OF LEADERS AND DOGS

In an uncouth, callous and insensitive statement the Kerala (a state that boasts 100 per cent literacy) chief minister has bared his fangs at the family of slain officer Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan for snubbing him at Bengaluru. His statement to a news channel that “If Sandeep had not been a Major, not even a dog would have gone to his house”, has come for much criticism from the media, political circles and public. What is more alarming is that the 85-year-old leader refused to apologise and it took him three days and arm-twisting by the Polit Bureau to ‘regret’ his remarks.
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan and the state home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan called on the Unnikrishnans’ late on Monday only after political and media pressure mounted on the state government for not attending Sandeep’s funeral. The vernacular media in Kerala has been projecting the Major as a son-of-the-soil and to make things worse for the grumpy old man, the Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was seen by Unnikrishnan’s side during the funeral.
What irked the Unnikrishnans’ was the political mileage that the Left government in Kerala was trying to gain by the visit. Not heeding the family’s request for privacy, sniffer dogs were sent to sanitise the house before the leaders could call on.
In our country where the death of a soldier is seen as a part of his ‘duty’, it is not of surprise that a leader would politicise the issue, especially when the party is preparing for an election.
The triviality of the sacrifices for the country and the outbursts over inaction can been gauged by the reactions from our leaders --- a minister brushes aside the Mumbai attacks as a choti choti baath, a BJP leader cannot stomach the protest march taken out by Mumbaikers and says that people in suits and lipsticks do not represent the voice of the nation.
At a time when the country should show a semblance of unity and purpose, politics has taken the attack and its aftermath to a low --- the gutters of vote-banks politics. The principal Opposition party is busy campaigning, the Gujarat chief minister has offered Rs one crore to the family of slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare (the family declined the solatium).
Mumbai will show its resilience and get back to normalcy, India will shoot blanks at Pakistan --- this time overseen by the US, heads will roll – governments will continue, alerts will be sounded -- life will continue. After all, public memory is short.