Today morning when I tuned in my television set for morning news, I got shocked. Well this was a new low in the so called VIP culture which has been flourishing in this supposed to be a people's ‘Democracy’.
A kidney patient died outside the PGI Chandigarh because, security personnel did not allow him to move in hospital. And the reason behind this denial for entry is that security was tightened and common citizens were not allowed to enter in hospital because of the Mr. Prime Minister’s visit to the Panjab University.
I know Mr. Prime Minister is such a great and simple person that, if he had got any whisper about these restrictions of common people entry in hospital, he would have intervened. But most of bureaucrats and legislature have forgotten the constitutional privilege given to ordinary citizen. These government officials follow red-tapism at its extreme and today it took a life. Shouldn’t all these guilty officials should be booked for culpable homicide.
Although constitution provides equal rights to each one of us but we have been treated differently depending upon our access to money or power. We can justify some sort of security reason for some of our higher dignitaries and special attention given to them. But nothing can be justifiable be it security reason or something else at the cost of a human life.
Not only this, in our society we create our own VIPs depending on the occasion and capacity of organizer and VIP. Be it a religious place or any other small gathering we create our own VIPs and treat them differently at the cost of inconvenience to common man. It is a matter of great surprise that some VIPs who are treated differently at a small function may not be a VIP at all in any other function. I think it is high time that we abandon this culture totally, remove VIP chairs, VIP gallery, VIP pass, VIP roads (marg)! And start treating every one as same citizen under the law of constitution. Only those having security threats should be allowed to take the privilege of these VIP benefits rest all of us are same and ought to be treated as same.
