India gained independence in 1947 and our constitution came into existence in 1950. Since then, we have had several governments voted to power by the Indian public. World over, we were called as the biggest democracy and as the best example for people's rule in the world. In my personal opinion, our being the biggest or the most progressive democracy is nothing but a sheer myth propagated by vested interests. In this blog, I would like to detail my reasons for the same:
The most powerful person in the Indian system is the Prime Minister and sadly, the people of India have no say in who becomes the Prime Minister. People across India vote for their Member of Parliament and many MPs like him then go on to select a Prime Minister from their midst. There is no clarity or set of guidelines on the parameters for selection of the Prime Minister i.e. whether he has a criminal record, does he have any ill-gotten wealth, what has been his track record at the social and political level, what kind of views does he hold etc. Honestly, I don't know what is the solution to this problem, but the ordinary person needs to have a say or else parties need to declare their PM before hand. In this regard, I do not agree with the position of parties like Indian National Congress who never declare their PM candidate before hand.
In any job, if a person does not perform to expectations, the organization shows the door to him at any time. But, in India, if an MP does not perform, the public have to suffer for a whole five years before they can exercise their right to vote him out. There are many examples that I can quote on the same. For e.g. as per recent news, Sunny Deol, the BJP MP from Gurdaspur has nominated a proxy to carry on with his affairs as an MP. Not only has he let down his voters, but has also committed an unconstitutional act. An extra constitutional authority is being formally created by Sunny Deol, who has no legal sanction to do so. If I was the voter in Gurdaspur, I would have wanted the right to impeach my MP. Another example is someone like LK Advani, who was an MP in the 2014 government. He rarely visited his constituency, never spoke in Parliament and was outside the cynosure of public eyes. So, what did he became an MP for. Why should the voters in his constituency then not vote him out for his non-performance? Thankfully, BJP did not nominate him again from the same seat.
The biggest problem however in my opinion is allowing MPs who have not been formally convicted but accused of criminal behavior to participate in elections and occupy ministerial positions. This clause was originally included to prevent innocent people from losing their right to represent people till they were formally convicted. However, criminals and wrong-doers are using this clause and continuously prolonging cases to further their tenure in Parliament. There are many examples across parties in this regard. Pragya Thakur has been accused of something as serious as terrorism, charges have been filed against her and cases going on in court. The judge even refused to grant her bail, given the nature of prima facie evidence against her. But, she gets bail on medical grounds. Someone like her should have either been in hospital or in jail but she joins BJP and wins Bhopal's parliamentary seat as well. Her campaign was full of illegal and anti-national campaigning but she still wins the election. I am unable to understand whether it is her charisma as an individual, her acceptance amongst people or the failure of our system that led to this situation. Another example is Sakshi Maharaj who continues to win, election after election, despite having tons of cases against him. He is a loose cannon and regularly spews anti-Muslim views. But, he still continues to be in a parliament, thereby destroying every principle that went into building our constitution. Years continue to pass by, but one does not see any attempt by any party to address this issue. Everyone seems to be benefiting from it including Congress, BJP and almost every other party. In this context, it may be important to mention the case of Laloo Prasad Yadav ... his imprisonment in several cases in the wake of unquestionable evidence is not disputed by anyone. However, offenders in far more heinous cases are roaming scot free while Laloo is not even getting bail on medical grounds even though he has many old age illnesses. The law has to treat every offender equally but it does not.
The issue of electoral bonds has not been discussed by anyone and neither do people seem to be bothered by it. Strangely, the media in India has maintained a stoic silence on this issue. The path of electoral bonds will give people with money to contribute to a party that can satisfy their illegal needs without being identified by anyone. It works to the advantage of both parties. Once in power, the same party can repay the favor by bending and breaking laws wherever possible. The way in which pristine forests of Chattisgarh and the lush Aarey gardens of Mumbai have been handed to the corporate sector for pilferage provides ample evidence of such unholy nexus.
An MP has many constitutional responsibilities. He has to have his feet on the ground, should be sensitive to realities of people and should be in a position to interact and get work done for people in his constituency. This requires some intelligence, experience, especially in social, bureaucratic or political areas. But, in our country, anyone can become an MP or try to become an MP, without having any basic qualifications for it. Not for a moment am I saying that people with no experience cannot prove themselves, but our experience over the last 70 years tells us otherwise. Govinda, the erstwhile Congress MP from North Mumbai parliamentary seat was voted without any experience of any kind except in movies. When his constituency faced bad floods and people & property were at risk, he was nowhere to be found. He was missing when his voters needed him the most. Also, it seems he had no clue on what was to be done to ameliorate the suffering of people. Other examples include Sunny Deol, Moon Moon Sen, Gautam Gambhir. This is possibly a very long list across parties.
I would finally like to talk about the farce called the Election Commission. During the recent elections, a number of offences were committed by BJP candidates including the Prime Minister. This included hate speech, misuse of army personnel, branding Indian army achievements as BJP achievements, religious polarization etc. etc. However, in not a single case did the EC take any concrete action on the PM. The best that it could do was to prevent participation in election campaigning for a few days and that too for leaders who did not really matter. The PM went scot free in almost all the cases. In a democracy, the sanctity of elections is of utmost importance but the current Election Commission has failed miserably. Not only has it failed, it stubbornly refuses to answer valid questions or even make an attempt to provide evidence on fairness of election procedures. The Supreme Court has recently let down India again by not even entertaining a petition against EVMs, even though there is ample evidence on how they were misused or can be misused. In a democracy, what can be more important for the Supreme Court than take up a case that concerns the edifice of our democracy. When it can entertain so many frivolous and non serious petitions, how can such a serious petition be disallowed. If the SC CJI can be a part of a committee that absolves him of serious sexual harassment allegations, what else can be expected.
The issue of electoral bonds has not been discussed by anyone and neither do people seem to be bothered by it. Strangely, the media in India has maintained a stoic silence on this issue. The path of electoral bonds will give people with money to contribute to a party that can satisfy their illegal needs without being identified by anyone. It works to the advantage of both parties. Once in power, the same party can repay the favor by bending and breaking laws wherever possible. The way in which pristine forests of Chattisgarh and the lush Aarey gardens of Mumbai have been handed to the corporate sector for pilferage provides ample evidence of such unholy nexus.
An MP has many constitutional responsibilities. He has to have his feet on the ground, should be sensitive to realities of people and should be in a position to interact and get work done for people in his constituency. This requires some intelligence, experience, especially in social, bureaucratic or political areas. But, in our country, anyone can become an MP or try to become an MP, without having any basic qualifications for it. Not for a moment am I saying that people with no experience cannot prove themselves, but our experience over the last 70 years tells us otherwise. Govinda, the erstwhile Congress MP from North Mumbai parliamentary seat was voted without any experience of any kind except in movies. When his constituency faced bad floods and people & property were at risk, he was nowhere to be found. He was missing when his voters needed him the most. Also, it seems he had no clue on what was to be done to ameliorate the suffering of people. Other examples include Sunny Deol, Moon Moon Sen, Gautam Gambhir. This is possibly a very long list across parties.
I would finally like to talk about the farce called the Election Commission. During the recent elections, a number of offences were committed by BJP candidates including the Prime Minister. This included hate speech, misuse of army personnel, branding Indian army achievements as BJP achievements, religious polarization etc. etc. However, in not a single case did the EC take any concrete action on the PM. The best that it could do was to prevent participation in election campaigning for a few days and that too for leaders who did not really matter. The PM went scot free in almost all the cases. In a democracy, the sanctity of elections is of utmost importance but the current Election Commission has failed miserably. Not only has it failed, it stubbornly refuses to answer valid questions or even make an attempt to provide evidence on fairness of election procedures. The Supreme Court has recently let down India again by not even entertaining a petition against EVMs, even though there is ample evidence on how they were misused or can be misused. In a democracy, what can be more important for the Supreme Court than take up a case that concerns the edifice of our democracy. When it can entertain so many frivolous and non serious petitions, how can such a serious petition be disallowed. If the SC CJI can be a part of a committee that absolves him of serious sexual harassment allegations, what else can be expected.
Honestly, I am fast losing faith in our democratic institutions. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one.
Jai Hind
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