It is always somebody else's fault!

Another of India's buffoons, SM Krishna, currently goofing as the minister of external affairs, read out from a speech meant to be read by the Portugese foreign minister.

There are many notable things:

1. SM Krishna is completely unabashed about this.

2. The officers in MEA are "downplaying" the incident.

3. A congress-man demands Krishna's resignation.

4. BJP spokes-person Nirmala Sitharaman says: "... it has "embarrassed" India at an international forum and that the level of incompetence has reached its (sic) 'optimum'".

The whole scene is so pathetic and it is clear that they are all taking the citizens for a huge ride! Now this shows various facts about the "leading elites" (The Politicians, The Bureaucrats, The officialdom) of India.

1. They are absolutely callous and careless about all matters that they are supposed to handle professionally. They commit mistakes and blunders with arrogance and an air of impunity.

2. They always say that it must be somebody else's fault, or that the "mistake" is small.

Do you recall the Jawahar fiasco, while the clown-self-assumed-king Jawahar, post 1962 war with China in which India lost, claimed that "not even a blade of grass grew there", referring to the conceded territory. And the fawning Congressmen shouted from roof-tops that Punditji's (Jawahar's) hands were to be strengthened at the time of crisis.

A very important conclusion that one can draw is that:

There is a prevailing sentiment in the country that "You Can do anything, and get away with it", while the rest of the "masses" think that "nothing can be done".

Sadly, and surely, one of the dire consequences of this state of affairs is that before long we could be in a bloody civil war!

The problem is an immense problem, and the central question is: what can we do about it? Before we discuss what we can do about it, it is important to understand things that most certainly won't work:

1. Not casting votes: This is a very stupid argument which often otherwise seemingly sane people use claiming that they don't have any good choice so they do not vote for anyone.

2. Mere complaining and whining: That's like a cry-baby. We can be cry-baby, but then who will solve the problem? Some outsider? You got one outsider, Ms Sonia, and look what she has done!

3. Saying we are totally helpless: This is despair. We may not be able to do ALL, but we can surely do "something". We need to possess and begin with such a faith.

4. God will take care of it: This is utter mindlessness. Why do people "earn" a livelihood? Why not leave that too to God? And if you do not leave to God the task of earning a livelihood, why this "fake" surrender when it comes to honoring a socio-civilizational-national responsibility? The reason is not that there is true surrender or genuine dependence on God, the reason is that they are seeking an easy way out so that they can "relax". But remember that this "relaxing" will prove to be very very expensive.

So what could possibly work?

Let's approach it step by step. Where lies the problem? At the level of leadership, right? What does that mean? That there are no good leaders. So what is the solution? That we must produce from among ourselves good leaders. And how can we do it? By encouraging those who are good leaders, and rejecting those who are fakes. How do we find out? We may not be perfect in our discrimination, but we can still have a few working guidelines.

1. A leader must lead by example. And the leader can not repeat mistakes, and can not commit many mistakes.

2. No one should be able to get a higher responsibility without exhibiting competence at some lower level of responsibility.

3. A leader has to publicly commit his position and also accept the responsibility of its consequences.

4. A leader can not tell a lie, however trifling. One lie, and he/she must be out! And out meaning? Rejected by the people! Don't wait for the supreme court to act! You are the Supreme-most Court!

These are just a few and there could be many more, and we need to work on this list!

Further, if we examine, we have faltered on each of the above time and again. For example, despite imposing emergency, how could Indira Gandhi get elected? Without having any tangible results to show, how can Rahul G be "projected" as the next PM candidate? And the plight does not stop with Congress alone. All parties share the guilt. How can Lalu be re-elected after stealing thousands or crores in fodder-scam?

Don't complain that such people should NOT be allowed to contest. At the moment, even if you want a change in electoral laws, you need a leader! So we need to break this vicious circle of no good laws until good leaders, and no good leaders until good laws! Don't bother, elect someone, not someone shown to be corrupt. And what if there is none who is not corrupt? Then it is the responsibility of those citizens who are not corrupt, to contest elections. If we have NO citizens amongst us who are NOT corrupt, then what is the whole problem all about? Don't we, in a nation of more than one billion people, have 2000 non-corrupt individuals who are willing to contest a member-of-parliament-election? If we are so bad, then we all need to commit mass-suicide. There is NO HOPE. But the fact is, we ARE NOT that bad. Give encouragement and support to those who are not corrupt.

The least of it is that SM Krishna, and Nirmala Sitharaman must be thrown out of their present jobs. Krishna for obvious reasons, and Nirmala for calling it "optimal"!