" I do repent. But heaven hath pleased it so,
To punish me with this and this with me,
That I must be their scourge and minister.
I will bestow him and will answer well
The death I gave him. So, again, good night.
I must be cruel only to be kind. "
----Hamlet, Act III, Scene IV
The Prime
Minister's speech was a 21st century equivalent of an often quoted
soliloquy from Hamlet(above). On the one hand he explained his cruelty (hike in
diesel prices) and on the other hand his kindness (by allowing reforms), in a
speech that must have taken even his harshest critics by surprise.
First
things first, let us give the Prime Minister some credit for taking decisions,
which may not give either him or his party any political mileage. The reforms
come on the back of a series of scams and hence lack the credibility that
generally accompanies such actions. He could have sleepwalked into the autumn
of his political career and not be any worse that he is now. And yet he took
those decisions.
He must
now walk the talk. The middle class may well be ready for paying more for fuel
and gas cylinders, but will not tolerate half baked reforms. The situation is
not as drastic as it was in 1992, but we were well on our way to achieve the economic
armageddon. The reforms must continue, the subsidies should be well directed
and governance must be made more transperant to restore a semblance of
credibility.
The PM
told the nation that money does not grow on trees. If he squanders away this
chance of improving the nation's fiscal health, the people will surely reply
in 2014. The reply may well be, money does not grow on trees, but surely it
does multiply in the dark recesses of coal mines and thin air of telecom
spectrums. The reply will not be palatable.
Mr Singh
likes doing shayari on occasion. He will perhaps know this line “Khud hi laga ke aag tamashai ban gaye”.
It is difficult to translate the nuances of Urdu into English, but let me give
it a try—We have become the spectators of the fire we ourselves lit.
