Why are the people of so rightly called third world countries still falling in tarp of deceitful, shrewd,and criminal, politicians, sold-out, hate-mongering, unethical media houses and journalists? Common people understand, and experience, both in theory and in practice, that most of the politicians irrespective of their party affiliations are demagogues, merciless looters, potential murderers, and rapists with no real love for their country. I wish the scientists working on ‘artificial intelligence’ could develop a tool to check the real intentions of people, in a single day, the wicked intensions of all these thugs will beexposed, and the masses will lynch them all.

However, in the third-world countries specifically, it is the job of a politician to manufacture and make and unmake issues, for votes, to get elected, to win elections, by employing all possible means—lies, sophistry, threats, rumors, corruption, killings and so on. In the sub-continent, they have been doing so since last several decadesor much before, but why do common masses or at least people who care for the future generations, for country, not only keepfalling prey, but also keep observing with criminal silence. Why do politicians or political parties, after winning an election assume and act as if they have procured or they own a state or a country and its resources and can do anything they understand or they wish, or can get away with easily? The more serious question is, why common people assume that they have sold themselves to political parties, and politicians are their gods afterwards.

Even after the 70 years of independence, there are basic and major issues, common masses face every day, every hour but never have courage and guts to question their governments or the MLAs or MPs, or ministers, they have voted for, or protest if taxpayer’s money is not being used properly.Or ask for a social audit.Governments are on contract basis, politicians are public servants, people have right to ask for a social audit. Any breach of trust or contract should be questioned.For instance, we all use social media platform, Facebook, there are some terms and conditions, between the user and the company. If any of the conditions is violated, the users have right to ask questions or even file a case against the company. If you remember, recently there was news that Facebook is breaching the contract of data-privacy or selling the user information and data to their party. The CEO, MarkZuckerberg was grilled for about 10 hours by nearly 100 legislators in the House and Senate. Exactly same is the contract or the relation between the voters and the people who run the governments. But, unfortunately, even the criminal, illiterate, with dozens of FIRs and criminal charges, politicians of their-world countries are mostly arrogant and treat themselves above the and equal to gods.

With no intention to defame, shame, or make fun of, but just to draw attention on the few issues India is facing currently. For instance:

The World Bank estimates that India is one of the highest-ranking countries in the world for the number of children (48.2 million) equivalent to Colombia’s population, suffer from malnutrition. On the Global Hunger Index India is on place 67 among the 80 nations having the worst hunger situation, which is worse than nations such as North Korea or Sudan. 25% of all hungry people worldwide live in India. The World Bank, in 2011 based on 2005’s PPPs International Comparison Program, estimated about 276 million Indian people, lived below 20 rupees per day. Nearly half of India’s 1.2 billion people have no toilet at home, according to the latest census data. India, one of the leading countries in Asia has a whopping 33 million children employed in various forms of child labor. “Unemployment in India is projected to increase from 17.7 million last year to 17.8 million in 2017 and 18 million next year.

Have you ever seen or heard any MLA, MP, CM, PM, or any minister or any TV channel taking about the above issues? Let us assume these are big problems, and they don’t bother use, therefore we are not concerned about it. As a common citizen,nothing to do with politics or any political party, do you ask or just think that even after 70 years of independence about the following problems we face daily:

What happens to the taxes you pay to the governments to get services? Why am I paying 53 rupees tax for a liter of petrol? Why am I going to private hospital, why don’t we have access to health care in government hospitals? Why should I send our kids to expensive private schools, what is the problem with the government schools? Why our roads so damaged, and, not constructed for decades? Why don’t we have access to pure drinking water? Why don’t we have access to 24 hours electricity? Why are our women unsafe in own cities and villages? Why don’t I get a confirm train ticket even after paying full fare? Why don’t we get a file signed in a government office without paying bribe?

Do you have right to ask your governments about the above-mentioned issues?

Why should you be carried away by the rhetoric of politicians and sold-out, irresponsible media houses and hatemongering journalists, when they cunningly and deliberately divert our attention towards non-issueslike:

Mandir banayege-masjid banayege- how does it matter to a Hindu or a Muslim who coming from say Bihar or UP, or MP (or any other state) to Delhi looking for a job, whether the government if going to build a mandir or a masjid in Goa, or Kanyakumari? How does it matter to a person who unable to take his family member to a hospital, because he can’t pay bills, or a village where people are still not provided electricity, whether there was or wasn’t internet in the ancient India? Whether Tajmahal was a built by X or Y? Should it matter to an unemployed engineer, or MBA graduate, or any other unemployed youth, who has spent 22-30precious years of his/her life in studies, and hard-earnedmoney of his/her parents and is moving across India but is unable to find a job. Whether Nehru was a chain smoker or not! How does it matter to poor parents who are unable to send their girls to school, because there is no school in the area of 10 KMS and they don’t have money for daily transportation charges paying 53 rupees tax for a litter of petrol? How does it matter to a mother who is afraid for the safety of her daughter, whether there is beauty parlor in Pakistan or not? How does it matter to a common person whether there is portrait of Nehru or Jinha is a university, who is forced to carry the dead body of his wife from a hospital on his shoulders 15 KMS by foot, because the government hospital couldn’t provide him the ambulance? Government builds a Rs. 36000 crore statue, how does it matter to a farmer who is forced to commit suicide, because he can’t repay loan of few thousand rupees. Government is proposing Rs.56000 crore bullet train. How does it matter to millions of passenger, who are travelling with family and kids in dirty and fully loaded general compartments, in hot summers, because theycan’t get a confirmed rail ticket even before 2 months of travel date?

Any common person can observe that most of the mediahouses aresold-out moth pieces performingfelonious jobs for TRPs, and doing great injustice to the future generations and the nation by fueling communal hatred, hatemongering, debating divisive issues (which create hate between regional groups, religious groups, social groups, different casts) and dinon-issues like how many guests were at ABC film star’s marriage party.Do people of this country have no other job to count the guests of someone unrelated and far away? This is called “third-rate-bullshit” live telecast. These hate-mongers in media try to sensationalize non-issues (like mandir-masjid, hindu-musalmaan, national flag, and national anthem) and people forget again to ask right questions or think about it.Most of the journalists are ill-informed, have been caught peddling lies, and selling false information and fake news items, screamlike street goons with high pitch, in so called debates, which sound like fish markets. The outcome is that, corrupt politicians get votes, becomes MLAs, MPs, ministers (loot the public money), media houses get money and fame, the poor and common country men keep suffering as usual and keep waiting for ‘acche din’.Only few media house discuss the real issues, they are being abused (online-offline), harassed, intimidated, jailed, shamed, killed or treated as anti-nationals.

That is the only reason why even after 70 years of independence, there are millions of homeless people, millions of hungry people, millions of uneducated people, thousands are farmers commit suicide just because they can re-pay Rs.10000 loan, whereas big corny capitalists loot billions of rupees and leave the country, millions of sick people have no access or medicines, drinking water, food, shelter, education, jobs, security, forget about ‘life with dignity’.

The bureaucrats and government officials are either corrupt or afraid to raise their voice against the corruption, afraid to not to get promotion, afraid to be transferred, afraid not to get post-retirement jobs, afraid to lose or at the worse afraid to be killed. Those who are not corrupt, but are concerned about the country, its people and the future generations are ill-treated, silenced, and threatened or killed.

The civil society has failed to be connectedwith the common masses at the gross root level. Many people, concerned citizens, civil society members who are sensitive, well-educated and well-aware, really concerned about the nation, its reputation and for the future generations, are harassed, abused, killed, or threatened. The crooked politicians, sold-out and unethical media houses, corny capitalists collectively play this game-they employ all possible and illegal means, lies, threats, killings, so that they can keep enjoying money and power and keep fooling common masses of the country with emotions. However, the fault lies with the common people who seem to have lost common sense (if there was any) and fall prey to illogical priorities, propaganda of criminal politicians and thuggish media outlets.

I am not against, mandir, or masjid, or a statue, but I think they can wait, until most of the common people of the country have access to basic life amenities, two meals, clean water, basic income, access to education, healthcare, medicines, house, roads, affordable transport, roads, electricity, social security.

Dr. M Ashraf Bhat has pursued his Post-doctorate from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and doctorate (PhD) from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. His recent book “The Changing Language Roles and Linguistic Identities of the Kashmiri Speech Community” published by the Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle