When the agitation against the K-Rail is intensifying across the State, the ruling party may be feeling the pinch of it, as it may be sensing under it feet, the erosion of its solid vote bank. Government owes the duty to explain to its people, about the requirement of having a ‘K’ Rail, when there are many other pressing issues in the State to address on priority and have the responsibility to alleviate their concerns and fear. Of Course, the bottle necked and congested road ways of Kerala is one of the major concerns of the State, but, whether the K Rail is the only solution to put on the table to solve those travel blues is a golden question, which requires a definite answer. The idea of K Rail has lost its relevance when the Union Budget had mooted a solid scheme on Vande Bharath Express, which shall soon start plying across the veins of India in much higher speed that the proposed K Rail. K-Rail is going to be a biggest scandal in the economic history of the State of Kerala, due to improper planning, inefficient handling, incompetent conduct, wasteful resources, hateful dealings, inept management, lack of transparency, inflexible attitude and , the same is for sure, to create a huge financial burden on the People of Kerala and their future generations.
The ‘Idea of India’ is built on the strong foundation of our Constitution which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, right to equality which coined with freedom to speak and express. These fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution collectively gives a Citizen of India the ‘Right to Know’, ‘Right to Defend’ and ‘Right to Protest’ against tyranny of a government, when it starts showing the true colors of authoritarianism. Dragging the protestors, who are questioning the laying of survey stones on their properties, and beating them like criminals and culprits, is not suitable for a transparent and democratic government. To put it simply, is more demonic than democratic!
If, a person with a logical mind apprehends about the ‘potential development’ that the K-Rail can bring to the ‘interested parties and real estate dealers’ rather than the development of the State as a whole, it is the responsibility of the Government to demonstrate to the general public and it has liability prove that the said apprehensions as wrong. From a commonsensical point of view, what kind of development a railway line will bring to the areas through which it passes, that too even without a stopover in those places?
If a critic views these utopian ideas of the Government such as K-Fone, K-Rail, K-Airports and many other K’s in the kitty of the Government, as something which is coming out of a larger agenda of making the State of Kerala an ‘independent and self-reliant state’ which is independent of India and suspiciously making it more closer to China, he cannot be blamed for making such a wild guess.
No development will sustain unless it has the stamp of trust in it, no propaganda will survive the test of time unless it has the seal of faith in it, no ideologies will sustain the test of time unless it has the confidence of people in it and no leader will prove to be independent unless he has the courage to rule under the sword, like Damocles . Let the time to prove that the K-Rail was the scandal of this century and the ruler of those time was absolutely wrong, in his words, deeds and actions!
Bijoy P Pulipra