As the economic
system becomes more and more sick, the social and political system is also
becoming more and more degenerate. All-pervasive corruption, an educational
system that makes us think that we are incompetent fools, a caste-based social
system which is exploited by politicians to make the upper caste youth believe
that the reservation system is responsible for lack of jobs, a communal
political system that divides people in the name of religion and fills them
with hatred against each other, a value system that promotes crass selfishness
and unconcern and apathy for others, a society where cynicism and moral
bankruptcy permeate every nook and cranny --- this is the reality of today.
The common
people have not been silent spectators to this sordid drama being enacted by
the MNCs and their Indian collaborators. All over the country, people are
coming together, getting organized, forming small-small groups, and raising
their voices in protest. Many different struggles are being fought. But there
is a need to involve more and more people in these struggles, and widen their
scope. There are a very large number of people who have given up hope of change
and are passively accepting this assault on their lives. There are also not a
few people who, instead of fighting the real enemy, are fighting amongst
themselves. Then, there are many who, accepting the propaganda of the rich,
blame their own incapability for their poverty. And so, in order to unite and
mobilise the people against the real enemy, this forum, ‘Lokayat’.
Lokayat is
actually a thought process that has existed in