The Monarchy of India
When Rajiv Gandhi overturned the Shah Bano verdict, he was just reaffirming that a uniform civil code need not be a part of the way we run our country. Turns out he has opened the doors for every group to say they can pick and choose which laws should be applied to them. It’s kind of ironical that the same “different laws for different people” policy is now attempting to be extended to require that his killers be left alive because they are Tamilians! Maybe we should amend the laws to state that Tamils and LTTE members cannot be executed.
And while we’re at it, let’s extend the “death penalty not applicable” list to Punjabis and let that other guy on death roll, Bhullar, live as well. Omar Abdullah is right: how can it be fair to allow the persecution of Muslim women to continue (which is what overturning the Shah Bano verdict was all about) and at the same time, go ahead with the killing of a Muslim man, Afzal Guru? So let’s add Muslims too to the groups that are exempt from the death penalty. Next, let’s exempt Maoists from any laws related to murder and terrorism. And the icing on this different-laws-for-different-people line can be when the Congress declares that terrorism laws shouldn’t apply to foreigners and voila! Ajmal Kasab can walk out a free man.
Such idiotic decisions and their (presumably unintended) consequences are inevitable as long as the Congress party insists on running the country via a hereditary monarch. As long as they don’t care if the new monarch has any prior experience with politics. As long as they don’t insist on the learnings that comes from hands on administrative experience at lower levels (with the inevitable mistakes along the way). But no, Rahul baba will be PM without ever having run a ministry. And no, his Youth Congress experience doesn’t count because he doesn’t have to deal with any opposition or the constraints of a coalition in that role.
I recently saw this Pranab Mukherjee interview on CNBC where he said that one of the reasons why the government can’t push through motions of its choice is its lack of a simple majority and what is generally called the coalition dharma (the compulsions of coalition politics). What Mukherjee said must obviously be true (at least to some extent). But only a guy like Mukherjee would appreciate the day when (if?) his party gets a simple majority. But the next monarch, Rahul baba, will take it as an entitlement (same as his dad) and will squander it away the way his father squandered the 4/5th majority back in 1984.
And while we’re at it, let’s extend the “death penalty not applicable” list to Punjabis and let that other guy on death roll, Bhullar, live as well. Omar Abdullah is right: how can it be fair to allow the persecution of Muslim women to continue (which is what overturning the Shah Bano verdict was all about) and at the same time, go ahead with the killing of a Muslim man, Afzal Guru? So let’s add Muslims too to the groups that are exempt from the death penalty. Next, let’s exempt Maoists from any laws related to murder and terrorism. And the icing on this different-laws-for-different-people line can be when the Congress declares that terrorism laws shouldn’t apply to foreigners and voila! Ajmal Kasab can walk out a free man.
Such idiotic decisions and their (presumably unintended) consequences are inevitable as long as the Congress party insists on running the country via a hereditary monarch. As long as they don’t care if the new monarch has any prior experience with politics. As long as they don’t insist on the learnings that comes from hands on administrative experience at lower levels (with the inevitable mistakes along the way). But no, Rahul baba will be PM without ever having run a ministry. And no, his Youth Congress experience doesn’t count because he doesn’t have to deal with any opposition or the constraints of a coalition in that role.
I recently saw this Pranab Mukherjee interview on CNBC where he said that one of the reasons why the government can’t push through motions of its choice is its lack of a simple majority and what is generally called the coalition dharma (the compulsions of coalition politics). What Mukherjee said must obviously be true (at least to some extent). But only a guy like Mukherjee would appreciate the day when (if?) his party gets a simple majority. But the next monarch, Rahul baba, will take it as an entitlement (same as his dad) and will squander it away the way his father squandered the 4/5th majority back in 1984.
It is true that India is a strange mixture of democracy, feudalism, a peculiar way of socialistic-leaning, Indian brand of secularism, populism etc. etc.! No wonder that dynasty has an real niche in Indian politics.
ReplyDeleteThat confusing mixture of many disjoint 'isms' apart, our politicians would like to ensure to the extent possible that they are above the law. And, they actually manage to be! Our rich also achieve the same because it is not very difficult to 'buy' people here! I feel ashamed to say all these but I would rather speak the truth than do cover-up.
Last but not the least, we also have plenty of 'fear factor' - that of people rousing -which decide on a number of issues. Muslims, Tamils, Maharashtrians (actually all others) would like to have it that they should be the above the law. One may not believe it that it is indeed a lot easier for a Christian bishop (I do not mean a specific designation)to get away with rape followed by murder in India than it would be in Europe or USA! Such things have actually happened because the Church would fight tooth and nail to avoid a bad name for it; when it comes to this kind of difficulty, if the Christ principle has to be compromised, well, it has to be compromised! What about it?
Why, belive it or not, every Hindu caste would like to be above the law! When a dalit is found to have broken the law, his defense can easily be that of persecution for being a dalit. A dalit woman who stole money actually got supported by the dalit organizing body along the lines that the high-caste employer tried to rape her and since he held to her modesty, she was being "framed"! Within a few days the investigating police actually found that on the day she had claimed the rape attempt was made, the employer was in another city, some 400 kilometers away! In fact, even a day + and - cannot be factored in, because the employer was out of station for 4 days with the "rape day" falling right in the middle of it. An irony occurred: exactly at the hour he was accused of the rape, he was receiving an honor from a group for his achievement in music before a big gathering! It came in the papers. [I do not accept untouchability and caste discrimination. And I want the dalits to rise in social status and I pray for their welfare. I want them to acqure dignity. You can understand who bad I would feel when I come to know that some of them, instead of rising, actually degrade themselves.]
Why blame specific people or specific groups of people? We have to admit that, to an extent, we Indians do not respect the law. Sad, but true. In my earlier office, one employee was coming late on a regular basis. When I confronted him, he non-nonchalantly replied, "Let it be enforced!" (Note: In India, most government organizations lag behind in disciple and such replies are not uncommon, with no detrimental effect to the employee!) Why, even at the level of manners and etiquette, we need to do better. For example, we are known as the queue-jumpers internationally now!
Nevertheless there is hope. A transformation is occurring. We will move on to meet the behavioral needs of tomorrow. Our old moralities could have made sense in their time and our new behavior would one day be suited for that point in time. The transitional confusion need not be evaluated too harshly. Only, we need to be careful to ensure that the transformation in the positive direction continues, even if many lapses are there.