Time to chip in

New Delhi8217;s indifference to the biggest natural calamity of the century is to be marvelled at. The earthquake in Turkey has taken 12,000 lives and affected about a quarter of the people living in the North Anatolian Fault region. Yet the government has shown no inclination to even commiserate with a nation that has been utterly devastated and is on the brink of chaos. Even the opposition parties do not seem to be inclined to take up the issue. There is a bit of an election on, haven8217;t you noticed? It has become expedient to think local and act local. But the fact remains that this nation frequently claims to be one of the foremost in the world, and putting beyond the pale all that is beyond its bailiwick is nothing short of an obscenity. If we are so out of sync with the times, we shall end up playing the tin triangle in the concert of democracies.

All disasters in India have attracted significant aid, medication and expertise from all over the world. The Latur earthquake, for instance, would have beendifficult to deal with without the help of the international community. Throughout India8217;s independent history, various governments have tried to pay back the debt the nation owes to benefactors around the world. If nothing more significant, they have at least shared the sorrow of people struck by disaster. Humanitarian aid is a fundamental given of civilised society. From each according to ability, to each according to need, help flows automatically, driven only by the goodwill and basic humanity of nations. The government takes some pride in the health of India8217;s foreign exchange reserves. Surely a small fraction of it could have been spared for the people of Turkey, or would it have put too deep a crimp on the budget for nuclearisation? If we are reluctant to part with funds, we could have sent our medical manpower, cranes, earth-movers, gensets, shots, vaccines, saline drips, medical equipment. The technical personnel sent by the UK are now working against time to save victims trapped in the debris of thequake. Surely we could have served at least an ancillary role in that operation.

A government and a nation that do not pay heed to the most fundamental and least political humanitarian situations proves itself to be inhuman. It reveals its lack of culture, its unpreparedness for participation in the world order. The latter must suffer indictment along with the former, for this is not the France of Louis XIV. The state is the people, and not merely their rulers. In a democracy, they are the conscience-keepers to the government. We have proven to be as apathetic as our representatives in government. The universe is too large a place for Bellary, the town we have been contemplating with such absorption, to be its navel. It is not too late to extend a gesture to the people of Turkey. As a civilised nation, India will be failing in its duty if it does not contribute its mite to help rehabilitate the victims of the earthquake. It is not the quantum of India8217;s aid that matters but the concern that it expresses inthis manner.