By
Randeep Wadehra
What exactly is politics? Merely
maneuvering and intriguing, or something more substantial? This question
harried one’s mind while watching the recent Parliamentary proceedings on the
Lokpal Bill. Although the term “politics” is used, generally, to denote
something unpalatable or mendacious it actually stands for the art and science
of government; the management of a political party; political affairs and
opinions; policy-making and various civil aspects of government.
If we look at the track records
of various governments since independence one is wonderstruck by the fact that
India has survived them so marvelously. In the name of government there has
been all-round bad governance. Most of our laws have retained their colonial
character, as have the law enforcing agencies. Oppression and corruption comes
easily to those in power. In his recent blog post Pritish Nandi, a former MP,
says, “Today, out of 543 MPs in Lok Sabha, 315 are Crorepatis…The assets of
your average Lok Sabha MP have grown from Rs 1.86 Crore in the last house to Rs
5.33 Crore. That's 200% more. And, as we all know, not all our MPs are known to
always declare all their assets. Much of these exist in a colour not recognised
by our tax laws… Being an MP gives you certain immunities, not all of them
meant to be discussed in a public forum…If you think it pays to be in the
ruling party, you are dead right: 7 out of 10 MPs from the Congress
are Crorepatis. The BJP have 5. MPs from some of the smaller parties like SAD,
TRS and JD (Secular) are all Crorepatis while the NCP, DMK, RLD, BSP, Shiv
Sena, National Conference and Samajwadi Party have more Crorepatis…Do MPs
become richer in office? Sure they do. Statistics show that the average assets
of 304 MPs who contested in 2004 and then re-contested last year grew 300%.
And, yes, we're only talking about declared assets here.”
And these are the worthies
who have been entrusted with legislating a strict Lokpal Bill! How
unrealistically optimistic can our voters be?! Or, perhaps, the elected
representatives indicate the sort of values the society in general is adhering
to. The other day while walking in a park in my locality I overheard a youth
boasting to his friends, “My father will get this contract … he has paid five
lakhs upfront with a promise for a hefty commission after getting the payment…”
Were his friends revolted? Did they chastise him for patently corrupt ways? No,
they are very pragmatic chaps. They know how the system works. They also know
that the honest get damned, or at least used and thrown away as is now
happening to Anna Hazare. Let me stick my neck out and say that Anna will meet
the same fate as JP and Gandhi did; and prematurely too. Why? Because who wants
to slog it out for the sake of the nation? A nation that our youth want to flee,
anyway? Slaving for the white man is still the ultimate dream of our young
IITians, IIMians and other highly/lowly skilled youngsters. They become
patriotic, albeit temporarily, only when they get booted out of their dream
countries. They never pause and ponder: “If I don’t respect myself for being
Indian why should the people in UK, USA, Australia etc?”
Coming back to the point; would
legislating laws wipe out corruption? Obviously not. Let us have a look at the
laws already passed. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, enacted in 1971,
has been grossly misused. It was aimed at providing relief to such girls and women
as victims of rape or those unable to bear healthy babies, apart from
preventing the birth of severely handicapped babies. Moreover, unwanted
pregnancies due to contraceptive failure too can be aborted. Towards this end
amniocentesis and ultrasound scanning were allowed to detect fetal
abnormalities. Unfortunately, these techniques are being used in sex
determination tests now, thus rendering a deadly blow to the birth, let alone
survival, of the girl child.
Moreover, The Prohibition of
Child Marriage Act, 2006, makes it illegal to allow or facilitate marriage of a
boy under 21 and a girl under 18. But people across the country flout the law
with impunity: Rajasthan tops the list with the average age of a girl at
marriage being 16.6 years, closely followed by Bihar (17.2 years) and Madhya
Pradesh (17 years)! On an average there are about 90 attempted prosecutions
annually across the country, most of which fail to result in convictions!
What we need, at present, are not
new laws but new social ethos, which would depend less on legislations and more
on healthy social conventions that imbue the citizens with respect for the law
as well as a constructive attitude towards the larger good of the country. It
is not that we do not have good people. Unfortunately, unlike the evil ones,
the good ones do not form powerful associations that would impact the
functioning of a polity. Even when the likes of Anna Hazare come forward to
bell the cat there are always Trojans that infiltrate the ranks of do-gooders
and sabotage their efforts. Better organizational skills and more vigilance
vis-à-vis stabs in the backs should help to an extent.
The common man should ponder over
this: Why are you throwing away the only power that is unquestioningly yours?
Look at the way your voting preferences have allowed criminals – both convicted
and charge-sheeted for crimes ranging from corruption to rapes and murders – to
enter the hallowed portals of our greatest democratic institution. It is time
you voted after due thought to the character and track record of a politician. This
is for starters. Effective governments will follow once the atmosphere within
the legislatures becomes conducive to healthy governance.
Published in the Daily Post dated 09 January, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment