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| My Vote --- to whom and why? | | 
By B L Saraf
Folks , state election is coming . With it comes a breeze which ,some believe in the fond hope , will overcome the stench emitted by the human bodies and animal carcasses , littered over the state due to the September floods . Will it enliven sagging spirits of the sufferers and salvage a bit of life for them is to be seen ; but certainly we do spot migratory birds and six year long hibernated animals of the political genre , flexing wings to sail through the turbulent electoral winds . Every one - adolescent, adult or aged is girding up loins to jump into the election fray , ready , once again , to take me ( the voter ) on a ride to the world of fantasy .
We have come a long way from the 2014 Lok Asbha elections . The dismal performance of the UPA -11 and the promise of Achea Din heralding in , drove us to vote in a particular direction . Political idealism may have helped us to make a choice . Now , we are in for the Assembly elections . A realistic view of the politics and the politicians operating in the state is called for . My ( Voter’s) experience ,in this regard , is not a pleasant one . There are occasions when I pretend more knowledgeable and well versed in the politics of the day than I usually am , so my failure in judging a vilely candidate / politician is inevitable . In the blizzard of poll promises I get deluged . I am at the cross -roads , once again fooled into belief that I matter and a political party can settle my myriad problems . I have gone through this false notion for long . On the altar of the political expediency , my vote – all along – has been exploited for the selfish ends . I belong to the tribe which stands highly politicised and lives in an atmosphere where politician revel in telling lies , big and small . Yet, given my predicament , I have taken this thing as inevitable . It is our great fortune that in our State we have precious things : freedom of speech and right to franchise but is has been the misfortune that we could not practice either of them , meaningfully .
At times I wonder how much is my vote worth . Nothing ! Because , voting has changed nothing for the voters ,like me , and will change nothing in future also . Had it changed anything, as someone has put it rightly , “ they would have abolished voting long before .” Voting brings , along with , misfortune that I have to contend with a politician who believes with certitude that he can fool people like me all the time . Besides , who has been a part of the systematic organisation of the hatreds , is a master in crafting delusions and building a bridge where no river exists . Moreover , the politician , generally , operates in an obstinate and opaque manner . In good times he is evasive and in bad times goes missing . Ironically , still, I go on with the exercise of voting ! It is my tragedy that what I consider a national duty to discharge becomes a curse for me .
Back home I may have been a child , politically , not to understand things in their true form : but life in the long period of exile has made me to come to the political age , enough to understand that the “ Migrant Politics “ and the “Politics “ played with the “Migrants “ , so far , has rendered us disappointed , disillusioned and cynical . Still , I am prepared to cast my lot with a politician standing in the elections ; but before that I want just two reasons why I should vote for him /her . There , though , is a “ statutory warning .” He / her should not lecture me on nationalism , secularism , Kashmiriat , and idea of India ; nor play on my fears . I have an umbilical cord with India and am inseparable part of the great Indian civilisation . I draw sustenance from my inherent heritage and composite ethos . I loath to hear a political chameleon who has no faith in the intrinsic cultural values of the country and wears nationalism on the sleeves just to suit his convenience . I have carried the pleasant palanquin of nationalism on my shoulders in the Valley and continue to do so even in the trying times of exile , without any body’s exhortations or politician’s canvassing .
I don’t need saviours nor “ Hope “ posters . I need redeemers of the promise made long before . My problems are real and immediate which need time bound solutions . They are existential and of aspirations . Some part of me stands devastated by the recent floods and the other part cut off the roots two decades before ; danger of my withering away looms large . I need moorings and a climate to stand tall and rooted to my land . Can anyone in the fray ensure it for me (not promise ) ? More than that , can he show some sensitivity to my being a human and spare me the agony of getting diminished and cheated, every time he does a dishonourable act after he is elected. My vote is for him.
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
(Opinions expressed in write-ups/articles/Letters are the sole responsibility of the authors and they may not represent the scoopnews.in)
Editor, Scoop News
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