Dear Editor,
This refers to your editorial, AAP’s victory is a lesson for other parties’ (14 Feb, 2020). There is a popular saying in Bengali, ‘Pagoleo nijer bhalo bojhe’. It means that even a mad man knows what is good for him. But if this saying really holds water, then Hitler could never have got popular mandate. One dictator rightly said about the people: “Give them glory; they want nothing else.”
History shows that rulers were indeed able to get support from the people by providing them with “glory” of demeaning minorities and other countries while depriving the people of their basic rights. Now the people of European countries have learnt from their bitter experience of militant nationalism that they should demand from the government only what is needed for them to improve their standard of living. They have learnt that it is foolish to engage in abusing minorities belonging to their own class while letting the government concentrate the wealth in the hands of a few people.
This change of mindset is the reason why Nordic and other European countries rank high in the Human Development Index. They make their government provide the citizens with quality education, health and social securities. Now it seems that Indian people are slowly learning what should be the role of the government and what they should demand from the government. The Delhi assembly election result is a testimony to it.
The AAP has got success in Delhi by following a welfare model of government by giving top priority to health and education, instead of engaging in diversionary tactics or wasting precious money on costly statues and monuments. The people of Delhi have given a mandate in favour of the AAP for their taking a step towards the path of the government of welfare countries.
Moreover, it appears that Delhiites pressed the button of the EVMs hard enough to give electric shock to hate politics.
Sincerely,
Sujit De, Kolkata