An Unsolved Question: Who Shall Answer First, the PM or the CM?

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh and Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik belong to two categories.

The former carries instructions, the later issues instructions.

In the Congress party, Singh acts according to wishes of the boss Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, whom puppet media has nicknamed ‘Prince’ and in the Loksabha, not he, but Pranab Mukherjee is the leader whereas Navin himself is the Supremo of BJD, both in organization and in the legislative wings.

But despite this striking difference, they are of one type.

They are politicians in power to whom foreigners’ interest is more important than that of the natives and they are one against the aggressive voice of the aggrieved countrymen.

To both of them Naxals are the main obstacles to development of their design. We have earlier discussed how both of them stress upon Naxal elimination. But where to their brand of development has taken Mother India?

This is the picture of Shantilata Munda, wife of Giridhari Munda with the girl child Parbati in her lap whom she had given birth to two months ago. She belongs to Karanjia in the District of Mayurbhanj. Perishing under unemployment as his native place has been reduced to a patch of poverty during the last decade, poor Giridhari went to Bhadrak a year ago with his wife and six children in search of livelihood as a domestic help and as the new place could not provide him daily wages, he shifted a few days ago to Vyasanagar in a hope against hope that the busy place may have any job for him. But no job was readily available.

Inability to feed the children was having its worst effect on the youngest Parbati, aged only two months. To save her from starvation death and to have a little money to save her other children for a few more days till at least any avenues were available for daily wages, she decided to sell her away.

Even as retreat had not taken place after the flag hoisting on Independence Day, 2010, Shantilata sold her baby to a rickshaw puller at Rs.150/- suppressing sobs of a helpless mother.

The news spread and the local Police rescued (that is what they say) the baby from the purchaser and the Tahsildar of Dangadi brought the baby to her mother on August 17.

Her suppressed sobs gushed out to tears dropping down from every witnessing eye; but Shantilata asked, “Why have you brought her to me? How can I save her life?” The Tahsildar could not find any words to answer her crying question.

Now who shall answer this unsolved question first: Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh or Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik who could use the Freedom Day podiums so shamelessly to brag about their brand of development oblivious of how Mother India was crying when Shantilata was suppressing her sobs while selling away her baby of only two months for only one hundred and fifty rupees?

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