THE INDIAN POLITICAL SCENE

 

MAMIDIPUDI PATIABIDRAM

 

            THE MOST OUTSTANDING EVENT in the past three months in a political sense is the Union Govern­ment’s resolve through legislation to separate religion from politics. Whatever be the motivations of the ruling party, the objective is good and, there­fore, should be welcomed. The Indian Constitution does guarantee individual and corporate freedom, citizenship rights and so on and the State is not constitutionally connected with any particular religion either. Nor does it seek to promote or interfere with it. Of course, there seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether the Indian State has been neutral, particularly with reference to Hinduism as is ex­pected of a secular State. This indeed is the crux of the problem. It is hardly necessary to doubt the avowed inten­tions of the Indian Government to be secular. There are those who believe, that the country is already secular and therefore, there is no need for legislative enactments to secure the ideal. It is only when communal riots break out – and these have been fre­quent and even regular –that people are shocked into the realisation that secularism is just an ideal and much needs to be done to realise the objec­tive.

 

            The tendency is to seek external causes for the communal riots in the country. In a sense this cannot be avoided because foreign agencies are in fact seeking to provoke widespread communal disaffection. The evidence of such activity is clear enough in Kashmir. for instance, but what is disturbing is the possibility of riots breaking out elsewhere as a result of covert operations of subversive ele­ments acting at the behest of their patrons across the border. It would be a mistake, however, to blame the external agencies alone for fomenting trouble. There is little doubt that much of the responsibility for the growing communal tension devolves on certain political parties, more espe­cially, the BJP and its surrogates. Of course, it is not fully justified to blame the BJP either, for it is also true that in States ruled by the Congress ( I ) party communal riots have indeed been taking place. Such outbreaks appear to have been due more to weak and corrupt administrations than any direct encouragement. The point that requires to be stressed is that secular­ism secured by the Constitution is held by certain sections as not being an adequate safeguard against a possible disastrous future. The Ayodhya incidents of last December amply prove this. Hence the attempt to delink religion from politics so that those who come to rule do not make use of religion to win seats in the legislatures and Parliament.

 

            The constitutional mandate is a secular democracy with every citizen is free not only to practise but also to propagate the religion of his choice as long as he does not infringe the rights of others. In theory at least abuse of religion is not permitted for political purposes but every political party without exception has been guilty of the abuse. If the Congress (I) has been placating the minority commu­nity, as many people seem to think, for obtaining their votes, the BJP, espe­cially, is harping on Hindutva for the same purposes. Hence there really is no difference in the actions, and pur­suits of the two national parties. India committed itself to secularism and democracy since Independence. Forty­-five years later the people are being reminded that they should strive for secular ideals. This is the tragedy of the situation. Communalism contin­ues to be a political force although it is loudly proclaimed that secularism is a priceless heritage of the country and is the foundation on which a progressive modern State could be built for the welfare of the common man. The pro­posed legislation to delink religion from politics is based on the resolve to consolidate national integration based on secularism as a necessary condi­tion for the country’s march towards democratic socialism. Yet the measure is faulted because people see it as primarily a device to harm one single party, namely, the BJP, which did very well in the polls in Uttar Pradesh, Ra­jasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Hima­chal Pradesh. There is a feeling that if fresh elections are held in these four States which form the Hindi hinter­land, the BJP will come back to power. Thus unable to face the threat from the BJP politically, the Congress (I), the critics say, had sought to amend the Constitution for the 80th time. The Congress (I) leaders must have known that they were unlikely to muster the necessary two-thirds ma­jority in Parliament but hoped for a propaganda victory after wasting a lot of time and the labours of a Joint select committee. As has been already indi­cated, the proposed amendments are totally unnecessary for equal respect for all religions is a cornerstone of the Constitution and does not need reit­eration. To attack religious symbolism while ignoring the poison injected into the people’s minds is to say the least dishonest.

 

            Obviously the Government is both unable and unwilling to atone for the wanton destruction at Ayodhya. The way to respond to the unfortunate developments in Ayodhya is not by seeking to eliminate inconvenient political parties by constitutional subter­fuge. What needs to be done is to promote harmony between the major communities without adopting partisan measures for temporary political gain. One great strength of Hinduism is its lack of organisation. Hinduism has no common rituals, not even a commonly accepted body of scriptures. If it had made it easier for the State to bring about changes in the Hindu social customs in the absence of any organised opposition by the same vir­tue the Hindu society has proved to be remarkably resilient to any fundamen­tal change. And yet mere legislation is not going to make any difference to the consciousness of the Hindus and so­cial evils are bound to continue. A tradition-bound society of the kind which exists in India cannot be mod­ernised overnight and it must be remembered that the Indian social tra­dition with its pronounced authoritarian undertones presents a real chal­lenge to any social transformation on the lines of secularism and democracy. Delinking of religion from politics is thus a very difficult job that has to be undertaken not in a hasty manner. Penal provisions such as disqualifica­tion from standing for elections are not going to be of much help. People must have to be educated in the spirit of the Constitution and the battle against intolerance, bigotry and hatred which is in the minds of men will have to be fought while they are young and in school. Perhaps this is where the battle is being lost.          ­

 

            Equally important are the devel­opments in regard to the democratic process in India. The Election Com­mission has been very much in the news with the Chief Election Commissioner taking decisions in an arbitrary manner bordering almost on whimsi­cality. This has to some extent vitiated the electoral process itself. First the by-elections which were announced for a certain day were postponed on the ground that the law and order situ­ation in the States concerned would not have permitted holding of a free and fair poll. Later, the Chief Election Commissioner changed his mind and advanced the date of the elections but not before the matter was taken to courts. There was utter confusion and the healthy practice of not interfering with the elections, when once the process is set in motion, has been violated. There is a big debate going on in the country whether what the Chief Election Commissioner did was right or not. The CEC has been maintaining that he is the final authority in the matter of holding of elections and if he thought that there were indications that the poll exercise was going to be adversely affected by certain factors he was fully within his rights to seek and order postponement. There have been demands also for his removal by im­peachment, as his critics feel that he has been misusing his constitutional authority. And to prevent him from resorting to arbitrary actions it has been suggested that the constitutional provision for a multi-member Election Commission should be invoked. But the point is that having a few more members is not going to alter the constitutional status of the CEC and he could still be as arbitrary as ever. The more pertinent question is how to discipline a Chief Election Commis­sioner who seems to think no end of his powers. An obstructionist CEC is a danger to the democratic system itself and ways and means must be found to secure his ouster if he wantonly dis­torts the constitutional provisions in the name of fair and free elections. All this is not to say that there are no electoral malpractices which need to be curbed. For instance by having trusted officials in key posts like that of returning officers, those in power hope to make up for the loss in their popularity. This is the worst form of electoral malpractice for it cuts at the very roots of both administrative im­partiality and democratic principles.

 

            Then there is the question of misusing official machinery during the poll. It is here the Election Commis­sion has to play its part in an effective manner and there will be full public support for whatever positive action it takes to prevent misuse of official machinery for purely partisan ends. In India, unfortunately, progress and democratisation have come to be very closely identified with ethical regres­sion. And the rot has set in at all conceivable levels. Soon it will become naive even to raise a murmur of pro­test against the cynical disregard of norms. The Chief Election Commis­sioner must, however, be commended for his advocacy of the electronic vot­ing machine which will go a long way in curbing many of the malpractices that are witnessed today. Perhaps the most important advantage conferred by the machine is that it makes rigging impossible and would put an end to the complaints of irregularities and il­legalities in counting that are now heard. The machine will also eliminate invalid votes, voting will be easier, quicker and smoother than now and it will be possible to declare the result of the elections within minutes of the end of the polling. Saving will be effected in a number of other ways also: in paper and printing, in the number of polling personnel deployed and in vehicles used to transport ballot pa­pers and boxes.

 

            Considering all these advantages it is surprising that the Government is yet to make up its mind on the use of the voting machines. It is to be hoped that the Election Commission will now make strenuous efforts to convince every political party of its usefulness and if need be effects suitable altera­tions in it in order to allay apprehen­sions unjustified though they may be.

 

            There are several other direc­tions in which the electoral reforms could be carried out. There is need to curb the influence of money and muscle power, prevent collusion be­tween the police and their political patrons and so on. The measures taken so far like canceling elections, ordering a repoll or posting the Elec­tion Commission’s own men as observ­ers have not made much difference. Nor such legal steps will mean any­thing so long as the Government’s political will is absent. The Union Minister for Law and Justice has told Parliament that the subject of electoral reforms would be discussed with all political parties and one hopes that there will be a serious effort to improve the system.

 

            Not everything is rosy on the States front. Taking Andhra Pradesh, the acceleration of naxalite activity is a matter for some concern. The State Government has not been able to contain their depredations nor has it given much thought to the law and order problem created by the extremists, it is surprising that an organisation which has been banned is able to carry on its murderous activities with­out let or hindrance as it were. Earlier efforts to bring the youth who have been joining the movement back to the national mainstream have yielded no results and it is up to the Government to apply its mind seriously. The point is that unless the naxalites have the cooperation of the locals they would not be in a position to thrive and it is, therefore, necessary to go deep into the problem and find out why they get support at all. Possibly lack of employ­ment opportunities induce the young men and women to take to the gun in a moment of desperation. Insurgency has also been on the increase in the north east States and the Centre has to intervene on a big way to ensure that it does not spread. Political insta­bility is also on the increase in some of the States as for instance in Karna­taka. The ruling Congress (I) with a massive majority is not in a position to ensure a clean government mainly be­cause the Chief Minister is under con­stant threat of being dislodged be­cause of dissidence in the party. Ulti­mately it is the people that suffer but perhaps the politicians could not care less.

 

            Similar is the position in Tamil Nadu where there is total confronta­tion between the ruling AIDMK and its one time partner the Congress (I). The Chief Minister is under constant pressure and fear is put into her that her government will be dismissed any time. With a big majority she is unable to concentrate on administration and there is no governance worth the name - all because it has become a question of survival for her. In Kerala again the ruling party is in utter disarray with the Chief Minister shuttling between New Delhi and the State capital. The situation in the other States is no bet­ter and the most surprising factor is the turn of events in West Bengal. The CPI (M), which has been ruling the State for almost two decades, is showing signs of cracking up. Mr. Jyoti Basu, Chief Minister, is facing some opposition from within as could be seen from the resignation from the Cabinet of Mr. Buddhadev Bhattachar­jee who was at one time regarded as next only to the Chief Minister. All in all a depressing picture. Yet one would conclude with the words of Lord Bryce who said no Government demands so much from the citizen as democracy and none gives so much back. Any free people that has responded to the call of duty and has come out of a terrible ordeal unshaken in courage, un­dimmed in vision with its vital force still fresh and strong need not fear to face the future.

 

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