And the gloom continues

An accurate indication of how bored we are with our politics and politicians, and more so with the unchanging lexicon and outcomes of long and weary Indo-Pak dialogues, was the time and attention Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Ms Hina Rabbani Khar, got in India last week. Neither for the hawkishness of her stance, or her understanding of the Indo-Pak imbroglio, but, rather, how she looked and what she wore.

Our TV channels and the print media went gaga over the “young and beautiful” Pakistani politician and her “great fashion statement”. More than her meeting with External Affairs Minister, Mr S. M. Krishna, her attire and looks were dissected threadbare.

Her “simple yet stylish and elegant” salwar suits, the horrendously expensive Hermes Birkin handbag, her Roberto Cavalli sun-shades and fancy footwear were all put through the scanner. We had eminent fashion designers “analysing” for us Ms Khar's fashion statement.

Youth and appearance matter

That she is only 34 and extremely good-looking added to the interest. In her interviews to TV channels she came through as smart, articulate and intelligent.

There wasn't much evidence of her being a greenhorn, though it was just a few days earlier that she was appointed to the exalted post, as Pakistan's youngest and first-ever woman Foreign Minister. In the social media, prominent people such as Omar Abdullah, the Jammu and Kashmir CM, a dapper young man himself, tweeted: “If the Pakistan FM had been a 34-year-old good-looking guy the twitterati wouldn't have wasted a second discussing his suit or his glasses.”

Well, women politicians — especially the young, attractive, articulate and fashionably attired ones — continue to be in the minority and have often to suffer the discomfort of being treated like museum pieces.

But what I liked best about Ms Khar was her snubbing a cocky and condescending anchor who sought her comment on the “waves” she was making through her “fashion statement”. She wasn't going to answer such questions, she said.

Ms Khar might have wowed the Indian media, but the fact is that Pakistan always fields its very best… well-educated, well-groomed and extremely articulate personnel in its Foreign Office.

This young woman, the scion of an extremely wealth Pakistani family, however, has an uphill task before her. The Indian state and its people have had more than enough of Pakistan's shenanigans over terrorism and its very visible footprints in the terror attacks on/in India.

Finally tired of Pakistan's double games on terrorism, the Obama administration has already suspended $800 million of its $2 billion annual aid to Pakistan. Other problematic areas for Ms Khar's Ministry are always keeping in mind Pakistan military interests, its troubled relationship with Afghanistan, and the gigantic monster of internal strife and terror attacks tearing the country apart.

Yeddyurappa's antics

More than Ms Khar and her accessories, the biggest political story of last week was that of the discredited Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr Y.S. Yeddyurappa, who was indicted by the Karnataka Lokayukta for his criminal involvement in the multi-crore mining scam in the State.

Even though he finally resigned on Sunday, the manner in which he defied, for days, the BJP high command, which should have taken action against him long ago, left the reputation of an already listless and lacklustre party leadership in tatters.

An even bigger political story of this season is not Mr Yeddyurappa's corruption or defiance, nor Mr A. Raja's corrupt antics in the Telecom Ministry. It is the complete failure of the BJP to catch the public imagination and grab the sanctum sanctorum of the political space that the Congress-led UPA seems to be handing on a platter to any political party/alliance that will take it.

A comatose BJP

Not a week goes by without the UPA and the Congress — where such worthies as Mr Digvijay Singh and Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar are spouting startling statements at an alarming rate — showing the nation that it has truly lost the plot. To borrow a phrase from a UPA diplomat, this government's various functionaries are, indeed, running around helter-skelter, ‘like headless chickens'… sans direction, sans focus, sans any bright idea, plan or project worth talking about.

The ruling dispensation seems to be begging anybody who will listen, and act: “Please take over the mantle of governance from us… we are not equal to the task.” But the principal opposition party, the BJP, instead of grabbing this opportunity with both arms, seems to be watching the entire drama like a helpless bystander.

If the people of this country expect the BJP to pick up the baton and run the race to the finishing line, the party has only a comatose response to offer. And this is because, against the indisputable central leadership of the Congress that rests firmly in the grasp of the Gandhi family, the BJP is a house divided. It has too many factions… led by Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari and, of course, the grand old man L. K. Advani, whose aspiration to become India's Prime Minister still lurks somewhere in his consciousness.

Small wonder, then, that a regional satrap like Mr Yeddyurappa was able to defy the BJP's central leadership and hang on to his chair till his actions had completely sullied the BJP's image, disgusted the people, and sent a clear message.

If Indians are expecting the BJP to wrest power from the UPA in the 2014 polls and lead the crusade against mega corruption in the run-up to it, they may be indulging in mere wishful thinking. The BJP is in no mood to oblige.

An even gloomier thought is that of a rag-tag Third Front stepping in to fill the political space the UPA seems bent on vacating.

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in )

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