rural to urban migration and most of these migrants work as unorganized workers in the form of contract labourers, daily wage workers, casual workers etc. and do not enjoy any labour rights such as fixed working hours, minimum wages, overtime, job card, PF, job security etc. Majority of the people in India now are labourers and not farmers. According to government’s own data, more than 93 percent of the work force is unorganized which does not enjoy any kind of job security, income security or social security. It is these people who are condemned to live in the inhuman conditions of slums and shanty neighbourhoods in the cities of India. It is their children who instead of attending schools are forced to do labour in factories and dhabas, to beg or to sell the commodities on the road side like the small flags around Independence Day and republic day.

Under these circumstances it is not an exaggeration to say that India is sitting on the top of a volcano which is waiting to erupt. The challenges are stupendous and the existing system is totally inept to provide any egalitarian response. History is witness to the fact that any patch up work of reforming a system which is infected with incurable disease is bound to fail. The hope does not lie in the reform at the top but in the revolution from below by arousing, mobilizing and organizing the masses and those whose conscience has not yet been bought over by the ruling class.

यह शांति कई त्रासदियों का कारण बनेगी!!

भोपाल का त्रासद नरसंहार
और शासक वर्ग का निरंकुश हृदयहीन व्यवहार,
इन सबके बावजूद हिन्दुस्तान के महानगरों
और कस्बों की सड़कों पर छाई हुई मुर्दा शांति,
यकीन नहीं आता कि इन्हीं सड़कों पर,
अत्याचार और अन्याय के खिलाफ़
कभी लड़ी गयी थी आज़ादी कि ज़ंग,
टीवी स्टूडियो में कुछ दिन हो हल्ला मचने के बाद
वहां भी अब पसर चुकी है नपुंसक शांति,
आख़िर न्यूज़ चैनलों को मिल गयी है अगली ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़।

ज़ुल्म का गहराता अँधेरा और यह ख़तरनाक शांति,
हमें उठानी ही होगी इसके खिलाफ़ आवाज़,
वरना अनगिनत त्रासदियों का कारण बनेगी यह बेदर्द शांति,
हमें तोड़नी ही होगी यह स्वार्थी चुप्पी,
क्योंकि हर निरंकुश शासक वर्ग के अस्तित्व
की शर्त होती है, शांत और ठंडी जनता।

इस ज़ालिम शासक वर्ग द्वारा फेके गए
टुकड़ों को लपककर शांत रहने ,
और आंसुओं के महासागर में
विलासिता के चंद टापुओं के बीच
अपना भी टापू बनाने की स्वार्थी हसरत कि बजाय
बेहतर होगा कि हम हिस्सा बन जायें
इस समुन्दर कि बेचैन लहरों का,
और तैयारी करें
भविष्य में उठने वाले ज्वार और भाटों का,
क्योंकि शांति की इस घुटन का जवाब
क्रांति का सैलाब ही हो सकता है।

हम वो इंक़लाब हैं!!

रुके न जो, झुके न जो, दबे न जो, मिटे न जो
हम वो इंक़लाब हैं,ज़ुल्म का जवाब हैं
हर शहीद का,गरीब का हमीं तो ख़्वाब हैं।

तख़्त और ताज को, कल के लिए आज को
जिसमें ऊंच-नीच है ऐसे हर समाज को
हम बदल के ही रहेंगे वक़्त के मिजाज़ को
क्रांति कि मांग है, जंगलों में आग है
दासता की बेड़ियों को तोड़ते बढ़ जायेंगे .

लड़ रहे हैं इसलिए की प्यार जग में जी सके
आदमी का खून कोई आदमी न पी सके
मालिकों- मजूर के,
नौकरों हुजूर के
भेद हम मिटायेंगे, समानता को लायेंगे.

जानते नहीं हैं फ़र्क हिन्दू-मुसलमान का
मानते हैं रिश्ता इंसान से इंसान का
धर्म के देश के, भाषा के भेष के
फ़र्क को मिटायेंगे, समानता को लायेंगे

हुक्म चल सकेगा नहीं ज़ुल्मी हुक्मरान का
सारे जग पे हक हमारा, हम पे इस जहाँ का
गरीब को जगायेंगे, गरीबी को मिटायेंगे
एकता के जोर पे हर ज़ुल्म से लड़ जायेंगे.

---छात्र- युवा संघर्ष वाहिनी

ईश्वर की सत्ता में यकीन रखने वाले मित्रों से एक अपील!!!

सर्वशक्तिमान,सर्वज्ञानी, सर्वत्र परमपिता परमेश्वर
जिनकी मर्ज़ी के बिना पत्ता भी नहीं हिल सकता,
उनकी सत्ता में यकीन रखने वाले मेरे धार्मिक मित्रों!
मेरी तरफ़ से अपने परमपिता से कुछ सवाल करोगे क्या?

मुझे तो अधर्मी, काफ़िर होने के संगीन जुर्म में
बिना सुनवाई के, हिटलरशहाना अंदाज़ में
नरक के कंसन्ट्रेशन कैम्प में भेज दिया जायेगा.
इसलिए जब कभी तुम्हे अपने परमपिता के
दुर्लभ दर्शन होने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हो,
या फिर जब तुम्हे आलीशान स्वर्ग की ओर ले जाया जा रहा हो,
उस समय मेरी तरफ़ से कुछ सवाल करोगे क्या?

उनसे पूछना कि जब हीरोशिमा और नागासाकी पर
शैतान अमेरिका गिरा रहा था परमाणु बम,
तो मानवता का कलेजा तो हो गया था छलनी छलनी ,
लेकिन महाशय के कानों में क्यों नहीं रेंगी जूँ तक?

फिर उनसे पूछना कि जब दिल्ली की सड़कों पर
कोंग्रेसी राक्षस मासूम सिखों का कर रहे थे कत्लेआम,
तब यह धरती तो काँप उठी थी
लेकिन बैकुंठ में क्यों नहीं हुई ज़रा सी भी हलचल?

उनसे यह भी पूछना कि जब गुजरात में
संघ परिवार के ख़ूनी दरिंदों द्वारा
मुस्लिम महिलाओं का हो रहा था सामूहिक बलात्कार,
तब इंसानियत तो हो गयी थी शर्मसार
पर जनाब के रूह में क्यों नहीं हुई थोड़ी भी हरकत?

और यह भी कि बरखुरदार किस करवट सो रहे होते हैं
जब उनके मंदिर के नाम पर गिराई जाती है मस्जिद,
जब ज़िहाद के नाम पर क़त्ल किये जा रहे होते हैं निर्दोष नागरिक?

आख़िर मालिक क्यों नहीं होते टस से मस?
जब मुनाफ़े कि वहशियाना हवस को मिटाने कि ख़ातिर
मिल मालिक जोंक कि तरह चूस रहे होते हैं मज़दूरों का खून.

योर ऑनर किस जुर्म कि सज़ा देते हैं
भूकंप और सूनामी पीड़ितों को?

पूछने को तो और भी बहुत कुछ है,
जैसे कि वियतनाम,फिलिस्तीन,अफगानिस्तान, इराक और अब पकिस्तान..

लेकिन मुझे लगता नहीं कि तुम कर पाओगे इतना साहस
आखिर तुम्हे अपने स्वर्ग और मोक्ष की परवाह है,
भले ही इस दुनिया में लोग जी रहे हों नरक से भी बदतर ज़िन्दगी
इससे तुम्हे क्या फ़र्क पड़ता है कि इस दुनिया में है इतनी अशांति
तुम्हे तो बस अपनी मानसिक शांति कि फ़िक्र है.

आख़िर तुम हो तो इसी व्यवस्था की उपज
जहाँ लोगों के दिमाग में ठूसा जाता है बस अपने लिए जीना
लेकिन मैं भी तो हूँ इसी व्यवस्था की उपज
मैं खुले आम करता हूँ विद्रोह
न सिर्फ इहलोक की ज़ालिम सत्ता के ख़िलाफ़
बल्कि परलोक की अमानवीय सत्ता के भी ख़िलाफ़.
क्योंकि अब हो चला है मुझे यकीन
कि हर तरह के अमानवीय अन्याय के ख़िलाफ़
विद्रोह न्यायसंगत और मानवीय है!

Declared and and undeclared war against the people

In the aftermath of the Dantewada attack, there is a war hysteria being created by the combine of the political class, corporate media, and the security analysts. There is a talk of using the air power and even the army to tackle the “menace of Naxalism”. Anyone who tries to link the great historical injustices against the Adivasis as the root cause to the violent manifestation on the surface and the role played by the State in this sorry state of affairs is being branded as the Naxalite sympathizer. The fact of the matter is that one does not need to be a Naxalite sympathizer to see that the ruling classes of India have blood in their hands and the white shirt and lungi of the Home Minister carries the blood stains of not only the slain security personnel but also of the innocent Adivasis. By the time this war gets over and the Naxalites are “exterminated”, which would take 2-3 years according to the Home Minister, the white shirt and lungi would be immersed with the blood of countless people. One wonders who would be the beneficiary of this war.
Much dramatic and sensational this declared war may appear, the real battle lines, however, are not there in the forest of Dandkarnya. There is an undeclared war which has been waged by the ruling classes against the people, the manifestation of which can be seen in the factories and farms of India where the people’s land and rights are being taken away forcefully. The real battle lines can be seen between the tiny minority of the beneficiaries of the “spectacular economic growth” and overwhelming majority of the victims of it who ironically are the key contributors of this growth. The fault line lies between the growing number of billionaires and millionaires and the burgeoning millions of poor unorganized laborers and famers. The divide lies between the glittering shopping malls and posh apartments and the dark and filthy slums being inhabited by the workers who actually build these malls and apartments with their back breaking labor of 12-14 hours a day. One does not need to be a Naxalite sympathizer to see the paradox of the Capitalist development in terms of the coexistence of the Super specialty hospitals and pathetic primary health care centres; the paradox between the world class educational institutions and widespread illiteracy; the paradox of the growing number of weight loss centers and the largest number of malnutrition people in the world.
There are many well intentioned reformists who naively advocate that the solution to the problem lies in pressurizing the government to adopt certain welfare measures for the people. But they fail to see that numerous welfare measures have been taken after independence but the problems are actually aggravated. It only indicates that the problem is structural and systemic wherein the economic system is profit centered and not people centered which inevitably creates poverty and inequality. The alternative is to work for the foundation of an economic system which is people centered and governed by people and not by profit seeking corporates. But such an alternative requires a mass based comprehensive and creative revolutionary movement. Certainly it would be a long tortuous haul, but there is hardly any other short cut alternative available to the people. The so called Maoists and Naxalites want to bring revolution in a hurry through the barrel of the gun and not with the revolutionary energy of the masses, but their adventures actually betray the cause of the revolution because it gives the State the justification to militarise itself. So any genuine revolutionary mass movement must not only struggle against the ruling classes but also oppose the short cut, carbon copy approach of all such adventurism which is a clear cut deviation from Marxism, Leninism and Maoism.

Let the ruling classes forget Bhagat Singh, the people of India will never!!!

In its craziness to cover the pomp and glamour of the IPL which is rapidly emerging as the new opium of Indian masses, the much celebrated Indian corporate media once again failed to pay deserving tribute to one of the greatest martyrs of the freedom movement. Yesterday was the 79th death anniversary of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh who was hanged till death along with Sukhdev and Rajguru on 23rd March 1931 in connection with their involvement in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
One of their fellow revolutionary Ramprasad Bismill once wrote that “Shaheedon ki chitaaon par lagenge har baras mele, watan par marne walon ka yahi baaki nishaan hoga”. But leave about fairs at the funeral pyre of the martyrs, the ruling classes of the independent India have tried to ensure that every trace of the revolutionaries is erased from the psyche of Indian masses. Having failed in their attempt in doing so, they try to portray these martyrs as great patriots who used violent means to achieve independence from a foreign rule and now that the country has become independent, they are no more relevant. Thus they clip the revolutionary wings of these martyrs and sanitize them as harmless creatures who could pose no challenge to their exploitative and repressive rule.
But the truth is that Bhagat Singh and his comrades did not fight and gave up their life just to gain independence from an alien rule. Although freeing the nation from the shackles of colonial slavery was their immediate objective, their vision was to build a society which is based on equality and respect for the dignity of all human beings where the exploitation of a man by a man would be non-existent. Very few people are aware that Bhagat Singh was a great intellectual and a visionary. In a short lifespan of 23 years, he not only directly participated in the revolutionary activities but more importantly prepared a program for the Indian revolution learning from his own experiences as well as by reading the books by the revolutionaries all over the world including Marx,Engels,Lenin and Bukhanin (The proofs of which are found in his jail diary which was published only recently). They founded Hindustan Socialist Republican Assoication (HSRA) which openly declared that the aim of Indian independence movement must be not only be to throw the Britishers out of the country but also to uproot the material basis of exploitation and form a society on socialist basis which is free from exploitation and oppression.
Merely 3 days before the date of sentence, Bhagat Singh,Sukhdev and Rajguru wrote a letter to the governor of Punjab requesting him to kill them by shooting rather than hanging as they had declared a war against the British empire and hence are the war prisoners and they must be treated as such. In the same letter they also wrote the following :
“Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixed British and Indian or even purely Indian. They may be carrying on their insidious exploitation through mixed or even on purely Indian bureaucratic apparatus.”
It is clear as a broad day light today that even though we gained independence from the British Raj, the new rulers of India have ensured that the Indian masses continue to live a life of misery and deprivation and remain divided on the grounds of caste, region, language and religion. The vulgar prosperity and ostentatious lifestyle of a tiny minority is being projected as the sign of the rapid development of the nation while the abject poverty, extreme inequality and rampant dispossession is conveniently overlooked as if it is the law of nature.
In such a troubling period when the capitalist exploitation in the era of globalization is wrecking havoc to the lives of the toiling masses, Bhagat Singh’s supreme sacrifice and his vision are relevant more than ever. They are an eternal source of inspiration to all those who refuse to accept any kind of exploitation and oppression as justified on any ground. His thoughts continue to act as a beacon of light to all those who have not lost hope of building a society which is just, freer and equal. That is why it is important to celebrate the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh but not merely as a customary ritual but to spread his revolutionary message to the nooks and corners of the country so that the revolutionary spirit is revitalized.
Inqlaab Zindabad!!
Revolutionary solute to the martyrs!!!

‘3 Idiots’ in the ‘Republic’ of India

The much hype about ‘3 idiots’ aroused a curiosity in me to watch the movie. The movie attempts to give expression to the feelings of the ‘successful’ and yet unhappy upwardly mobile middle class of Indian Republic in the 60^th year of its foundation. It correctly identifies the rot which has set in the education system of modern India which randomly puts round ball in the square hole. It is indeed true that given an opportunity most of us would like to be educated in radically different manner than how we were educated. Of course nobody likes the mad rat race for marks and the ‘Andhi Maghai(blind rote based study)’ of which we all were reluctant participant. But the fact remains that despite being conscious of all this and appreciating the movie and making it a super-hit, majority of these ‘successful’ Indians continue to be part of the mad rat race of career and making money in their day to day life. That means the root cause of the problem is not the education system per se. It is also not the attitude of the professors like SahastrBudhe, nor is the pressure of parents like those of Farhan and Raju. That’s where lies the limitation of the movie. It correctly identifies the problem but fails to go to its roots cause; rather it prefers a superficially trivial approach.

Professors and parents do not live in a vacuum; they live in the socio-economic and political milieu. Their attitude and behavior is inevitably governed by the values which are imposed by the environment. If the economic system of a society is based on the lust for profit and mindless competition among its members, it is merely a utopian wishful thinking that the attitude of its members would not be affected by this. If the success of a person is judged by the amount of money he is earning and not by his contribution to the society, then it should hardly be surprising that parents want their children to be educated in a manner which gives them opportunity to earn a lot of money and find a prestigious place in the society! If the economic system requires not the human being for fulfilling the needs of society but the obedient and pliant slaves in the industries to continuously increase the profits of the ruling class, then why should it at all be shocking that the education system is geared towards making more efficient human machines rather than better human beings?

Even if there is a change of heart of few professors and some parents; even if there are some exceptionally talented individuals like Rancho and even if some reforms are introduced in the education system, it would not affect the overall manifested behavior of society at large if the economic system remains as it is and goes on promoting the values of greed and selfishness unabashedly. The overall manifested behavior of society can only be changed if a radically different economic system is founded which is based on fulfilling the needs of all the members of society and provides opportunity for everyone to realize their potential to the fullest. But that would require a revolutionary overthrow of this unjust system and its replacement by a fair system where people work collectively to fulfill the requirements of the society and in the process realize their potential.

Perhaps I am expecting too much from a movie which is made for commercial motives. Why would Amir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra make a movie or Chetan Bhagat would write a book which targets the economic system and professes its downfall? After all they are its real beneficiaries! It is the same economic system which ensures their exorbitant life style as compared to the overwhelming majority of Indians and thereby making them ‘successful’. So what, if even after 60 years of becoming republic, 400 million Indians live Below Starvation Line (which is euphemistically termed as Below Poverty Line) in the same system; so what, if in the same system 46 percent children are malnourished simply because their parents cannot afford to provide balanced diet to them; so what, if millions of children drop out of school mid way because their parents cannot afford their education; it is not their botheration that the average daily income of 77% of India’s population (about 840 million) is Rs. 20 at a time when the prices of pulses are touching Rs 100/kg mark and that of sugar Rs. 40/kg!

No wonder that failing to go to the root of the problem, the movie promotes a mystical illusion of ‘All is well’ in the same manner as the rulers of this ‘Republic’ (in reality a dynasty) of India do in response to all the problems faced by the country. But one thing is surely done by both the movie and the Indian ‘Republic’ – they both raise the aspiration levels of the people to a mountainous height, which this system fails miserably to meet. That’s where lies the hope that unable to meet the ever rising expectations of people, this system would cripple and give way for a just and fair system. This system would not make fool of the ‘idiots’ forever, the ‘idiots’ in reality have no option but to fight for the revolutionary overthrow of this system if they have to realize their full potential and enable future generations to chose the way they want to study and pursue their profession. Only such a revolutionary optimism provides a ray of light amidst the darkness surrounding us.

...And Finally I decided to take revolutionary road..

The hunger for making a lucrative career was disappeared
when I grasped the reasons for hunger and malnourishment of children

The dream of a luxurious life style looked so vulgar
when I was confronted with the harsh realities of modern India

The 'for' loop and 'while' loop of java appeared so petty
when I unravelled the complex vicious loop of poverty and starvation

The programming of computer looked so insignificant
when I went through the sordid program of global capitalism

The design of software looked so meaningless
when I understood the cruel design of imperialism

The tears of parents became less painful
when I felt the pain of the teeming millions

Maintaining the silence looked so inhuman
when I listened to the clamour of oppression and exploitation

Sacrificing the life looked so natural
when I was convinced of the need and inevitability of revolution in India.

Of Change and Equality

They say that the nature has created the men as unequal
That the dominance of one over other is the law of nature
They disregard the fact that the nature itself is evolving
And along with it the man also is evolving
So why can't inequality evolve towards equality
In reality they object any step towards greater equality
Because it would make a dent on their privileges
It would lessen the opportunities for them to exploit the 'lesser mortals'
And would hinder the continuity of their rule,their extravagant lifestyle,
Those who are being exploited and who are in overwhelming majority
As also those who still have the traces humanity left in their souls
Do not need to beg for greater equality or make a plea before the exploiters
They need to unite and fight and grab it by uprooting this unjust system
And after that building a foundation for a just society
Let them say that such a society is a utopia and it is impractical
They have to say this because their heaven lies in this unjust society
But those who are living in the hell of this system
Do not have any option but to fight for their heaven.

An interpretation based on objective reality

In the political science classes, we were taught that the aim,philosophy and direction of the Indian democracy are enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution of India which is as follows:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE, social, economic and political;

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

But science teaches us not to blindly believe in whatever is being told by our ancestors or written in the holy books but to draw conclusions based on the objective conditions.The functioning of Indian democracy over a period of time is appearing to give the following meaning:

WE, THE CAPITALISTS and POLITICIANS OF INDIA, having conspired to constitute India into a HEGEMONIC CAPITALIST COMMUNAL DYNASTIC REPUBLIC and to secure to ourselves:

JUSTICE in the distribution of plunder;

LIBERTY of unbriddled exploitation of the labour of the people

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity to oppress; and to promote among ourselves

FRATERNITY assuring the opulence of each of us

and to force upon the People of India

INJUSTICE social, economic, political and ecological;

CURTAILMENT of thought, expression and human rights;

INEQUALITY of income, status, opportunity and potential;and to promote among them

HOSTILITY by exploiting the labour of individual and by dividing the people in the name of caste,religion,language and region.

ये कैसी आज़ादी! ये किसकी आज़ादी!

अक्सर लोग १५ अगस्त के दिन को देशभक्ति के गाने सुनकर,मिठाइयां बांटकर और सड़कों पर मासूम बच्चों द्बारा बेचे गए तिरंगे को अपनी गाड़ियों पर लगाकर अपने देश पर फ़क्र करते हुए मनाते हैं. मेरे मन में भी पिछले साल तक १५ अगस्त को कुछ ऐसी ही गौरवानुभूति होती थी. लेकिन पिछले साल और इस साल के बीच मेरी सोच में ज़बरदस्त बदलाव आया है.अब मुझे लगता है कि आज़ादी का 'हनीमून पीरियड' ख़त्म हो गया है और समय आ गया है कि इस तथाकथित आज़ादी पर कुछ बुनियादी सवाल दागे जाएँ और इस देश की हुकूमत चलाने वालों को कटघरे में खड़ा किया जाय.
क्या यह सोचने का समय नहीं आ गया है कि क्या ऐसे ही देश और समाज के निर्माण के लिए ही स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में शहीदों ने शहादत दी थी? आज़ादी के ६३ वर्ष पश्चात हमारा देश आंसुओं के सागर के बीच समृद्धता के चंद टापुओं के समान दिखता है. चन्द लोगों के लिए यह चमकता दमकता 'शाइनिंग इंडिया' है और देश कि बहुसंख्यक आबादी के लिए अंधकारमय भारत.चमकते दमकते शॉपिंग मॉल्स के ग्लैमर भरी चकाचौंध में प्रायः देश की तरक्की का मिथ्याभास होता है. लेकिन इन मॉल्स की चकाचौंध से थोड़ा दूर हटकर इनके निर्माण कि प्रक्रिया में शामिल मज़दूरों और उनके मालिकों के जीवन स्तर पर निगाह डालें तो इस उदयीमान भारत की ज़मीनी हकीकत का पर्दाफ़ाश हो जाता है. इस प्रक्रिया में अपना शारीरिक श्रम झोंकने के बावजूद उनको इतनी भी दिहाड़ी नहीं मिलती कि वह अपने और अपने परिवार के लिए दो जून कि रोटी का जुगाड़ कर सकें; आवास, शिक्षा और स्वास्थ्य जैसे बुनियादी ज़रूरतों कि तो बात ही छोड़ दीजिये. सरकारी आंकड़ों के अनुसार इस देश की ७७ प्रतिशत आबादी की औसत दैनिक आय मात्र २० रुपये है. इस ७७ प्रतिशत आबादी का एक बड़ा हिस्सा असंगठित क्षेत्र में ठेके पर कार्यरत उन मज़दूरों का है जो हमारे ऐशो आराम के लिए शॉपिंग मॉल बनाते हैं, गगनचुम्बी इमारतें बनाते हैं और इस देश के तथाकथित विकास के लिए बेहद ज़रूरी सड़कों, फ्लाई ओवरों, पुलों बांधों इत्यादि के निर्माण में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाते हैं.इसके बावजूद यह देश इस मेहनतकश आबादी के प्रति मानवीय व्यवहार भी नहीं करता. दिल्ली मेट्रो के निर्माण के दौरान आये दिन होने वाली दुर्घटनाओं में मज़दूरों की मृत्यु और सरकार तथा मीडिया का संवेदनहीन रवैया इस बात का ताजा उदहारण हैं.आज के 'अतुल्य भारत' में हर चौथा व्यक्ति भूखे पेट सोता है, आधे से अधिक महिलाएं एनीमिया की शिकार हैं और आधे से अधिक बच्चे कुपोषण का शिकार हैं. ये महिलाएं और बच्चे उसी बहुसंख्यक मेहनतकश आबादी का हिस्सा हैं जिसका इस देश और व्यवस्था में सबसे अधिक शोषण हो रहा हैं.

वहीँ दूसरी ओर पूंजीपति मालिक वर्ग बिना किसी शारीरिक श्रम के अपने पैसों की ताकत के धौंस पर इस देश पर राजकाज कर रहा है, अपनी ऐयाशियों के लिए भांति भांति के तरीके ढूंढ कर व्यापक मेहनतकश आबादी कि हड्डियाँ निचोड़कर और खून चूसकर अपनी तिजोरियां भरता जा रहा है।इस वर्ग की विलासिता का मुकाबला पश्चिमी देशों का पूंजीपति वर्ग भी नहीं कर पा रहा है. मुकेश अम्बानी ५०% 'स्लमडागों' की आबादी के मुंबई शहर में अपने ६ सदस्यीय परिवार को १४ मंजिला घर से ऊबकर एक नए ६० मंजिला इमारत के समान ऊंचाई का घर गिफ्ट में देने की तैयारी में लगे हैं.इस घर की लागत लगभग ४०० करोड़ बताई जा रही है. विजय माल्या एक नए निजी टापू खरीदने की योजना बना रहे हैं, चाहे इसके लिए कुछ लोगों की नौकरियां और रोजी रोटी भी क्यों न छीननी पड़े। कुछ अपवादों को छोड़कर, जनता के सेवक कहलाने वाले राजनीतिज्ञ और नौकरशाह वास्तव में इन पूंजीपतियों के हितों का ही प्रतिनिधित्व करते हैं और उनकी ही चाकरी करते हैं, तथा इस प्रक्रिया में अपनी और अपनी आने वाली पीढियों का भविष्य सुरक्षित करते हैं. स्विस बैंक में जमा पूँजी में भारतीयों का अव्वल स्थान इस घिनौने सच का पुख्ता सबूत है.

रही बात मध्य वर्ग की, तो मध्य वर्ग इस देश में व्याप्त आतंकवाद,भ्रष्टाचार, मंदी ,बढती महंगाई,बेरोज़गारी, बाबुओं की बदसलूकी इत्यादि पर नाक भौं तो सिकोड़ता है;कभी कभी जब आग घर तक पहुँचने लगती है तो मोमबत्ती जलाकर अनुष्ठानिक विरोध करता भी दिखाई पड़ता है, लेकिन इन समस्याओं की जड़ को समझने की कोशिश नहीं करता तथा इन समस्याओं के जड़मूल समाधान में अपनी भूमिका बनाने से कतराता रहता है.उल्टे मौका मिलने पर वह पूंजीपति वर्ग द्वारा दी गयी रियायतों के लालच में आकर पूंजीपति वर्ग के सम्मान में प्रशस्तियाँ गढ़ता हुआ दिखाई पड़ता है. इनमें से कुछ 'सेलिब्रिटी' लोग मीडिया में देश की अर्थव्यस्था की तरक्की को प्रमाणित करने के लिए जीडीपी विकास दर के आंकड़े दिखा कर लोगों की आँखों में धूल झोंकने का काम करते हैं. क्योंकि वो यह नहीं बताते हैं इस तथाकथित विकास का किस अनुपात में वितरण हो रहा है. वो भारत को दुनिया की सबसे तेजी से बढती हुई अर्थव्यवस्था सिद्ध करने और भावी सुपर पावर बनाने के दंभ में यह भूल जाते हैं या जान बूझ कर छिपाते हैं कि 'मानवीय विकास सूचकांक' में भारत श्रीलंका, भूटान और यहाँ तक कि कुछ अफ्रीकी मुल्कों से भी पीछे है. यह सूचकांक यू. एन. ओ. की एक संस्था द्वारा निकाला जाता है और यह हर देश में नागरिकों की शिक्षा और स्वास्थ्य जैसी मूलभूत ज़रूरतों की उपलब्धता के आधार पर तय होता है. इस सूचकांक में भारत कि स्थिति १७७ देशों में १२८ वीं है और पिछले कुछ वर्षों में भारत कुछ पायदान फिसला ही है. शायद कुछ 'देशभक्तों' को इस बात से तसल्ली होगी कि पाकिस्तान का स्थान भारत से भी पीछे है, लेकिन वह भी ज्यादा पीछे नहीं है.
मध्य वर्ग के कुछ लोग भारत में वैज्ञानिक प्रगति पर बड़ा गर्व महसूस करते हैं, लेकिन इस सच्चाई से मुंह चुराते हैं कि देश में कोई मौलिक वैज्ञानिक शोध का कोई माहौल ही नहीं है और नागरिकों कि औसत वैज्ञानिक चेतना का स्तर बहुत ही नीचे है. देश भर में व्याप्त धर्मान्धता, अन्धविश्वाश तथा भांति-भांति के ढोंगी और पाखंडी बाबाओं का कुकुरमुत्ते कि तरह पनपना और टी. वी. चैनलों पर छा जाना इस समाज कि औसत वैज्ञानिक चेतना को दर्शाता है. नहीं तो ऐसा क्यों है कि इतने सारे टी.वी. चैनलों में विज्ञान पर आधारित एक भी चैनल नहीं है.

ऐसे माहौल में स्वतंत्रता दिवस का जश्न मनाने से अच्छा तो यह होगा की इस बात पर गंभीरता से सोचा जाय कि यह कैसी आज़ादी है और किसके लिए आज़ादी है? क्या आज़ादी की लड़ाई इसलिए लड़ी गयी थी कि मुनाफ़ाखोरों को मेहनतकश आबादी का शोषण और उत्पीड़न करने की खुली छूट दे दी जाय और बहुसंख्यक आम जनता को एक इंसानी जिन्दगी जीने के लिए आवश्यक बुनियादी ज़रूरतों से भी वंचित रखा जाय? आज़ादी कि लड़ाई तो न्याय पर आधारित एक समतामूलक समाज कि स्थापना के लिए लड़ी गयी थी.लेकिन एक वैज्ञानिक नज़रिए से देखा जाय तो ऐसा समाज मुनाफ़े कि हवस और शोषण पर आधारित इस पूंजीवादी व्यवस्था के अर्न्तगत संभव ही नहीं दिखता. लेकिन यह भी सच है की यह व्यवस्था मनुष्य की नियति नहीं है और मनुष्यता के विकास की आखिरी मंजिल तो हरगिज़ नहीं। यह मानवजनित व्यस्था है और इसका निर्मूलन मनुष्य के संगठित प्रयासों द्वारा ही होगा.ज़ाहिर तौर पर एक नए समाज की स्थापना के लिए युवाओं में एक वैज्ञानिक क्रांतिकारी सोच कि ज़रुरत है जो एक इंसान द्वारा दूसरे इंसान पर किये गए हर प्रकार के शोषण के खिलाफ़ समझौताहीन संघर्ष कर पाने में सक्षम हो. तभी सही मायने में एक लोकस्वराज्य की स्थापना हो सकती है. आज़ादी का जश्न मनाना ऐसा दिन आने तक टल सकता है.