The creeping menace versus talkative generals

Ref article by Maj Gen Rajendra Prakash, VSM, dated 13 Sep 10 click here. The concluding sentence of AG Noorani’s article, ‘Only the moral and intellectual authority of the political leadership can nip the creeping menace in the bud’ is indeed a profound statement and deserves serious consideration, both in letter and spirit. He must have implicitly meant it and has offered this as solution/conclusion/recommendation- any or all of these. This last sentence, however, has rubbished his entire article completely. Let me explain how. The ‘menace’ is creeping, as per him, for the last several decades. Thus, by now this poisonous creeper should have entangled and immobilized anything and everything including Noorani. That has not happened. So it is not a menace at all. And where is the bud (to nip) if the off shoot is creeping for tens of years. So much for the snide remark about ‘pious’ and ‘holy’. Next, let us examine the ‘moral’ and ‘intellectual’ ‘authority’ of the ‘political leadership’. Authority is there and is being used with impunity and gay abandon. As for the qualifying attributes of authority, those are conspicuous by their absence as portrayed in TV and newspapers daily. Their ‘intellect’ is confined to the first letter of the word and does not go further, though, mind you, many of them are very well qualified educationally, but ‘morally’? No, sir. For proof refer to TV and newspapers. So, Nooraniji may like to withdraw the last sentence, or better still, the whole article. Therefore, ‘the creeping menace’ is neither creeping nor is a menace. There is no bud to nip. And, of course, there is no political authority with ‘moral’ and (even or) ‘intellectual’ attributes. ‘Mera Bharat’ is really ‘Mahan’.
Veteran Col BN Ratha
14 Sep 10