Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the "frenzy" to bring to India's helm the reign of an "ethnic majority, sectarian bigotry and denominational autocracy" in the name of "strength".
He also criticised sections of media who have become "trumpeters" of what they see as the coming change, in remarks seen as a veiled attack on BJP and Narendra Modi.
"Let us realise that the doldrums feeling is true but is true only as a feeling. In actual fact, beneath the surface stillness, there is a great frenzy astir, a frenzy to bring to India's helm, the reign of an ethnic majority, of a sectarian bigotry, of a denominational autocracy. And all in the name, the very specious name, of 'strength'," Gandhi said delivering the 15th D P Kohli Memorial lecture organised to mark the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the CBI.
"The ship of our nationhood, during these election days, is meant to be moving. But is it moving at all? No one quite knows, no one wants to speculate on where, towards what port, we are headed if we are headed anywhere at all," he said He said "dictators have been wafted up by people voting democratically" and the painted ship will bestir itself into what "I would call Port au Pain".
"And here I must say that sections of the media have become trumpeters of what they see as the coming change. We had heard of paid news. But this is free advertising. The high noon of the free press in India makes its own eclipse-by-ink and through the small screen," Gandhi said, while delivering his speech on the topic 'Eclipse at Noon: Shadows over India's Conscience".
Gandhi, who is grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, warned that "this best of times for democracy can become the worst of times for democracy as well." He said that money can buy anything and currency notes had found their way into the elections as well.
The money originates either legally, through licit company donations or come from a myriad sources which, necessarily and unavoidably, go back to our natural resources such as mines, forests and land.
Gandhi said this black money finds way in slum clusters with politicians descending at election time laden with cash and hooch to buy votes.
"Dr Ambedkar had spoken of how this India may well explode and blow up our Constitutional edifice. Why and how that has not happened yet defies my understanding," he said, Quoting Mark Hanna that "there are two things that are important in politics. The first is money, and I can't remember what the second one is", Gandhi said the second thing was "bullying".
"It is an open secret that certain kinds of services are co-opted near election time by candidates. These have to be called, for want of a better phrase, goonda services. Goondas are part of society....Their skill is intimidation. Their wherewithal, via money, of course, and often via narcotics as well, is the illegal firearm," he said.
Gandhi, who retired from the IAS in 1992, said while there was a dearth of leaders in the country, there was an increase of claimants of being leaders. He said superstition was increasing exponentially in the country and the rings and strings on the fingers and wrists of politicians "are signs of their fear psychoses, insecurities and desperate placatings of benign stars or for the averting of evil eyes.
"If our political class look to big money for elections and to big planets for their safety and security, who do we look to?" he asked. He also took a dig on increasing number of godmen and godwoman and said they even compete with each other, through giant hoardings, advertisement blitzes, carefully-orchestrated interventions in natural calamities and political crises.
"Some decades ago, there was Dhirendra Brahmachari and Chandraswami. Now you find them behind every tree. Some of them, going by their elaborate attires, look like trees. There is an apt phrase for them: Dharma-vanijyakas -- merchants of religion." he said.
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