Modern Day Nero's Guests

India's Monsoon: It Never Rains

Close to 17,000 farmers killed themselves in India in 2010, a country where close to 60% population is dependent on agriculture for occupation.

Nero was an ancient roman emperor who conducted one of the biggest parties ancient Rome has ever seen. And for the guests to enjoy the beautiful garden, at night Nero brought several prisoners and burned them alive for illumination.* Are we people playing the role of Nero's Guests today?

Nero's Guests is an attempt by Editor of English Daily 'THE HINDU'  P.Sainath to bring to light the cruel reality of India far different from one witnessed in shopping malls and complexes in the metropolitan cities.

A fine piece of direction by Deepa Bhatia, this documentary covers the conditions in which poorest of poor from India were forced to give up their lives and the widespread inequality present in the interiors of this country.

Please take out some time and have a look at the Real India

*Source: http://ngopost.org/story/are-you-any-different-neros-guests 

Anna Hazare: Rhetoric and Truth

Ever since the Jan Lokpal bill movement started in April last year self acclaimed ’experts' from nook and corner of the country have jumped the bandwagon of people calling Anna Hazare enemy of democracy and what not!

Some people have gone to the extent of creating conspiracy theories and cited 'hidden' agenda and 'foreign' hand behind such a movement.

Without getting into the reasons why this movement was started (which is obvious to all of us) ,I will try and examine a few allegations that have been made against this whole movement time and again, more so by people who have very shallow knowledge of Constitutional values and ideas.

Allegation 1 :Anna Hazare is blackmailing the whole country

Merriam Webster defines word Blackmail as "extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution"

Now, to those who have been rhetorically claiming this is a blackmail, please tell me where is the element of extortion? or criminal prosecution? or public exposure?

Anna Hazare hasn't held the so called 'political class' to ransom to pay him some money, or release some terrorists. He was asking the elected representatives, yes the very people elected by YOU and ME to show some strong political will and pass a legislation which may not eliminate corruption completely but at least address a part of it.

Let us accept it, whether it is the dwindling morals in the society or inefficiency of existing laws, we have completely failed to address the issue of corruption in particular and good governance at large. Existing institutions and laws have failed to bring any sort of relief to the common man.

This movement asked the government to carry out its constitutional obligations, is this holding the government at ransom? Demanding the parliament to provide  good ,clean governance is blackmail? You decide!

Allegation/LIE 2: Parliament is Supreme/ No citizen is above parliament/ Parliament will decide what laws to make and not people

First and foremost, it is indeed a matter of shame that even the most well read  people in this country do not understand what is so wrong with statements like "Parliament is above all".

So let me take the opportunity to clear airs about this grave misconception.

India adopted a parliamentary form of democracy with a written constitution, some of us may wonder that  constitution has to be a written piece only and what is so special about it!

But the truth is not all the countries in world have a written constitution, the biggest example being United Kingdom where mere conventions established over years are cited for working of the parliament and establishing rule of law.

So what is so peculiar about a written constitution?

a) There is a separation of powers between various organs of the government i.e Legislative, Executive and Judiciary , and none of the organs has authority to overpower the other. In simple words all three organs enjoy their own powers and status, and there is no big or small among them.

b) All the organs of the government draw their authority from the constitution.What that basically means is that all the actions of the 3 organs of the government have to be in conformity with the constitution. So much so that if any law made by  the 'Supreme Parliament' if found to be against the basic values of constitution can be declared null and void by the Judiciary. (Protector of Indian Constitution)

WE THE PEOPLE adopted this Constitution

Without going into other intricacies of the constitution, all I wish to convey is that Constitution and not Parliament of this country is supreme.

Now,who adopted the constitution?

'We the people', and what does this all mean?

Citizens of this country,the ones who adopted the constitution are supreme and not the parliamentarians who are mere servants of public to fulfill their aspirations.

So what is wrong when Arvind Kejriwal says "Every Citizen of this country is above the parliament" ?

The above particular statement was misinterpreted to such an extent that some people went on to call Kejriwal a dictator in spirit.

A particular Facebook post which I came across termed him as 'gold standard of stupidity', unfortunately people making such comments never took their Civics Lessons in School seriously.


Allegation 3: Anna Hazare will lead this country to chaos

This is probably, the biggest joke I have heard. The country is being rocked by scams where money as huge 1.76 lac crores (how many zeroes?) is being siphoned off and we don't call that as chaos?

Discussing 2G Scam became favorite pastime of all the news anchors 

Assets of MP's have multiplied by over 1000 times in 5 years, is this not chaos?

We as a society have already hit the rock bottom and cannot go further down in our moral fabric, if there is one way that is only up the ladder.

If at all anything, this movement has strengthened our democracy, brought people from nook and corner of this country to fight for a cause and that is good governance.


Allegation 4: Anna is just good in condemning politicians, why doesn't he contest elections himself?

Do we mean to say that any person willing to change anything about this country must go and contest elections? Is fighting elections that easy? Or is it the only way one can contribute to society?

Do people making such claims even know how much money goes into contesting elections, and no I am not talking about the expenses shown to Election Commission but the real ones that go into buying liquor and meet.

Liquor Seized during Punjab Elections from a candidate's house

Even Mahatma Gandhi did not fight elections or take up a political post, infact he wanted Congress to be dissolved after attaining freedom because he was way above all the petty politics and aspirations of a particular title or post in the country.

Civil society  and mass participation all over the world has been recognized as one of the most important tool of democracy and we are ridiculing it as anti-democratic?

Allegation 5: Now anyone can come on to street and ask for his demands to be met

For people making such claims, I invite them to Jantar Mantar in Delhi. There are in numerous people fasting unto death for getting their demands fulfilled, and not surprisingly government doesn't give a damn.

Irom Sharmila of Manipur has been fasting for past 11 years, has government even cared to go and talk to her?

The fact is it is the anger and frustration of masses which found a vent through this movement, and that is precisely what got the ruling government worried and jeopardize their stand on the issue.

This movement is no longer about an Anna or a Kiran Bedi , it never was, it is about 'We the People'.

Leading such movements needs a charisma and personality which only few people like Anna Hazare and Loknayak J.P have, not every Tom ,Dick and Harry can garner such huge support for such a cause.

Allegation 6: Anna's claim of one Lokpal eradicating Corruption is just a mirage

True, Lokpal is not a panacea for all the problems, but so is not just sitting idle and doing nothing about it. Our current institutions and laws have failed miserably, and what we need is an independent autonomous body to look into charges of corruption against the civil servants. Anna Hazare did not invent the concept of Lokpal, this has been on anvil for last 43 years (what is your age?) .

In 1968, the First Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Dr.Morarji Desai recommended setting up on an independent Lokpal and a Lokayukta, thereafter several expert committees headed by eminent jurists, bureaucrats, parliamentarians and who's who of Indian democracy have recommended setting up of an independent body like Lokpal at centre and Lokayuktas in state.

Why have the successive governments not acted upon it firmly all these years? I do not need to state the reason. Yes, one Lokpal is not going to bring 'Ram Rajya' but atleast it will be a starting point, remember Rome was not built in a day.

I can go on and on refuting such baseless arguments being put forward by a large number of 'Intellectuals' and 'Saviors of Democracy' but the bottomline is 'We the People' need to think what is right and wrong for us.

What we know for sure is Anna Hazare and this movement have won when  the highest TRP ratings are gathered by LokSabha Channel (winter session) and not some channel showing saas-bahu soaps.

More on this later.


P.S: This post has been written over a period of 2-3 months, so kindly excuse for the disjointed approach.

I will not vote!

62.5, 80%, 45%.  No these are not marks secured by a student in school examinations, these are not even some random numbers generated by MS excel. These are the voting percentages in recently concluded State Assembly Elections (UP,Manipur,Meghalaya) and Civic polls (Maharashtra)

Chandauli, one of the worst affected districts in Uttar Pradesh by Naxalism registered a record voter turnout of 62.5%. The same district where close to 13 policemen were blown up by Naxals in broad day light.Manipur, a state that was affected by a shut down of more than 100 days last year registered 80% voter turnout. 

Such scenes are a daily affair in Naxal belt of India

Brihan Mumbai, the richest civic ward in India registered a dismal and shameful 45% voter turn out. Times Of India paints an even dismal picture of other places in Mumbai , “The tony neighbourhoods of Colaba, Churchgate and Cuffe Parade repeated their past record with a measly turnout of 34 per cent, the lowest in the city."

Richest Civic Wara in the country

I am not going to discuss reasons of low voter turnout in such an affluent part of 'Shining' and 'Rising' India and leave that to Arnab Goswami and likes of him , in fact I don't have reasons to explain such apathy. And before Mumabikars point their guns at me saying that I am a Delhihite and blah blah... Delhi too has registered pathetic voter turn outs in past, and why only Delhi? Make it most of the bigger metros in India.I am just going to talk about  the sheer apathy and ignorance people have about the 'Right to Vote', for very few people actually know what it took for our forefathers to get this right.  

The duties or responsibilities of a citizen in a Democratic Society can be separated into two parts:

a) Mandatory responsibilities, such as paying taxes;
b) Duties not demanded by law, such as voting.

The right to vote is a duty and responsibility, as well as a privilege. Modern democracies, including the India , extend the right to vote to almost all responsible adult citizens. Infact One Person One vote is said to be the most important pillar of modern day democracies.

So why do these people not vote? Their must be some compelling reasons right? For so many reasons, they do not bother to vote, preferring instead to let others decide for them how their futures will unfold. Yet, there are other countries in the world where people are protesting, fighting and even dying for their right to vote. Let us explore a few reasons cited
         
Reason 1: All politicians are criminals/ There are no good people in politics/ Politics is a dirty game/ I will not support criminals blah blah....

From one of my twitter feeds

The fact is if all politicians are criminals and everyone standing up for elections are bad then so are you because as they say in Hindi  'Yatha Raja tatha Praja'. Why blame them alone ? What have we done to clean up politics and the 'System'?  Slept on an election day ?

How many of these people actually knew that there were as many as 79 citizen candidates which stood up in Mumbai Civic Polls? Parties like LokSatta (read about them here:http://www.loksatta.org/cms) managed to get only 2000 votes.
The fact is these people did not even make an effort to know who are the candidates, since they are already wearing tinted glasses of their prejudices.

Reason 2: What difference is one vote going to make? If I won't someone else would.
Many people argue that their votes do not count. They point to the 121 crore voters in this country and to the electoral system as proof that no individual vote counts.

Our country has adopted a first past the post system for elections i.e If there are 3 candidates and 100 votes are polled, it is not necessary for the winning candidate to get 50 votes (majority) rather he can win if he has the highest votes (even 33% would do in this case), in a Multi-Party Democracy like ours latter situation is more common.

One vote does not matter?

Basically, not voting takes away the “will of the majority that governs this country, and replaces it with the will of the minority”.

The worst thing is  that people with such excuses do not even know that they are biggest culprits in sending the criminals to our legislatures.

"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all."- John Fitzgerald Kennedy


Reason 3: Voting is too much an effort, have to stand in long queues/ Polling booth is very far from my house, I don't have a conveyance.
I am sure people with such complaints would surely have better conveyance than them..

People in Pilibhit (UP) crossing river Sharda to caste their votes

and shorter queues than them..

People queue up outside a polling booth in Firozabad, UP

People offer a variety of reasons for ducking this responsibility, yet all of them amount to excuses. Still, those who refuse their duty feel no restriction on their right to complain. They will not voice their opinions when it matters, yet feel entitled to express them at all other times.

Call it ignorance or apathy

Wars still rage so that citizens of other countries can earn this right; the right that many of us now take for granted. 

Thousands laid their lives in Arab countries to get the Right to Vote 

"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment." - Robert Hutchins, Former Dean at Yale