In Uttar Pradesh, whether it's soaps for Dalits or temporary ACs in slain jawan's home, the buck must stop with Yogi Adityanath

When Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath called on slain BSF head constable Prem Sagar’s family to condole his death, their home was temporarily – and with cruel hilarity – gingered up with an air conditioner, a carpet and fluffy towels dispatched by the local authorities.

And the moment the chief minister was done with his little ‘hoo-ha’ of grief, the stuff was removed.

Now, we cannot blame Yogi for that. He probably would not have known about the level of sucking up being conducted behind his back.

Though one would imagine that no one is so naive as to not notice the artificial splendour of one room in a simple village home. Still, let us give him the benefit of the doubt.

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But what about after, when he did learn of the stage-managed exercise? Was he embarrassed and ashamed enough to order the stuff to be returned? Was any action taken against the bureaucratic clowns who thought this was a good idea?

Here is an austere monk who projects the Spartan life and yet he could not go into a humble home and dry a tear without fluffy towels.

But it did it not matter… agenda over, one dead mutilated solder’s kin consoled, onward and forward to the next item.

On Saturday, the SN Medical College in Agra reportedly began shifting around patients from the wards because Uttar Pradesh minister for technical and medical education, Ashutosh Tandon, was visiting the premises and the administration wanted to give a ‘good impression’ of orderliness, and not  cluttered OPD and wards, spilling over with patients in various stages of distress.

Some of these patients, with IVs sticking in their veins, were shunted off out of sight. Ashutosh came, he left and then life was good. But surely, he must have heard about the nonsense that was perpetuated in his name. Why did he not say, ‘wait a minute, that’s not nice, that’s not done… makes me look uncaring, I should take action’.

But deed done, doesn’t matter… does it?

This is exactly the sort of unthinking governmental attitude which makes one wonder who actually is taking us towards the new frontier.

Now consider another absurd issue; of doling out soaps to Dalits in Uttar Pradesh to clean up before Yogi visited them in Kushinagar. The members of the Mushahar community were asked to bathe before fetching up to hear from the chief minister.

Which red tape choked minion thought that this act would please Yogi or that it was not loaded with offence? But yet again, the same unfolding of the narrative. There has been a dire insult in your name, its stinging nettle left behind in your wake and yet, you do nothing about it.

Did it not strike Yogi that this was an act of unprecedented thoughtlessness; so outlandish in its implications that he should have apologised on behalf of his team. He should’ve either taken off his saffron robe and joined the community in a bath or flayed the administration that came up with this detergent of an idea.

But again, no comeback. No one is held culpable and one is compelled to submit that if you know it is done in your name and you do not correct the wrong, then the buck stops with you.