As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
- Abraham Lincoln
DUBAI, January 3, 2011 – 2011 marked a deep unrest in India, and the year ended in massive upheaval in the country’s Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha – the Upper & Lower Houses of Parliament. A remarkable people’s revolution may have taken hold of the country, which could prove to be stronger than many political pundits think.
Indians may finally have figured out that their country, long enslaved in the grip of corrupt politicians, bureaucracy, judiciary, armed forces, police, criminals and a fractured society, cannot be liberated unless they change the system.
They may have finally clued in to the fact that it is, "We the People...” not “We the Parliamentarians...." in the preamble of India’s Constitution. The big difference between ‘We the People,’ and ‘We the elected representatives of the people,’ is that the latter are basically servants – not rulers, say anti-graft activists who seem to have woken up a somnolent middle class.
If they wanted any more convincing about the devious, self serving character of their politicians, Indians saw it clearly in the December 2011 ombudsman bill debate, described by some as the murder of democracy. For all the sanctimonious politically correct talk regularly bandied about on the inviolability of Parliament, Indians know they have been hoodwinked for over six decades by the thieves who control their legislative body. Determined to retain power at any cost, political parties cleverly rallied together against the passing of an ombudsman bill, mocking elderly 74 year old anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare for trying to follow in the footsteps of Gandhi – someone every Indian looks up to but rarely emulates.
Hazare is demanding legislation of the Jan Lokpal Bill – a citizen's ombudsman bill, as a proposed independent anti-corruption law in India. Inspired by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, (ICAC), the bill was first introduced in the Indian Parliament in 1968, and regularly stalled by wily politicians for over four decades after it passed the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969. The bill lapsed each time the Lower House was dissolved after its five year term, before it could be ratified by the Upper House. Subsequent versions were re-introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2008, with the usual political shenanigans ensuring none of the bills passed.
In 2011, social activists led by Hazare, proposed a more effective improvement to the original Government of India’s version, which was opposed by Sonia Gandhi’s ruling Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) party.
The typical feudal arrogance of Indian politicians was demonstrated by Gurudas Dasgupta of the Communist Party of India (CPI), when he scorned Anna Hazare saying: "Let us not be afraid of anybody, least of all an ex-policeman, least of all an ex-bureaucrat, least of all somebody who pretends to be another Father of the Nation. There is only one Father of the Nation — Mahatma Gandhi."
But Indians have never considered if “Bapu,” as Gandhi was affectionately called, would have agreed that he was the ‘Father of the Nation’? In his humility, he would probably have preferred, ‘Servant of the Nation,’ and wanted many more genuine leaders to merit that designation.
On December 27, 2011, the government managed get its watered down version, titled the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha, without obtaining constitutional status, since a parallel Constitution (116th Amendment) Bill failed to pass without the requisite two-thirds majority for a Constitutional Amendment.
What actually happened subsequently. Indians may never come to know, but speculation is rife that Sonia’s party deliberately sabotaged the bill when it moved for ratification to the Upper House. In an open display of contempt for Parliament, possibly in exchange for some favour from the government, former Chief Minister of the widely acknowledged lawless state of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav cooly watched while one of his party members physically tore the bill to shreds on the floor of the house. In 1996, Yadav had been arrested by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the 180 million dollar Fodder Scam, one of the major unresolved frauds perpetrated in the country.
The Congress Party has relentlessly tried to discredit Anna Hazare’s cause, making Indians wonder why the nation’s ruling party does not seize the opportunity to prove its integrity and commitment to the country. In a television interview, Hazare’s adroit sidekick Arvind Kejriwal declared the government would fall if they made the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) an independent body under the ambit of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Observers note that Sonia’s Congress party has ruled India for 50 odd years, and may have deliberately scuttled the bill by making it impossible to support, something that was predicted by Hazare’s team.
It is entirely possible India’s ombudsman bill might not see the light of day, not only because it is anathema to the country’s elected representatives, but India’s political morality is like its official soft porn policy for Bollywood: “Show them everything without showing them anything.”
Indians may have separated temple, mosque, church and state, but they hold on to a volatile mix of corrupt religion, a highly racist society and deeply entrenched criminal politics. Religious riots, persecution of minorities, caste killings, burning brides for dowry and the occasional human sacrifice is not uncommon in the country. Most Indians are blissfully unconcerned about such serious abnormalities in their society.
The day Indians acknowledge the awful truth about their culture is when they can start hoping for authentic change. Religion in India is big business and a bigger tamasha (spectacle), but there is no moral consensus in the country. Caste ties are stronger than community, exploiting women and children is widespread, and there is minimal respect for the law, but most educated Indians think they can do very well without concern for genuine values or social change.
Successive governments have shielded India’s biggest crooks for various reasons, which accounts for the country’s monumental corruption. All politicians know if the power of investigation is conferred on an independent ombudsman, their future is at risk and their illicit income would dry up. That could explain why the government did a volte face, withdrawing the key Section 12 (1) investigation clause it had first included in its own version of the Lokpal bill.
What impact can one person have on a country? It is reported that when President Abraham Lincoln met Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, he said, "So you're the little woman who caused the Great War."
Sadly, on his own it is unlikely that the ailing Hazare, will succeed in putting a full stop to the country’s sleaze, he is probably just another comma in India’s shocking saga of misrule.
Nevertheless, Indians at last appear determined to rewire the system and deal with the scoundrels who govern them. India’s politicians are riled, resorting to widespread political chicanery to kill the law that could judge and punish them. Few Indians are now willing to trust any political party after the shameful debate in the Rajya Sabha.
How a peacefully galvanised Indian citizenry deals with them remains to be seen.
Would present-day India meet the ideals that Gandhi and others cherished for India’s freedom? Is this a "second fight for independence?" There is no doubt foreign oppression was only replaced in India by native subjugation that is nothing short of tyranny and must be removed like the British.
"Until we make sacrifices, we won’t get genuine independence," Anna Hazare has rightfully declared. "So many martyrs lost thir lives for our independence but even today we cannot experience freedom. Who got independence? What independence? Corruption and looting still goes on. Only the ‘goras’ (whites) left and the ‘kalas’ (blacks) took over, that is the only difference."
In America’s case, after independence was won, the country’s Founding Fathers struggled to create a "free government." Emphasising the need for separation of powers, James Madison bluntly observed in his essay, Federalist 51. "Because men are not angels," they need government to prevent them, by force when necessary, from invading the lives, property, and liberty of their fellow citizens. He also noted that the same non-angelic men can wield the government’s coercive machinery to use it tyrannically—even in a democracy.
It would be an interesting exercise to compare U.S. and Indian history to ascertain how successfully the two democracies have achieved a separation of powers and list the situations/events that illustrate which country has been more successful in achieving good governance.
Let the historians or political scientists figure that out if they haven’t already, but a common man can easily make the observation that political tyranny in America pales in comparison to the political, religious and social tyranny in India.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to note that sixty nine percent of American voters polled as recently as August 2011 in a Rasmussen poll said they didn’t think today’s U.S. government enjoys the consent of the governed.
Anna Hazare has been mocked as the media’s creation, but what would be the result if Indians were polled on the same issue?
It’s quite obvious the Indian government today does not have the consent of the governed.
Frank Raj is based in India and the Middle East where he has lived for over three decades. He is the founding editor & publisher of ‘The International Indian’ (www.theinternationalindian.com) the oldest magazine of Gulf-Indian society and history since 1992. Frank is co-author of the upcoming publication ‘Universal Book of the Scriptures,’ and author of ‘Desh Aur Diaspora.’ He blogs at: www.no2christianity.wordpress.com
Read more of Frank's work in No 2 Religion, Yes 2 Faith in the Communities at the Washington Times.
Email Frank
Follow @frankraj08 on Twitter
Follow Frank Raj Christ Not Christianity on Facebook
Sign his petition at: www.gopetition.com/petition/44506/signatures.html
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
