Democracy for Sale:Failed Polity, impotent laws & corrupt Citizenry
India in 2022 will complete 75 years of its independence from British colonial rule.
Surely not the oldest(not considering older instances, Vaishali Ganrajaya, and thus only in the context of India as a modern nation state) but India is now the largest democracy on this planet.
Let's see, how democracy in India is at work? And to do so, we try and read it under three significant heads, state of the polity at present, relevance of the laws recently created by the Indian parliament and thirdly what kind of citizens are we? i.e. Shaping up of our citizenship. How it has happened over the years? To begin with, let's look at some primary figures and its analysis in a specific way.
900 million voters were listed with Election Commission of India by the time 2019 general election actually took-off in the month of April this year. Out of this 900million , 600 million finally turned out to polling booths, for electing 545 members of the lower house of the Indian parliament, the 'Lok sabha', also believed to be the 'people's house', since the members are voted directly by the citizens. This participation of people is humongous in terms of number and indicates success story of ECI and discharge of its duties, over the years, at least as far 'inclusiveness' and encouraging the voters to ensure voluntary participation is concerned. A whopping 60,000 crore rupees(according to Media Studies, Delhi and other sources as well) were spent, which made it the most expensive election in the history of electoral politics across the globe. Ruling party BJP came back to power and it became more powerful with record number of seats that it bagged this time round. However, this euphoric victory of RSS backed BJP, the right wing Hindu nationalist party, with such landslide margin was unpredictable or maybe to some extent unprecedented so much so that it even attracted criticism from some quarters. Political parties, particularly from some of the mainstream leaders of Dalit-Bahujan politics, for instance, BSPs' leader Mayawati, as she said, and to rephrase her, that the process adopted during elections and in declaring results doesn't ensured transparency as one of the basic principle of 'one voter one vote' was clearly violated. Her objections were easily undermined as the nation was largely swayed away with the lasting-euphoria of these astonishing figures for the 'ruling party', completely outlying any space for factors like incumbency. Nonetheless, the point she made was interesting; the supreme Court of India directed the ECI to make sure that VVPAT machines are mandatorily aligned with the EVMs this time for the Lok Sabha election .
A good amount of money was spent to make sure that this technological upgradation takes place for the first time in the history of usage of EVMs in India, on such large scale in general elections. VVPATs were put in place to work, but then the total number of 'paper trails' generated through 600 million votes that were casted in this process, which captured and stored the people's mandate were neither accounted nor counted. This lacuna makes the claim of costliest election dubious of its claims of merit and put the largest democracy at work to risk, of its most important task to have a system in place which ensures fair and transparent electoral process. Casting vote is not merely an exercise, a protocol to 'nudge' the 'mass behaviour in a parliamentary democracy. Indeed, we need a rationale mass to respond to such complexities of these electoral politics adventurism by the state. The state(through political-bureaucratic nexus) can easily jeopardise a good public policy machinery. If autonomous institutions fall hostile to the state, it can easily lead to a situation where subtle trickery even within the ambit of laid down standard procedures and provisions can be played out by the State. Simultaneously, either befooling the masses or silencing the rationale, independent voices by creating a cacophony through mass media management in its favour. Silencing of the citizen's voice, falling of the media and other independent public institutions, is a potential threat to functional democracy.
Let's consider two other examples of recent times to understand the in general attitude of the Modi government about what it understands by law making and its implementation. Consider two instances.
Abrogation of article 370 of the Indian Constitution and NRC issue in Assam. It can be debated whether the word 'abrogation' fits the course of action that has been taken by the govt. but it is sure that the Modi govt. mean it! By Stripping special status of J&K guaranteed to it by the Indian Constitution the present regime believes it has solved or nearly solved the Kashmir problem. This will come true or not, I am not qualified enough to make such a future calculation. But to say the least, what we have observed so far that 10 million people have been caged for over a month now, under heavy military presence in a complete communication blackout situation. Nobody knows the truth, and the only truth in this case is we know nothing, absolutely nothing about either the will or the present plight of the Kashmiri people. Kashmir is an integral part of India but whether J&K as an Indian state with special provisions holds any right to secede or not that can be constitutionally surfed. In the part of the Indian Constitution explaining the "Union of States" it is clearly stated that no Indian state will have a right to 'secede' at any given point of time once ceded to become part of India, it is different from American federalism and that the purpose of having such a "Union" is entirely for the sake of ease in administration. But Kashmir becomes part of India through 'Instrument of Accession' signed between Nehru and Raja Hari singh, on the grounds of certain special rights and entitlements guaranteed to Kashmiri people. 'Instrument of Accession' doesn't only safeguards rights of the Kashmiris but it also safeguards India's rights and entitlement over Kashmir.
Now when IOA stands lull, a plebiscite is the only thing Kashmiri's can ask for before the international community, which they always had asked for.
Other example we have at hand now is the problem with the listing of citizens in Assam to include them in the National register of citizens.
The fact is that nearly 34.2 % of Assam's total population consists of Muslim population, with 9 districts having Muslim majority, according to 2011 census. Now the final NRC list is out and it has left out nearly 2 million people in a stage of "Statelessness". Most of them are believed to be Muslims and there are instances where a daughter has been included in the list but the father is left out(as reported by media sources). They have been given another one months time to report their claims with the foreign tribunal office to prove their national identity.
Besides these two, a very different example I wish you to consider. Consider, the case of IPS Sanjeev Bhatt, who filed an affidavit in 2011 in the supreme Court of India, regarding the 2002 Godhra riot case and Modi's alleged role in it as Gujarat's then Chief Minister. Today Sanjeev Bhatt is in jail in a custodial killing case , and facing a life-time imprisonment. His wife in several interviews said that, she feels that the officer and his family has been victimized because he filed this affidavit demanding an inquiry in the Godhra incident in which Prime Minister Modi's role is also to be questioned.
We see that in all these three incidents two things are common, firstly, there is no mass unrest or nation wide protest to speak or stand against injustice, and in these specific instances to protect democratic and human rights of fellow citizens by rest of India's 'proud-citizens'. The other commonality is BJP is always present there. J&K resolution bill 2019 and NRC listing is directly associated with BJP's election manifesto and RSS' ideology of 'Hindu rashtra'. Sanjeev Bhatt's case has directly to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and besides these, ECI's role in 2019 general elections comes under scrutiny as it is presently headed by a former Gujarat cadre IAS officer.
Towards conclusion it is important to note that state of Indian economy is passing through its worst, yet 'Hindu nationalism' is successfully selling-off. The point is why?
Why it is being said that 'there is a threat to Indian Constitution'. Is it a pro-left or pseudo-liberal agenda to somehow malign Modi's nationwide popular image? Or shall we ask that, "Are we in a state of Joblessness?" Labor ministry and government's statistical office says , yes economy is dead slow at the moment and whatever little we achieved was a jobless growth in last 5 years. Automobile and manufacturing sector has hit lowest in decades.
But my point is why then Modi's " Pakora yojna"(street-vending,selling snacks etc.) Clearly sell-off before Lok Sabha elections and BJP got clear mandate. Is it that todays India's youth doesn't want a job? The reality is that it is true of present India that millions of youth doesn't want a job! There is a clear split among youths, between those who want a job, the one who entered into university education system or for a competitive exam seeking a govt Job and someone who couldn't complete his higher secondary school or college, those who dropped-out school or college at relatively earlier stage. And we know that school/college drop-out percentage is extremely high in India. These youths who couldn't complete college education or even failed to acquire a technical skill fit for market, actually doesn't want a job. Why? Because they don't see a job at their disposal worthy of fulfilling their needs. They don't see growth in it. Illegal betting, be it sports betting or any other way people today want fast cash. A 10a.m. to 5p.m. job be it at public office or private, it never guarantees such uneven growth. It has nothing much to offer. A start-up along with a lot of opportunity(in terms of leisure time it offers) for betting, or working as a middle-man in property dealing, drugs dealing, arms dealing, human trafficking has greater opportunity of growth than to take a P.hd from Say, JNU or DU. It takes time. 10-15 years of college/university study is not as lucrative as any of these aforesaid, ways of making money quickly, especially when someone is in crisis, financial, social, at family level etc. 40000 Ph.D are being awarded every year in India coming out of nearly 950 universities. If 2000 of them were very honest researchers, is it that 2000 permanent Asst. Prof posts are getting filled every year here in India? You have the answer! If a government hospital in my district is not providing adequate medical facility, If it can't save lives, one thinks of visiting a private clinic or hospital but what if one is unable to afford the expense at the private hospital. What other alternatives do such people have?
The point I wish to make, a corrupt socio-political system will only have morally corrupt citizens. And in that case, I am afraid there is any role left for the Constitution to play. Because ultimately it is not the document, it is "WE" the people who committed ourselves to the enshrined constitutional values.
(Suman Kumar)
9718186642
India in 2022 will complete 75 years of its independence from British colonial rule.
Surely not the oldest(not considering older instances, Vaishali Ganrajaya, and thus only in the context of India as a modern nation state) but India is now the largest democracy on this planet.
Let's see, how democracy in India is at work? And to do so, we try and read it under three significant heads, state of the polity at present, relevance of the laws recently created by the Indian parliament and thirdly what kind of citizens are we? i.e. Shaping up of our citizenship. How it has happened over the years? To begin with, let's look at some primary figures and its analysis in a specific way.
900 million voters were listed with Election Commission of India by the time 2019 general election actually took-off in the month of April this year. Out of this 900million , 600 million finally turned out to polling booths, for electing 545 members of the lower house of the Indian parliament, the 'Lok sabha', also believed to be the 'people's house', since the members are voted directly by the citizens. This participation of people is humongous in terms of number and indicates success story of ECI and discharge of its duties, over the years, at least as far 'inclusiveness' and encouraging the voters to ensure voluntary participation is concerned. A whopping 60,000 crore rupees(according to Media Studies, Delhi and other sources as well) were spent, which made it the most expensive election in the history of electoral politics across the globe. Ruling party BJP came back to power and it became more powerful with record number of seats that it bagged this time round. However, this euphoric victory of RSS backed BJP, the right wing Hindu nationalist party, with such landslide margin was unpredictable or maybe to some extent unprecedented so much so that it even attracted criticism from some quarters. Political parties, particularly from some of the mainstream leaders of Dalit-Bahujan politics, for instance, BSPs' leader Mayawati, as she said, and to rephrase her, that the process adopted during elections and in declaring results doesn't ensured transparency as one of the basic principle of 'one voter one vote' was clearly violated. Her objections were easily undermined as the nation was largely swayed away with the lasting-euphoria of these astonishing figures for the 'ruling party', completely outlying any space for factors like incumbency. Nonetheless, the point she made was interesting; the supreme Court of India directed the ECI to make sure that VVPAT machines are mandatorily aligned with the EVMs this time for the Lok Sabha election .
Let's consider two other examples of recent times to understand the in general attitude of the Modi government about what it understands by law making and its implementation. Consider two instances.
Abrogation of article 370 of the Indian Constitution and NRC issue in Assam. It can be debated whether the word 'abrogation' fits the course of action that has been taken by the govt. but it is sure that the Modi govt. mean it! By Stripping special status of J&K guaranteed to it by the Indian Constitution the present regime believes it has solved or nearly solved the Kashmir problem. This will come true or not, I am not qualified enough to make such a future calculation. But to say the least, what we have observed so far that 10 million people have been caged for over a month now, under heavy military presence in a complete communication blackout situation. Nobody knows the truth, and the only truth in this case is we know nothing, absolutely nothing about either the will or the present plight of the Kashmiri people. Kashmir is an integral part of India but whether J&K as an Indian state with special provisions holds any right to secede or not that can be constitutionally surfed. In the part of the Indian Constitution explaining the "Union of States" it is clearly stated that no Indian state will have a right to 'secede' at any given point of time once ceded to become part of India, it is different from American federalism and that the purpose of having such a "Union" is entirely for the sake of ease in administration. But Kashmir becomes part of India through 'Instrument of Accession' signed between Nehru and Raja Hari singh, on the grounds of certain special rights and entitlements guaranteed to Kashmiri people. 'Instrument of Accession' doesn't only safeguards rights of the Kashmiris but it also safeguards India's rights and entitlement over Kashmir.
Other example we have at hand now is the problem with the listing of citizens in Assam to include them in the National register of citizens.
Besides these two, a very different example I wish you to consider. Consider, the case of IPS Sanjeev Bhatt, who filed an affidavit in 2011 in the supreme Court of India, regarding the 2002 Godhra riot case and Modi's alleged role in it as Gujarat's then Chief Minister. Today Sanjeev Bhatt is in jail in a custodial killing case , and facing a life-time imprisonment. His wife in several interviews said that, she feels that the officer and his family has been victimized because he filed this affidavit demanding an inquiry in the Godhra incident in which Prime Minister Modi's role is also to be questioned.
We see that in all these three incidents two things are common, firstly, there is no mass unrest or nation wide protest to speak or stand against injustice, and in these specific instances to protect democratic and human rights of fellow citizens by rest of India's 'proud-citizens'. The other commonality is BJP is always present there. J&K resolution bill 2019 and NRC listing is directly associated with BJP's election manifesto and RSS' ideology of 'Hindu rashtra'. Sanjeev Bhatt's case has directly to do with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and besides these, ECI's role in 2019 general elections comes under scrutiny as it is presently headed by a former Gujarat cadre IAS officer.
Towards conclusion it is important to note that state of Indian economy is passing through its worst, yet 'Hindu nationalism' is successfully selling-off. The point is why?
Why it is being said that 'there is a threat to Indian Constitution'. Is it a pro-left or pseudo-liberal agenda to somehow malign Modi's nationwide popular image? Or shall we ask that, "Are we in a state of Joblessness?" Labor ministry and government's statistical office says , yes economy is dead slow at the moment and whatever little we achieved was a jobless growth in last 5 years. Automobile and manufacturing sector has hit lowest in decades.
But my point is why then Modi's " Pakora yojna"(street-vending,selling snacks etc.) Clearly sell-off before Lok Sabha elections and BJP got clear mandate. Is it that todays India's youth doesn't want a job? The reality is that it is true of present India that millions of youth doesn't want a job! There is a clear split among youths, between those who want a job, the one who entered into university education system or for a competitive exam seeking a govt Job and someone who couldn't complete his higher secondary school or college, those who dropped-out school or college at relatively earlier stage. And we know that school/college drop-out percentage is extremely high in India. These youths who couldn't complete college education or even failed to acquire a technical skill fit for market, actually doesn't want a job. Why? Because they don't see a job at their disposal worthy of fulfilling their needs. They don't see growth in it. Illegal betting, be it sports betting or any other way people today want fast cash. A 10a.m. to 5p.m. job be it at public office or private, it never guarantees such uneven growth. It has nothing much to offer. A start-up along with a lot of opportunity(in terms of leisure time it offers) for betting, or working as a middle-man in property dealing, drugs dealing, arms dealing, human trafficking has greater opportunity of growth than to take a P.hd from Say, JNU or DU. It takes time. 10-15 years of college/university study is not as lucrative as any of these aforesaid, ways of making money quickly, especially when someone is in crisis, financial, social, at family level etc. 40000 Ph.D are being awarded every year in India coming out of nearly 950 universities. If 2000 of them were very honest researchers, is it that 2000 permanent Asst. Prof posts are getting filled every year here in India? You have the answer! If a government hospital in my district is not providing adequate medical facility, If it can't save lives, one thinks of visiting a private clinic or hospital but what if one is unable to afford the expense at the private hospital. What other alternatives do such people have?
The point I wish to make, a corrupt socio-political system will only have morally corrupt citizens. And in that case, I am afraid there is any role left for the Constitution to play. Because ultimately it is not the document, it is "WE" the people who committed ourselves to the enshrined constitutional values.
(Suman Kumar)
9718186642
Corrections n suggestions invited
ReplyDelete