INCREDIBL(y) hungry INDIA ?

(This piece was emailed by me earlier to The Editor - The Times of India. Looks like his paper doesn't have space left over, after printing about the iconic stature of Shahrukh Khan. The Ed didn't even reply. Looks like he too, like everyone else, is too busy) 

Having read the article, Hunger March-by Jug Suraiya (which can be read at http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/hunger-march); I wanted to express in words, the deluge of thoughts which came rushing into my mind and prodded me to get up and make a sincere attempt to share my feelings with as many people as I could, of this criminal waste of food, food which could have and still can feed millions of hungry mouths.

If Mr. Manmohan Singh, our beloved PM, has said that ‘giving away foodgrains for free would disincentivise farmers’, or if he has any sad excuse which he poses as a justifiable reason for robbing the hungry, of a morsel of food, he is most positively and completely out of his frickin’ mind !! (pardon the language, the blood boils, you see. Can't be blamed for it)

I ask you, when it comes to the oh-so-important poverty line, do hunger pangs lessen in degree if one happens to be slightly above it? For heaven’s sake, these are citizens of a free and democratic republic. Let them feel that they are. Fundamental Rights, Human Rights or whatever name fancies you, apply to them as well. They are as Indian as you and I. And if the PM has happened to miss one minor insignificant detail, let him not forget, they are human too. 

Can anyone tell me, of what use are in-your-face GDP figures, defense expenditure in crores, healthcare reforms and what-not if half of the country’s children are running on empty (stomachs)? How come the powers-that-be are turning a blind eye to the gross negligence of the government and the Food Control Authorities (FCI) ? What pressing matters were they attending to while precious food was rotting away to kingdom come?

For crying out loud, the people responsible are criminals, as what is happening is evidently a crime against Humanity. A heinous crime, and nothing less.

I may not have precise data, statistics, facts and figures with me (even if I did, it wouldn't matter). But what I do have is a conscience. Which the authorities apparently don't seem to have. And this throbbing conscience is what drove me to pen the words above. I request your good self to print the thoughts above, in whole or in part, so that a larger number of Indians can read the same, which would probably fuel their thoughts on this issue-at-large. And there is always the minute possibility that one of the mightier-than-thou authorities may, perchance, read it and get the food distribution ball rolling, right out onto the streets where poor, hungry Indians are waiting .. standing by..with a diminishing hope that someone would reach out .. and help. 

Remember .. hunger hurts ..like nothing else.