Counter Productive Politics in Indian State Tamil Nadu

People addicted to liquor in Tamil Nadu are increasing at alarming rate and social stability and family harmony in the state have been seriously disrupted.

by N. S. Venkataraman

Those who were born in Tamil Nadu and now living in  Tamil Nadu or other states in India or outside India  feel proud about the historical traditions, culture and value system inherent   in Tamil Nadu  for the last several centuries. Unfortunately, in the recent  time, many undesirable political developments have taken place in Tamil Nadu that mar the image of Tamil Nadu as a cultured state.

In the last  eighteen months, some approaches of the Tamil Nadu government  have  caused considerable concern to the cross section of Tamil speaking  people  and now living in Tamil Nadu and across the world.

People in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India [ Photo credit: Kingsley Jebaraj/Unsplash]

The political party  which won the  last  election  and came to power made many promises in  the pre -election campaign , most of which do not make any economic sense but  are good enough to please the gullible public .  After coming to power , while some minor promises have been implemented, several major promises could not be implemented , as Tamil Nadu 's finances are in extremely bad shape. In such  conditions,  the political party governing the state  is facing criticism , which it is unable to counter by appropriate  response.

In such conditions, the party in power is creating new issues , in such a way  that people's attention can be diverted to such non issues , so that the criticism against the non implementation of the pre -election promises by the government would  not be focused.

Attack on Hindu religion:

It is a fact that the present government is systematically trying to discredit Hinduism in several ways, by disturbing the  smooth functioning of the Hindu temples where poorly trained priests are being appointed  and in the process, driving out the experienced and traditional priests from Hindu temples.  This could cause serious uncertainty and confusion in the way that Hindu Gods are worshipped in the temples.

The government  mislead the people by saying that it is supporting the Hindu temples by retrieving the encroached land and at  the same time, it is  taking away the gold and silver belonging to temples  which do not belong to the government.

Several speeches made by those belonging to the party in power and their allied parties have been decrying the Hindu religious practices. It is ridiculous that  they say that those belonging to Hindu religion are the children of prostitutes.  Many similar extremely undesirable statements have been made against Hindu religious practices.  Obviously, the party in power is causing public debate over   such continuous   utterances to divert the attention of the people , while such persons speaking against Hindu religion go unpunished  and scot free.

There are so many other incidents that can be readily cited to indicate the diversionary tactics of the party in power, to conceal it’s poor governance.

Weak financial condition:

The finances of  Tamil Nadu government are in a very poor shape and several public sector undertakings like transport , TANGEDCO are in deep red . However,  the government   continues to borrow more money even while the  present debt burden on the state is around Rs.7 lakh crore.  Meanwhile, unconcerned about the situation, many unproductive expenses are being incurred.

Social instability:

People addicted to liquor in Tamil Nadu are increasing at alarming rate and social stability and family harmony in the state have been seriously disrupted.  Murders and use of ganja are reportedly increasing, particularly amongst the youth.

Issue with Tamil Nadu governor:

The recent controversy deliberately created by the state government with regard to it's relation with Tamil Nadu governor is extremely in poor taste . Tamil Nadu governor is   conducting himself with high level of dignity , in spite of many provocations and particularly  by  the persons belonging to the ruling party and it's allies   who are using extremely undesirable and vulgar language against the state governor.

To add insult to  injury, the  Tamil Nadu Chief Minister deliberately and in a calculated manner insulted the governor , when he came to the Assembly to deliver  his customary speech .

It is said that the governor has not read out the speech prepared by the government , but the fact is that in that particular speech prepared by the Tamil Nadu government, many wrong figures and information have been mentioned  which no governor   can read out, if the governor would want to maintain the standards of his office.

It is really silly on the part of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to make an issue  with the governor , for the governor using the name Thamizhagam instead of Tamil Nadu in his speech.  There is really no difference between these two names and traditionally  in many forums and writings by the  government and the people, the word Tamizhagam is being used for several hundreds of years.  This is because people, poets, writers and everyone feel more emotionally satisfied  using the word Thamizhaam instead of Tamil Nadu. Now , the Tamil Nadu government is demanding that  the governor should be sacked , which is condemnable.

Wasted opportunity:

All said and done, the ground reality is that the present party in power in Tamil Nadu has wasted it's  opportunity to govern the state adequately. It seems to be more focused on creating controversies and is  not focusing on reducing corruption and nepotism or  in  enhancing the reputation of Tamil Nadu in the eyes of the world  by good governance.

The widespread feelings amongst people in Tamil Nadu is that Tamil Nadu deserve better.