Debateless Democracy

Democracy in India is fast deteriorating into a 3D variety. It is decaying, demeaning and has become hopelessly ‘debateless’ in the past sixty years of existence. Indian constitution is still considered one of the best in the world and it is undoubtedly a standard template for any newborn democracy or those undergoing springs (and autumns) in their democratic evolution. Though adapted from the British, the vision and farsightedness of those who made up our Constituent Assembly could successfully put together a document that can hold a nation of million varieties in every aspect of life but one culture and one civilization together for all times to come. However, the quality of those who were subsequently getting elected every five years to uphold our constitution steadily deteriorated and the results are showing.

 

The quality of debate that took place in our Constituent Assembly is something without any comparison. Core features of our constitution are something that has come out of hardcore debates like ‘amruth’ out of ‘palazhi’. But those who inherited the constitution have failed to live up to the expectations of our erstwhile leaders who were outstanding parliamentarians in addition to being politicians. Succeeding generations of Indian politicians have completely distorted the meaning of some of the key elements of our constitution viz. Reservations, Minorities and Secularism. The self-defeating traits of Vote-Bank Politics and Political Correctness are now dominating the minds of most of the Indian politicians. To make matters worse, the unprecedented levels of corruption is taking Indian democracy to its death bed within a century of its birth, unless there is a new avatar who can save us from the asuric politicians.       

 

Leadership Qualities

 

Maximum damage to Indian polity has been inflicted by our politicians, the elected among whom are the so-called lawmakers. One of the most important marks of a politician in a democracy must be his or her ability to communicate.  They must be able to articulate well in the parliament and communicate with the masses through electronic and print media, in addition to talking part in the rallies and seminars. But see the case of India now. We have atleast four of our top-most political authorities who do not talk at all and never participates in the parliamentary debates for making laws that govern our nation. No one knows what is in their mind and what type of human beings are they? India’s common men do not know what are the opinions of their rulers? And what are their proposals for solving the problems?

 

Another important requirement is the need of transparency in public life. Democratically elected leaders must not only be honest but must also appear so. If anyone raises any question on his or her integrity, the response must be immediate and without any delay or excuse. Unlike earlier days it may not be a practical option to step down every time there is an allegation, but the written or spoken denial or explanation is a must. Otherwise they must resign immediately and face the enquiry. The recent trend in India is to keep quiet and never ever respond to any allegations or questions. Security is provided to the rulers for their safety and not for isolating them from the very public who have elected them. Hiding under the security curtain, unanswerable to the nation seems to the easiest way to avoid inconvenient questions. Rulers of India are now clearly above the rule of India law.

 

Corruption Galore

 

If only a miniscule proportion of Indian politicians were corrupt till 1970s, the percentage is almost 75% in contemporary India. Popular perception about the top echelons of power in India has reached an all time low and many politicians now genuinely believe that they cannot survive in Indian politics unless they are ‘smart’ in corruption. Air of confidence radiated by Raja and Kalmadi when they were under arrest for corruption has established such a notion in the minds of almost all our politicians. The notion is bound to get more established when the two will eventually walk free and are awarded millions of rupees as compensation for defamation. All political parties are facing the same situation and when it comes to corruption the nation finds that there is no party with a difference. With atleast a few skeletons in the cupboard, no political party is able to stand up and clean up the system now.    

 

The recent anti-corruption wave in India is nothing but a natural reaction of a few well meaning members of the civil society from the pre-independence era against the all enveloping corruption clouds that will eventually destroy our nation. Silence is the best encouragement for corruption and that is exactly what our rulers are encouraging us to do by their own silence. Media can do quite a lot in saving the nation now. In the all pervading electronic era, we are surprisingly having lesser numbers of investigative journalists who can easily unearth the Swiss accounts and corrupt deals. The Bofors enthusiasm is completely missing among the present generation of Indian journalists. Just one Chitra Subramanian or Arun Shourie can still bring down the complete corrupt edifice that is haunting India today.

 

The next general elections in 2014 will present the best bet for a change in political climate of our nation. All participants must be made to talk and American style debates must be made mandatory. Those in power will not take any initiative in this, but our electronic media can definitely force the situation. The potential PMs must come to a single platform and debate. The advantage of any open debate is the recording of commitments made by the contesting parties. It will also reveal the individual as well as his or her capabilities to understand and handle the situations. Those without any merit but only some connections and family name will stand completely exposed in an open debate. Political ‘dumpheads’ must be kept away and only those who are elected to the Lok Sabha must become the Prime Minister of India. That is the best immediate anti-dote for rampant corruption that we can hope for.

 

Corruption, Conversion and Subversion

Atleast half the citizens of the great Indian nation are involved in one of these three – Corruption or Conversion or Subversion. It is a matter of great concern and shame that the land of Mahatma Gandhi could achieve such a dubious status within half a century of its liberation from the British rule. Prevalence of the three evils in our society makes it difficult to believe that this great nation had once given births to the likes of Lord Budha and Guru Nanak, and Lord Krishna and Lord Rama in the ancient times. We can find solace only by blaming it all on the invaders, conquerors and colonial powers which brought in their filthy ideologies into this pristine nation of Hindu Sanatana Dharma. Situation is so bad in India today that the existence of India as one nation will be called into question again and again in the days to come. Formidable forces are at work in building up conditions similar to 1947 or even worse once again. And the ill designed version of democracy in India where any worthless family member can be sanctified by way of an election is making it easy for the growth of such evil forces.

Corruption

Corruption in India is not only in terms of bribes and money. The curse of corruption has spread into almost all aspects of our lives. There is corruption in values, relations, elections, governance, food, medicines and even in matters of defending the nation. If one needs a simple certificate from any office, one needs either the right contacts or pay the right amount and then wait for the officer to do his duty for which he is paid the salary from the tax payers’ pocket. Thus we are repeatedly punished for getting the officer to do his official ‘dharma’. One of the highly meaningful Sanskrit words (with no equivalent in English) that represent an entire school of ancient philosophy of successful human sustenance is Dharma. It was attributed so much importance in ancient Bharath that even our entire religious ideology came to be known as Sanatana Dharma. Indian nation is deteriorating because its citizens are moving away from Dharma.

It is unrealistic to suggest that ancient India was full of dharma and dharma alone. Even in puranas we had pantheons of Gods and Asuras in almost equal number at all times. These Asuras are nothing but people (equally powerful as Gods) who had a distinct liking for indulging in adharmic activities. And this was equally applicable across all sections (all castes) in the society – we had adharmic Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vysias and Sudras. Remember that the worst Asura ie. Ravan was a Brahmin. But we always had the presence and protection of Gods to ensure the prevalence of dharma and thereby protect the society and nation. It is this unbreakable protective shield of dharma that is missing now. Instead of self attained Gods, we have ‘elected’ Gods now. And virtually all of them have turned ‘asuric’ or become indifferent or willing Sikhandis when it comes to the welfare of our nation. There is hardly anyone in any of our elected bodies who can become a role model for those who want to enter Indian politics.

Conversion

Quite in line with the rapid growth of corruption, the cancer of religious conversion is also spreading throughout our nation. After its earlier aggressive phases during Mughal and colonial rules, the menace of religious conversion is peaking once again in the Southern and Eastern parts of the country. If the monies for conversion activities are coming from Europe and USA, the human resources are sourced mainly from the southern state of Kerala. There is a formidable section of ‘crossers’ in Kerala who have spent their generations in converting vulnerable sections of the country into Christianity. Their expertise in the field of religious conversion is being called upon once again to target mainly the other neighboring southern and eastern states. It is a very good industry with high returns and political conditions are also very much in their favour.

As part of their ‘intellectual’ efforts to justify this heinous action, several Indian descendents of Max Muller and Monier have been active in recent past to establish the historic authenticity of the myth of Saint Thomas’ visit to India. Though it has been out rightly rejected by Vatican, the Mullers and Moniers desperately want this historical fig leaf to hide their evil intentions. Another related attempt is to establish the existence of an ancient port called Muziris in the present city of Kodungalore in Kerala. It does need not much research in history or logic to establish that nobody by the name of Saint Thomas ever visited any part of India in the first century AD and the so-called Muziris port is the present port city of Sur in Oman. Ever since the advent of the new religions in the Arabian peninsula, violent persecution of one section or another was a regular affair and someone by the name of Thomas (Knaya Thoma) might have come over as a fugitive or refugee into the all-accepting lands of Bharath. If he was a welcome refugee then, his unworthy descendents have become disloyal to the land that protected their forefathers from persecution.

Subversion

As if the cancer of religious conversion is not enough, the ulcer of subversion is also troubling and targeting Bharat Mata now. Again it does not need much research to establish that the ulcer is due to an earlier unclean surgery. Islamic Republic of Pakistan will never allow the Indian Republic to be successful and they will do everything possible to keep us down. Following the spurt of wealth in Middle East from Oil and Gas discoveries, the economic well being of worldwide Muslims have improved and their dreams of an Arabian Imperialism as a revengeful antidote for the Crusades has become a reality now. Pakistan is a direct beneficiary of this new found wealth and vigour, and they will multiply their anti-India efforts many fold in the days to come. India can never avoid bomb blasts that are taking place at regular intervals until and unless it can raise the nationalist fervor of all its citizens once again to pre-1947 levels.

Though Gulf countries are willing to spend a substantial part of their easy-gotten money to bring the whole world under their foot, they do not have the human resources and intelligence to do it. Countries like Pakistan have become very important in such a situation. Gulf countries are knowingly providing an arena for close interaction between Indians and Pakistanis so that their agenda can be pushed very easily. It is the classic case of the wily fox setting the two lambs to fight and waiting for its turn to eat both of them. The only difference in this case is that one of the lambs is not purely a lamb, but the unwanted offspring of an earlier interaction between the grand father of the fox and an unfortunate sheep. The illegitimate lamb is more than willing to die for his uncle but wants the other pristine lamb also to die before that.

The state of Indian nation is deteriorating in all aspects at all levels barring a few. If corruption is eating into our bone marrows, the twin evils of conversion and subversion are pricking our national conscience many times daily. In spite of being one of the most liberal nations in the world (with almost complete freedom that one can imagine) and with a very lose judicial punishment system for even treason, if some sections can still legitimize their anti-national activities quoting lack of social justice and opportunities, it is time to think of tough measures to establish the rule of majority as it exists in all modern nations worldwide. It is time for us to realize that any country that is under minority rule or being dictated by the minorities is intrinsically unstable and unsustainable.

Dharmic Republic of India

Cynicism is the natural culmination of anyone who attempts to study and analyse India’s problems. Unlike Japan and China, India’s problems are overwhelmingly man-made. It is utter lack of patriotism, national pride and discipline that is churning out most of India’s problems. Our practice of democracy is not an ideal one and it has been hijacked by a select few families. Its current trend will only lead to India’s decay and decadence sooner or later. The incumbent democratic structure is corrupt inside out and the very few Gandhians (Mahatma Gandhi variety) left in our midst can do very little to set things right. The newly advocated Lok Pal will be at best an unsuccessful David against the Goliath of corruption. And what is the guarantee that another Balakrishnan or Kalmadi or Raja will not incarnate as the next Lok Pal? In a society that looks upon money and power as the quintessence of virtue, no amount of whistle-blowing, watch-dogging and judicial-remands can bring about improvement.

There are many Indians, especially the youth, who got excited about the ‘victory’ of Anna Hazare. But their excitement can be short lived. Some clippings from the drama are indicative enough. Anna Hazare has spent his entire life for others and he has been completely apolitical so far. Imagine the plight of such a hard core Indian pleading to ‘Indian’ leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh to set things right in India. What is the urgency for them to end corruption in India? It may be the inherent thirst for a virtuous environment that drives true Gandhians like Anna Hazare. But what is the basic motivation factor for people like Pranab, Chidambaram, Sibal etc., to put an end to corruption? It is foolish for any Indian to expect a committee of such people to draft any sensible legislation for ending all scopes for corruption. It would be like expecting Vatican or Saudi setting in motion an exercise to end religious conversion in the entire world.

Worthless Politicians

Politicians of the worthless variety are the cause of all problems in India. We usually hear about the four pillars (and the extended pillar of media) of democracy. But the most important supports for any democracy are the politicians and political culture in the country. No democracy can function without politicians and in India too we need them. The world’s largest democracy of more than one billion people will require at least one hundred political parties and one million politicians to make it function. We have the numbers but what we lack is the political culture that will attract talented people and develop them to seek power to rule over us. Pre-1947 era had produced so many talented and worthy leaders in India. But in post-1947 we are coming across mainly those who have taken up politics because they are not good for anything else. Career politicians are the biggest threat to any democracy and India is a victim of this.

The other main problem that is in many ways unique to India is growth of political clans or family politicians. There need be no better reason to get worthless and unwanted elements into politics than this. Anyone who does not study well or jobless or idiotic in a political family is automatically inducted into politics during the lifetime of the ruling patriarch. Even if the patriarch is unwilling, scores of his or her sycophants will urge and edge such candidates into the political arena. Their idea is to ensure lifelong gratitude of such empty politicians on those who brought them into politics, but the damage to the political culture of the country is unlimited. Many of them learn the nuisances of governance at the cost of our misery and just one such leader in power is enough to retard the entire nation by years if not decades. Imagine the combined damage to the nation if a dozen of such worthless politicians from political families come to power throughout the country. This is exactly what is happening in India today.

Worthy Politicians

It is the nature of politics in India that is making most of its politicians worthless. Things will definitely change if the rules of political game change. Many of the current worthless politicians are innately good and they can become assets rather than liabilities to the nation. India’s post-1947 power elite were living in euphoria in a make-believe world of their own. Having achieved independence quite unexpectedly, some of the most significant leaders wanted to become world leaders in the short span left for them. It would be ungrateful to ridicule their contributions but they should have done much more for setting a better framework for the future politicians. As an example, if state funding and modest campaigns for elections were introduced in 1947 itself, India would have been literally a welfare state by now. Instead, our dirty competitive electoral politics have forced our politicians to become corrupt to earn a livelihood and amaze wealth for the next elections.

It is too late now to think of quick solutions to cleanse Indian politics of worthless politicians. Speedy trial and severe punishments are the only signals that can bring about quick results now. If a dozen of the confirmed corrupt can be thrown into the jail the spin-off results will be tremendous. Assured retribution is the best key to instill the most wanted fear in the minds of those who err knowingly. Investigations must start as soon as there are first reports in the media about corruption and such investigations must be automatic without any sanction. It will be very much in the national interest even if 75% of such investigations result in acquittals. If such a determined action is initiated now, it can be safely concluded that Indian politicians 25 years from now will be a worthy lot. And only a worthy lot of politicians can deliver as rulers in a vast democracy.

An exaggerated version of secularism in India has also undermined our traditions and traditional values. Concepts like dharma and karma have no religious connotations, and it should have been part and parcel of our primary school education. If our children are brought up knowing the correct meaning of their dharma in each phase of their life, profession and karma, the picture would have been entirely different. Despite few aberrations in our history, India still remains one of the few nations in the world where people enjoy true freedom. There is equality in front of the state, at least on paper. This has been possible only because of the accumulated wisdom of our civilizations and the eternal values of our Sanatana Dharma. Rekindling the true dharmic spirit enunciated in our scriptures is the only way to usher in a just and fair society. Only such a dharmic Indian as Lok Pal can help us in building a Dharmic Republic of India.