When The State Collapses

#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #morbipullcollapse #gujaratmodel #bilkisbanogangrape #cmharyana

Images of workmen hastily refurbishing the crumbling civil hospital in Gujarat’s Morbi ahead of a prime ministerial visit offer a glimpse of a dystopian reality. As a small town recovers from the unimaginable tragedy of a bridge collapse caused by criminal negligence leading to loss of scores of lives, the idea that grief can be hidden from public gaze by an extra coat of paint is just appalling. But then it is election season in Gujarat and the ‘chamak’ or glitter of a much-hyped ‘Gujarat model’ must mask the grime of a rundown government hospital and an ineffectual local administration. We are, after all, in the age of flashy optics where the perfect photo-op matters above all else.