Arun Shourie on The Great Telecom Fudge: Jawaharism revisited?

In Indian Express there is a heart-rending tale of one Mr. Arun Shourie, yes the one who worships Mohandas. He complains:

"For the last year, I have been living far away from Delhi, immersed in religious scriptures for a book that I have completed. Telecom has been as far from my concerns as any other gutter in Delhi. It is the spate of lies which has been let loose that has compelled me to return to it."

And then there is a long winding story detailing how NDA did what was not inappropriate and how Congress did only misappropriation and is now resorting to mud-slinging. An interested reader is welcome to read the full article in Indian Express.

However, I being one with limited intellectual ability (Surprised by my humility? Ha!), fail to understand a few things:

1. Why is it that the government must concern itself with micro-managing the economy?

This is exemplified by many statements in the article: "Hence, one of the principal objectives of Government was to steer the sector on to a growth path." ... "A major concern of the Government, therefore, was to lift the sector out of this quagmire of litigation. Telecom service providers should compete for the goodwill of the customers rather than trying to block each other in courts, or by suborning ministers and civil servants in Delhi — that was the objective."

And also,

2. Why aren't policies discussed out in the open before they are implemented?

It is obvious that the policies were an outcome of closed-door meetings, otherwise why so much of clarification needs to be provided by someone who had changed the course of his life into attaining sainthood by immersing himself into religious scriptures! What a pity, what a pity!

3. Why is BJP, as a party, not defending Mr. Shourie? Why is he left to defend himself alone?

If you doubt this and want a confirmation, utter a word against Atal Bihari and see how you would be harassed by a gang.

This reinforces my surmise that BJP is fast becoming, that is if it hasn't already become one, a divided house. That besides, it surprises everyone as to why this party with a difference always fails to deviate from the Jawaharism that has been one of the main causes of India's troubles. Why is it that everybody in India wants everything to be done by the government? No wonder then that even your private enjoyments are finally enjoyed only by the government! Moreover, as I mentioned yesterday in my article about Thayee, every single politician wants to become a person like that of the Jawahar-clan.

The saga of Mr Shourie is of no consequence unless we question what the role of the government be and how the government should play that role. For the former we need to choose between lesser and lesser government and more and more government, while for the latter we need to choose between the method of open debate based on verifiable facts or patronizing dream-sequences of an undeserving clan.

In my view, the choices are obvious: Less Government and Open Debate. And this is the lesson we need to learn besides many other lessons, from the ongoing tsunami of scams.