No revival of that old order: The idea of India in which there are privileges and not rights is dead | The Indian Express

No revival of that old order: The idea of India in which there are privileges and not rights is dead | The Indian Express

Written by Tavleen Singh |Updated: May 26, 2019 8:07:29 am

Tavleen Singh, a leading Columnist associated with The Indian Express. Find all Columns from Tavleen Singh here.

No revival of that old order: The idea of India in which there are privileges and not rights is dead

The past five years have been difficult for India’s ruling elite. High officials, famous writers, editors of English newspapers, celebrated TV anchors, heirs of political dynasties, leftists and liberals have found their importance diminish by the day.

It might seem to you a small change. It is not. It is a sign that India’s traditional ruling elite is being swept slowly but surely into the dustbin of history along with the Dynasty they have supported through bad times and good.

The 2014 general election marked the beginning of the end of India’s ruling elite. The election whose results came last week marked the end. As someone born and bred in this group of privileged Indians, I speak as an insider. So believe me when I tell you that we controlled everything. Politics, government, business, foreign policy, the police, the military and the media. All this was possible because we were to some degree all courtiers in the court of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty since the British left. We knew that their ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ were as fake as their ‘idea of India’.