JOIN USEven as India’s seat of democracy celebrates its diamond jubilee on Sunday, the menace of caste system, social inequalities and the rich-poor divide continues to haunt the nation, aver parliamentarians.
Addressing a special sitting of the House convened to mark the occasion, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar suggested the members to make efforts to root out caste system prevailing in the country, saying democracy and caste system cannot go hand in hand as they contradict each other.
“It is an irrefutable truth that democracy and caste system cannot go hand in hand since democracy is based on equality whereas caste system is rooted in the gulf between the upper and lower strata of society. Out of these two systems one has to meet its end. Today when we are collectively glorifying the democracy with full zeal, we should also root out caste system with all the might at our command,” she said.
Endorsing the speaker’s views, JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav, while participating in the discussion on Sixty Years Journey of the Indian Parliament, said caste system was the “biggest” malady prevalent in the country after population growth. “No big change in the country could be seen so far, because it is divided into castes,” he added. He said besides social inequality, a large number of people are facing economic inequality in the country. “On this sixty years (of Parliament’s first session, we should think about the condition of this country. You are unable to even count the number of poor people.
Democracy has reached Parliament but not to the poor people of the country” said Yadav.
Basudeb Acharia of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said there would be challenges to parliamentary democracy, as long as the pauperisation, starvation and illiteracy exist in the country.
“We will have to think seriously that after 60 years, whether the Pledge that we drafted to end the inequality, discrimination, poverty, exploitation, etc. have exponentially increased or not? Whether the intent of the founding fathers of the Constitution has been implemented in letter and spirit? Poverty has not been reduced. The happiness has not come to the people of our country,” he said.