Mahadeep Singh Jamwal
Few days back, while travelling in my own vehicle to Bari- Brahmana from Hari Palace in Jammu city, I was stuck for considerable time. The traffic piling up and slow movement of vehicles, I assumed its cause to be an accident because the days of ‘Lal Batti’ and concept of ‘Very Important Persons’ (VIPs) to that of ‘Every Person is Important’ (EPI) have occupied the space, after announcement by none else but most powerful Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, himself. As I inched up further I heard the sirens and a fleet of police vehicles and battery of cars and noticed hordes of cops around and all other vehicles right from two wheelers, cars, passenger’s vehicles/load carriers and even those on foot being pushed off the main road by using rude, rough language and howling like Jackals. Although I noticed no red beacons but enough police escorts, a cacophony of sirens and a trail of dust making me understand, that yet VIP culture is enforced by police as flattery towards those believing themselves to be monarchs. Blocking traffic for the common masses that might be having some really important issues to deal with like medical emergencies, important meetings are forced to be stuck in traffic just for the VIP movement. Common man needs to know why traffic has to be stopped for the VIP convoy and why life has to come to standstill to make life comfortable to these VIPs squandering public exchequer. I realized where lies the veracity of the words of our Prime Minister Modi, No place for ‘Very Important Person’ (VIP) culture in New India; ‘Every Person is Important (EPI)’. I realized the wasting of my time to listen monthly radio programme Man Ki Baat, where in Prime Minister had said ‘All the 125-crore people of the country have equal importance’, and the importance of these words of PM have no importance for the police as well as those in power and all others are taken as crawling insects on the roads. Who are these VIPs? They are persons who are accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance. Most political party leaders, he may be a senior leader or junior leader, the bureaucrats and celebrities and many turn-coat politicians mainly have boarded the VIP ship in India costing a lot on the state exchequer (A public wallet of taxpayers). None is worried about the burden, financial and otherwise, created by the VIP culture. Nobody is willing or in a position to bring any change in this system because it involves politicians and other influential people. If some of the undeserving are not de-boarded by those in power, in that case the public should denounce them as VIP and have to start treating them as an ordinary citizen. It is the red beacon, police protection and special privileges’, a sort of ‘Laxman Rekha’ between VIP and ordinary citizens. The special treatment usually involves separation from common people, and a higher level of comfort or service. It makes some citizens inferior to others. In India, just about everybody, who’s anybody is protected. The problem has become an endemic and a part of our political culture. In India, a common man doesn’t enjoy the free access. He needs to have some level of connections with the ‘VIP’ to get things done. This system can only be eliminated when a commoner is provided with all his civil liberties and rights without an external intervention. Those enjoying VIP status in India have all the privileges right from travelling on road, railways or Air travels, Queue laws are not applicable to them, precisely they are undeclared monarchs in India. There can be no cross fire that some people deserve special treatment but is only for the special offices they hold, not for the individuals per se. The president or the prime minister of the country, for example, is protected across the world because of the symbolic importance they carry of the offices they represent. Even Indian PM Modi was once banned from entering the U.S when he was not symbolically representing the office of PM of India. In India to be VIP, one should have at least one of the following qualification/categorization: ‘Rich in Power of Authority’, ‘Rich in Monetary Values’ or ‘Rich in Popularity’ and forth one ‘Flatterer of present dispensation’. There’s something discrediting about the culture of VIPs, something constitutionally undemocratic. It is prejudice against the purpose of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India, for the plain sailing that it makes some citizens mediocre to others.
Here in India the VIP list is impressive indeed: politicians, ministers, bureaucrats, judges, spiritual leaders, criminals and even the kin of the leaders are part of this list. India’s VIP numbers are 5,79,092. Despite being over populated than India, China’s VIP numbers are just 435. Other developed countries such as Russia-312, South Korea-282, USA-252, Australia-205, Germany-142, Japan-125, France-109, and Britain-84, have designated VIP numbers (Source: www.indiatimes.com/vip-culture-thrills). It is the common man who foots the bill for the security of the VIPs in India while he himself remains exposed to crimes, remains unsafe on the streets, at public places. According to the bureau of police research and development, there is only one policeman to protect 253 citizens in Delhi, against 5,183 policemen to protect 427 high-profile persons. Why should citizens pay for it?