VIP culture is not about the VIPs of the country, it is about us, the general public who gets denied the basic rights because certain authoritative people are making the wrong use of theirs. VIP culture has proved to destroy the political scenario of the country so far. People in a car with a red beacon, people who have power, and people who don’t care about the general public, often exploit their rights to get ahead or to get their work done. Why should the public be held back and the road be blocked to let a VIP pass by? Why can’t the VIP be stuck in traffic and enjoy the woes this country has to offer to its citizens? Why should only the citizens have to put up with the bad side?

Also, who bestowed these people with the honor of being VIPs? Why are they treated like Gods in our country? Gone are the times when the politicians used to work for the public of the country, nowadays you will see full beefed up security when a politician is visiting an area, so what does that exactly mean? We care about the politician and give him/her high security, but the general public can die under a threat? Why can the security not be at that level 24*7? Is it too costly for the state to afford? Exactly! It is too expensive for the state, but we happily provide it for the politicians and the VIPs.

The VIP culture can be segregated into various categories for a layman. The categories could be–

VIPs who have a vehicle with a siren and red beacon VIPs who are preferred over the general public in cases of a getting work done. VIPs who enjoy rights/facilities which have been stripped off the general public.

The whole VIP culture is nothing but another aspect of corruption in India, when you see a VIP being treated like a king, there is a person behind the scene who has been bribed. The VIPs and the people who serve them initiate a vicious circle of corruption and the general public often has to haggle to get their way through a normal government office.

What do we want?

The strength of the general public is something that nobody is aware of, we have seen a glimpse of it during the protests in the Nirbhaya case, but the potential is way more. So here is what the public demands in order to get rid of the VIP culture.

1. Red beacons should not be allowed to anybody or everybody, there should be officials of a particular stature who could use red beacons, and anybody else using them should be fined and the beacon should be immediately removed.

2. The VIPs should be treated like the general public, road blocks and beefed up security is causing a major havoc for the traffic and if such a thing happens, the VIP should be made to travel with the traffic.

3. We live in a democratic country, the government is of the people, for the people, by the people. The rights of the VIPs are in non-compliance with those of the general public, the government needs to fix these first.

4. All the citizens of the country, whether VIP or not, should come under the same rule book, which means the rules should be the same for everybody and the non-abidance should be equally punishable regardless of the position of the citizen.

Support the cause

It won’t take a lot to support this cause, all it will take is the courage to stand up for what you believe in and stand up against what you feel is totally unnecessary. Ever seen a police vehicle breaking the traffic signal while everybody is standing there, behind the zebra crossing, waiting for the light to turn green? Yes, that is what we are talking about. If there are rules, they should apply to everybody, or they shouldn’t exist!

It could be the general public, the people who are in the system to change the system, and people who are about to become VIPs who could help us fight this struggle. Let’s bring out the real meaning of equality and justice, let’s make India a little more systematic, let’s do away with the discrepancies in the law. If you are tired of the corruption and what it has done to your life, take this opportunity to fight for yourself. Because if you don’t do it, nobody will!