But the celebration will however be muted by the fact that the Indian Lok Sabha’s biggest ‘achievement’ over the years, has been the bringing down of the quality of Parliamentary debate below ground level.
No doubt, India has made several big strides in the various levels of social and economical progress which could be the envy of all democracies around the world. But this is a tribute to a succession of national and regional leaders that the country was able to retain a stable political structure that could reconcile ethnic, linguistic, social and economic disparities of a staggering magnitude; even amidst vast cultural diversities, the country’s unity and democratic conscience were unaffected and basic freedoms were ensured for its entire people.
Yet, it becomes necessary to express the urgent need for the current political parties and leaders to inculcate a spirit of service and purposeful law-making and law-enforcing in the country. The sad fact is our politicians and parties seem to think that winning elections was enough to confer on them the power to misuse their powers and privilege for promoting their own sectarian and family interests. Parliament has become an arena of conflict and disruption. Lawlessness seems to have moved from the streets to the seats of governance and law-making.
There is no worthwhile debate on any issue that is of concern to the people of India. Let alone the absence of enlightened debate or even decency in language, today the Indian Parliament is ceasing to be a forum of any kind of public discourse. Obstruction, high decibel protest and unparliamentary conduct have made it impossible for Parliament to even function for a full day without adjournment and noisy scenes. MPs coming to blows on the floor of the Rajya Sabha have become routine to settle disputes and debates. Legislators demanding cash for asking questions and for preventing questions being asked on the floor of House are as old as Parliament itself, and the MPLAD scheme is little more than a government bribe to legislators to purchase future loyalty.
There has been a report that the five crore rupees paid per year to every MP for what is called Local Area Development Scheme has either been used for personal purposes or not used at all. There has been also an instance where MLAs were caught watching pornographic pictures in the Karnataka Assembly while a debate on the drought situation was in progress in the wake of farmers committing suicide in the state. And not so long ago, there was another instance of a Karnataka MLA travelling in a car that knew no speed limits on the highway, saw a van overtaking his car. He forced the driver of the car to stop the vehicle and beat him up for ‘daring to overtake his vehicle’. All this, and much more, sums up the attitude of most legislators who think that they are masters of the people.
and not persons meant to reflect the hopes and aspirations of the voters who elected them.
It is indeed a tragedy that Indian democracy has slipped to a stage where electoral victories could be purchased, manipulated and achieved through means variously known as rigging, booth-capturing or holding voters to ransom. And, yet greater tragedy is that the educated and qualified people stay away from contesting elections because their eligibility and record in public life do not count in the fight against politicians with money and muscle power.
