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Op-Ed JUNE 11, 2021 | The Indian Eye 20

inDia’s cOViD-19 crisis

is Our faulT, TOO

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

his may seem like a pain- Peace with Pak
fully obvious point, but the
Tfact is that the government en. Bajwa appears to
which has failed us so spectac- have won US trust by
ularly during the biggest crisis Gprofessing a complete
of our collective existence is the U-turn and publicly pressuring
government which was elected the Taliban’s top leadership to
by the people of India (though, participate in talks with Kabul’s
thankfully, not all the people Ashraf Ghani government. But
of India). The Indian elector- the huge spike in violence in Af-
ate gave Modi and the Bhara- ghanistan in recent weeks must
tiya Janata Party (BJP) a brute raise questions over Pakistan’s
majority in the Lok Sabha not apparent loosening hold on the
once, but twice. It is a decision Haqqani Network and the Tal-
many are now deeply regretting, iban, once run by the Pakistan
because the same Modi that army, through the Quetta, Mi-
so many had placed such great ramshah and Peshawar Shura.
faith in, has now told the people To add to Bajwa’s worries
of India to be atmanirbhar, that is the destabilizing impact that
they are, for all practical pur- the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
poses, now on their own. with anti-corruption crusader civil servant has diminished un- and other Taliban affiliates are
This Great Abandonment Anna Hazare, Hazare skipped der the Modi government. increasingly having within Paki-
(tears on television notwith- the joint rally and the unity ef- The role of the civil services stan’s own borders.
standing) has been amply borne This was driven home by the
out by the fact that, at the time fort did not work. In 2019, she has been a controversial issue car bomb that the TTP exploded
of this writing, only a shocking organized a joint rally of the anti from the early years of our re- outside a hotel in Quetta, when
1.6% of India’s 140 crore people BJP “Federal Front” or chief public. In 1969, Indira Gandhi the Chinese top envoy was vis-
minister’s front in Kolkata with had called for a “committed”
have been fully vaccinated. The a galaxy of opposition leaders civil service. iting the Baloch capital in late
question, “If not Modi, who?” sharing the stage, but these uni- But the Indian Constitution April. It was, of course, all too
is now being rapidly replaced ty efforts came to naught, blown and service rules conceived a conveniently blamed on India.
with an angry “Because of Modi, The need to show that Pa-
this!” asunder by the BJP’s thunder- merit-based civil service, re- kistan was changing and would
rohit Kumar, ing 300 seat win.” cruited through national com- return to its old role as Wash-
sagarika Ghose,
The Wire The Times of India petitive examinations and re- ington’s trusted partner in the
quired to undergo professional
Mamata’s ‘sholay’ training and advance through region, may have prompted Ba-
jwa to ask his dinner guests to
moment Politics and an evaluation process conduct- amplify his message that his first
ed within the respective service,
step will be to ‘reset’ Pakistan
oes this mean that in a bureaucracy that is, through the judgement and “divest the country of the
Modi versus Mamata ver the past several of the senior echelons, as re-
Dcontest, she can defeat years, a sizeable num- flected in the Annual Confiden- terror tag,” of being the nursery
the Modi-led BJP at the nation- Ober of civil servants tial Reports (ACR). of jihad that has preyed on its
al level? Not quite. Remember in state cadres have refrained The political masters play no neighbors, and reinvent itself as
even in 2016 she won a big 200 from seeking appointments in role in this evaluation process. a “normal” state.”
plus victory in the assembly the central government, pre- Even the 360-degree appraisal neena Gopal,
polls but in the general elections ferring to stay in service at the system adopted for the All-In- The Telegraph
just three years later, the BJP state level. This is in sharp con- dia Services in 2015, does not
streaked to a stunning 18 seats trast to earlier years when post- provide for a politician’s role, Every week, we look at what
in Bengal riding on the “Modi ings at the Centre were much say, as minister, in assessing the the top commentators in the
wave.” In 2014, after her tsu- sought after. This may be due quality of an officer.” Indian media are talking about
nami Bengal win in 2011, when to a growing perception that the shyam saran, and bring to you a slice of their
she came to Delhi to join forces role and status of a professional The Print opinions and comments.

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