UPA-2 revisits Emergency
It is clearly stated that ‘reasonable restrictions’ can be placed by the state (government) to safeguard ‘law and order’ and to ensure that other citizens’ rights are not violated.
What the present controversy is all about is the mala fides of the ruling UPA government and the unreasonable restrictions imposed in a dictatorial manner by Delhi Police on Anna
Hazare and his followers.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has come out badly bruised and battered from this confrontation. He cannot absolve himself of responsibility by pleading that such administrative trivia does not reach his desk. Nor can his supposedly brilliant home minister successfully seek refuge behind the uniformed Police commissioner and pass the buck like a hot potato. The crisis had been brewing for days and Hazare’s movement against corruption was snow balling before our eyes.
The Delhi Police had already been severely criticised for its ham-handed handling of Baba Ramdev and his followers in Ram Leela Maidan. Even the Supreme Court was constrained to comment adversely. What was at stake was the law and order in the capital during Parliament session.
Surely the home minister and the prime minister should have kept themselves better informed and shown a little more concern. Unfortunately, the entire UPA with the Congress in the vanguard is so obsessed with proclaiming and propagating the doctrine of the supremacy of Parliament that they have become incurably blind to the constitutional provisions that speak so eloquently of the common Indians’ right to peaceful protest.
The legal luminaries in UPA team are never tired of lecturing all and sundry about how Parliament is sovereign and supreme and any one questioning it should be hauled up over hot coals for trying to destabilise the country. They forget in their self-assumed wisdom that the British Parliament could claim such unchallenged supremacy only because it had ousted the king who ruled by divine right and asserted the right and power of the people.
The Indian Republic, six and a half decades after election cannot blindly follow in the footsteps of erstwhile colonial masters. As the preamble of our Constitution makes it amply clear, we the people of India have given unto ourselves this Constitution. Even a slow learner in school knows that Parliament - any Parliament for that matter - derives its power from the people and is a reflection of their sovereignty. The elected representatives can claim exclusive jurisdiction to legislate but by no means can they claim a divine right to rule unquestioned till the next elections or usurp the power of the people.
Right is a right
The inglorious defeat of Manmohan Singh, his government and his party in this confrontation could be foreseen by everyone except his teammates and advisors. If you have friends like Kapil Sibal, enemies are not needed. He is the one who asked can a protester have the right to choose the place to agitate. The answer as the song has it is flying in the wind.
The right to peaceful protest certainly cannot be interpreted as a circumscribed right confined to a private space where the protest can neither be heard nor seen. Peaceful protesters can lay claims to any public space.
The government itself has designated such places in the capital like Jantar Mantar and Ram Leela Maidan; both Anna and Ramdev have been granted access to these spots in the past. It only seems reasonable to conclude that, emboldened by its emasculation of Baba, the Manmohan sarkar decided to crush all dissent. Rather than engaging the members of civil society in reasonable dialogue, the government and Congress under Singh and Sonia/Rahul have opted for letting loose ‘spokespersons’ like Manish Tiwari, who’s bark is stronger than the bite.
By now, it is clear that no one is buying the legalistic arguments of Kapil, Chidambaram and Manmohan. The people of India have spontaneously joined Ann’s peaceful protest. It is impossible for the government to turn back this tide.
The whole world saw how the apologist of the government postured and debated expressing impotent rage as people flouted prohibitory orders like Section 144 with impunity across the land. Many were reminded that our PM, while receiving an honorary doctorate, had gratefully acknowledge his debt to the British for the Police bandobast they had bequeathed us.
He obviously was speaking for a tea table microscopic minority that is sadly out of touch with the temper of democratic times. Once the din and dust settles this government will have to rethink about archaic colonial laws that have no place in Independent India.
(The writer is a professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.)
Peoplespeak
Anna Hazare has started what could possibly be the greatest revolution since the Indian independence movement. However, very few people in India really understand the implications of a stronger Lokpal Bill, and have joined the movement possibly because of their contempt for the corruption in the system today.
However we as Indians need to introspect and understand that corruption has flourished because we as Indians have allowed it to flourish and corruption is a part of Indian culture. Bribing to let the traffic constable let you off, to get your child admission to an educational institute or to get a marriage certificate, all of these are things we do everyday, after which we hold candles and talk of fighting corruption. So we Indians will need to undergo a lifestyle change, almost like giving up our spicy food if we want India without corruption, so are we ready for that?
This movement for India against Corruption will be more of fighting the demon of corruption at the personal level rather than hoping for Anna Hazare or the Lokpal Bill to be the panacea to the ills facing India today.
A 100 Lokpal bills will not succeed until and unless we decide that we will not entertain corruption of any sort, that will truly be the only way to cleanse India of corruption.
Chetan S, Mumbai
Anna Hazare’s tanti corruption movement is a compelling necessity for India by all means. The only challenge is its proper implementation to bring in transparency into the administration. It should have tooth and nail to fight corruption and at the same time protect the democratic and smooth functioning of the administration. Due care should be taken while bringing the judiciary and the prime minister into the net in order to avoid destabilisation of the government.
Anil Menon, IT professional, Bangalore
The Anna Hazare movement is making waves amongst the Indian community here at Urbana-Champaign, 225 km from Chicago, and has remained a topic of discussion for a while now. Although it has not materialised into a public demonstration, its reach is not confined to the four walls of the Indian household - Anna's protest is common knowledge among the well informed on global events.
The government’s disinclination to fill up the gaping holes in our anti-corruption bill is only worsened by its appalling response to the protests, with no grounds for justification whatsoever - the UPA seems to have dug its own grave this time around.
Anna's campaign could not have been at a better time. That said, it does leave the aim of the movement to interpretation. The purpose, I think, is not to fuel masses against the inadequacies of the current government, but to provide a fresh kick-start, if you will, to the engine of Indian democracy. It has already awoken a large section of the youth whose voice has been otherwise unheard in the running of the nation. The hope is that the momentum will carry forward into tomorrow’s governance.
Bhargav R V. Student, University of Illinois,
United States
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