BANGALORE: Disappointed with the existing situation in the country, veteran journalist and writer Kuldip Nayar said that there is a ‘crisis of cleanliness in public life and politics’. Delivering the seventh special lecture on ‘Current situation in India’ on the occasion of the 84th birthday of former Union minister and MLC M V Rajashekharan, he said that the foundations of India’s democracy are crumbling.“The problem today is that we have driven away morality and values from politics,” he observed. “There was some hope with movements like the one led by Anna Hazare with the middle class participating wholeheartedly. But there is a larger crisis of confidence and leadership,” he noted.He quoted episodes from the past to point out the qualitative difference in the values then and now.Saying that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted the press to play the role of Opposition, he said that the media as the fourth pillar of India’s democracy has also not played its role. He was also disappointed with widespread corruption and the sheer lack of any ‘consensus in the Parliament’. “It is time Parliamentarians realize the expectations of the people,” he felt.He observed that the Right to Reject must be encouraged and the change that needs to be brought about is moral, rather than legal.Echoing Nayar’s views, Rajashekharan said, “Political parties are undergoing a crisis in the country.” Lexicographer ProfG Venkatasubbaiah was present on the occasion.
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