Charity begins at home

Charity begins at home

It is a question the people of Orissa will debate for a very long time to come. What ultimately cost them more, a natural calamity or the manmade disaster effected by the state leadership thereafter? As the still shell-shocked victims of the supercyclone attempt to come to terms with the devastation and try to somehow muster dollops of strength to reconstruct their lives, the disgusting spectacle of their elected representatives squabbling over the spoils of office can hardly be termed inspiring. These are men and women who will no doubt be polishing up campaign speeches to be delivered a few months hence, as they seek re-election from the people for service rendered -- for cynically ignoring their and for utilising the fury of nature for personal gain.

And if the state leadership has failed in its duty to give priority to the people's hardship, the Congress's national leadership too has some very tricky charges to counter. Whether Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang finally hangs on to his chair in theend or whether he is replaced by a political rival gleefully seizing any opportunity, the party high command's credibility stands sorely compromised. At a time when Congress stalwarts are crying themselves hoarse that the Centre declare the cyclone a national calamity, the spectacle offered by some of its leaders has been pathetic:

central observers rushing to Orissa and then zooming back as the chief minister airdashes, to use some Doordarshanese, to New Delhi for an audience with the party president. Other MLAs gunning for Gamang's head too haven't distinguished themselves while sprinting from one subversive conclave to another, hectically negotiating with various factions. The choice before the Congress leadership has been clear for a few weeks now: stick with Gamang or give him the pink slip. But it was a choice the party needed to make fast, and decisively. It certainly could have done without a council of ministers lulled into inertia after the hurricane yet bestirred into action at the whiff ofpersonal gain. If the standoff between the Centre and the Orissa administration has unnecessarily politicised matters and diverted attention from the emergency at hand, the fratricidal battle within the Congress has compounded matters.

The result is evident. Photographs of tonnes of relief material lying unattended and undistributed are splashed in newspapers almost daily. A month after the disaster, there is no balancesheet in sight of the damage wrought, the rehabilitation delivered, no tentative blueprint for reconstruction. For the victims in Orissa, the fallout of this squabbling at various levels is obvious a long and lonely obstacle race ahead. But such deeply political responses also foster widespread cynicism. Denial of compassion is already a growing concern at a time when the contours of two Indias are already being etched, when the privileged tend to so effortlessly block out the travails of the oppressed. Such attempts to score or settle a few political points only accords a dangerousrationality to this denial of compassion.