Amethi – Slavery circa 2014

Everyone must come to Amethi. It is a destination second to the Taj Mahal in India. The Moghuls created monuments to grandeur, but the Nehru-Gandhi family has created a monument to India’s despair, despondency and shame!

No, don’t think all UP towns are in a miserable state. Don’t think, we know all about rural poverty. You don’t know anything until you visit Amethi. It’s said nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming grandeur of the Taj, likewise nothing can prepare you for the blot on the nation that is called Amethi.

Roads, electricity, tapped water, all these are dreams for most of the nation. We know that. Shameful as it is, we live with it. A 65 year old citizen in Amethi told us that his only dream is to see a tap in his village (please note ‘village’ not home) before he dies. But there is far more despair here, and you don’t even have to dig for it.

When we enter any small town (not even B towns) in India, there are basic but visible signs of civilization - hoardings, shops of tractors & farm equipment, garages, 2 wheeler showrooms, shops selling large storage containers, many shops selling basic construction material. Most small towns are bustling with computer institutes, learning academies, their hoardings.  Most towns have construction work going on round the year.

Amethi has nothing. Only decrepit decay stares at you through blank, tired eyes. Ramshackle markets sell cheap clothes and plasticware that you find at Adivasi fairs. There are no medical facilities, government or private; even remote towns in Vidarbha have a plethora of private medical hospitals and clinics. When you get out of the railway station the only eatery is a dhabba, but don’t get romantic ideas of robust dhabbas on highways; this dhabba transports you to the “3 Idiots” like black-n-white frame… not a single spoon there is less than a few decades old. The only noteworthy building here is the rest house where Rahul Gandhi stays. There is one seedy hotel, we are forced to stay in the neighbouring district Sultanpur and travel back & forth daily. Sultanpur is a bustling town. The basic difference is that all other towns have an economy, Amethi has none.

A seat of the Nehru-Gandhi clan, this is shocking!  How come they did nothing to develop the place? Politicians tend to contribute to the development of their constituency, even if it is for voter appeasement. But in Amethi, it seems there has been a concerted effort to keep the place backward! And if that be so, it’s the worst kind of conspiracy on the citizens of India. In order to use the citizens as fodder, in order to make them dance to their will, the Gandhis have kept the people in such abject conditions that they have no voice, no ability to think, to desire or to demand. This is slavery of the worst kind! They have preyed on fatalist attitudes and made an entire population believe this is their lot, they have denied them education or chances to develop so that they can control them like slaves whose tongues have been cut off.

And then to add the proverbial insult to the injury, they take the credit for the supposed ‘development’ of Amethi! The people here were not aware that they count, they have been schooled to just bow down and accept their fate. That’s the problem with India, we don’t get outraged enough. I am not the first to visit Amethi, millions know this truth , but there is no reporting, no attempt to change this rotten system. NGOs should be flocking here, this is as backward as it gets. But no one has the courage to stand up and say that the Emperor has no clothes.

 The only silver lining is the advent of Kumar Vishwas. Kumar has reached everyone and provoked all to think, to question. The district is in a state of collective wonder.. they can’t believe that they are actually being spoken to, being consulted and counseled, as against being ordered. Meet anyone in the streets or villages and they dote on ‘Kumar Bhaiya’, they say they admire his hard work and oratory skills, but what really astonishes them is that he treats them as his equals – because thus far the Gandhi clan has ensured that fundamental rights of equality and liberty do not enter this unfortunate land.

Let us just forget the elections for a moment and focus on the people. Let us build on what Kumar has started – I urge all to visit Amethi, get shocked, get outraged, and start a movement against economic and mental slavery.