Indian Leaders! Where are you?

As the nation moves to a new year, the lack of leadership especially political leadership is the biggest national problem. As I am back in Tamilnadu, I am able to experience it - better than ever  The state today is grappling with multiple political issues

1. Fight with Kerala regarding Mullai-Periyar Dam
2. Fight with Central Government regarding KoodanKualam - (while the entire state is grappling with daily 4-hour electric power cuts. )
3. Srilankan Tamil Issue - Mostly on the Fringes

Thankfully, the rains are good this year. Otherwise, the age-old struggle with Karnataka for Cauvery waters would have started again.  None of these issues have easy answers or solutions. 

Successful 'Past' Protests:

Protests like Siliguri & Lokpal has given enormous confidence to other protesters that continuous & sustained protests by a minority will bring desired results in today's media covered India. So expecting the protests to die away (like yester-years) is not going to happen. 

Compromises & Quick Decisions:

So the government requires to be quick on feet. Need to be quick to 

1. Kill Protests - right at the budding stage. Like how Karunanidhi shut off colleges to prevent any pro-Srilankan Tamil protests during the final stages of Srilankan Army - LTTE war. And it involves compromises & quick decisions. And the nation requires have a leader who is trusted by the nation and who brings states/groups to accept compromises. 

2. Make Decisions - Prolonging decisions like Telengana State Formation is not going to help both the parties. 

3. Create Process to handle fasts & protests: As creating a policy of not negotiating with plane hijackers, the government needs to create a policy of not negotiating with people who pressure by fasting or protesting. 

Require 'Connected' Leaders:

And government & political parties can be quick only when they have leaders and not managers on the top. And the recent advances in communications and technology means these leaders can afford to be connected 24*7 with the people. 

Why I love this nation?

While Leninist China can bull-doze over people's wishes, India's democracy needs it to take care of the wishes of a small group. But that is exactly the reason i love this nation - even though it is painful.