Stagnation of a once proud land

Fifty years ago, Aikya Keralam (integrated Kerala) was flushed with hopes. Political setbacks did not really dampen the Malayali spirit to excel - and excel we did. Literacy broke all records. Primary health centres opened up in every village. Electricity reached all nooks and corners. Educational levels became the envy of others-Kerala was being recognized as a world phenomenon.

That the growth could not be sustained remains the great tragedy. And in the ultimate analysis, one single factor contributed the most to this stagnation-the sickening ineptitude and greed of our politicians. Politicization of anything and everything is the bane of today's Kerala, and the politicians - left or right (the only two alternatives for the hapless voters)- are allowed to get away with anything.

The culture that made us a proud and civilized people has long been lost. In its place has been crowned a cynical and self centred culture where sadism, deception and unimaginable levels of corruption are accepted. Police chiefs and Government officials have joined the politicians in the plunder. Kerala has become a scandal.

Of course, we have had decent politicians – a P.K.Vasudevan Nair here , a C.Achutha Menon there... But, as a class, the political leaders have showed a complete lack of concern for the progress of the state and the welfare of its people.The ultimate tragedy is that the people, in this wonderful ‘democracy’, appear unable to do anything about this situation. All they can do is to vote the bad people out-but even then, the bad lot refuse to go away, and come back into the political scene through back doors.

When the political class threw all decency to the wind and went on a grabbing spree, the Malayali quickly learned that the culture had changed and joined in. He knew he had been cheated and betrayed by his leaders. So, he rose to the occasion and began figuring out how he could turn the new situation to his advantage. Since double standards were the name of the new game, he decided that he would play double standards with a vengeance. Thus, we have a whole society living by trickery, betrayal and deception.

Greed knows no limit. And the power of the people to choose the leaders they want is seriously limited, therefore to hope for a ‘People’s Movement’ to cleanse Kerala politics appear to be wishful. In fact, coming up with any practical solution to the problems plaguing Kerala, and the Malayali, seems beyond human capability at the moment.

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