Democracy
And The People
By Lt. Col. H. Bhuban Singh (Retd)
The preamble of the Constitution of India says:-
‘WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC …… do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS
CONSTITUTION."
Since it was the people of India, who decided to frame the Indian Constitution and adopt it, it follows that the people or the nation can do anything with the Constitution, that is to say, modify, change and even reject it and frame another one. Therefore, in democratic India, sovereign power lies with the people. Thus, the collective will of the people through their representatives that is, Members of Parliament and Member s of State Legislative Assemblies will prevail. But that does not mean that legislators are above the Constitution Chief Ministers like Laloo Prasad Yadav and J. Jayalalitha were imprisoned. Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao is facing court case on corruption charge. No one is above law. The President of India and Chief Justice of Supreme Court of India can be removed after impeachment in the Parliament and the Prime Minister can be removed after a simple defeat in the Parliament. Such is the power and authority of the people in democracy.
Democracy was derived by Abraham Lincoln as ‘a government of the people, for the people, by the people’. On the other side of the scale, George Bernard Shaw condemned democracy as ‘a government of the fools, for the fools, by the fools’. Bernard Shaw’s cryptic remarks emanates from the fact that the best talents do not necessarily come out as a result of democratic elections and nations continue to be ruled by the mediocre. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of democracy, Sir Winston Churchill opined that democracy was the best form of government till a better alternative could be found.
Without going through the evolutionary history of how democratic form of government came into existence and how Oliver Cromwell fought and revolted against English Kings, suffice it to know that democracy has been accepted world-wide as the only just and true form of people’s government.
The type of government as found in the United States of America or the United Kingdom or Germany is democratic capitalism. Here the tenets of French Revolution like liberty, equality and fraternity are put to full use. In this system, the government, which governs least, is reckoned to be the best government. Laissez faire, which means principle of non-interference is practiced and followed. There is cutthroat competition in every sphere of life. Therefore quality improves. To give an example in Manipur context, as the Imphal-Guwahati bus service is open to private transporters, Manipur Golden Travels will compete with Sangai Transport or with Blue Hill bus service and quality of service and comfort will improve. In America almost all activities are free from State interference. One can buy a gun just from the shelf. No license is required.
Western philosophy is survival of the fittest. It implies that the weak may and even must perish. Corollary to the survival of the fittest, it is logical to assume that the fit cannot be equal to unfit. Therefore, some fittest persons must be more equal than others. The result is exploitation of the weak by the strong. This is the culture of democratic capitalism.
Democratic socialism is the form of government as found in India. The original Constitution of India did not include the words like ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’. These words were added later. Pandit Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent was an admirer of socialism as practiced in the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He thought capitalism was Western concept and socialism was needed to be copied for India’s progress. The first space satellite was launched by USSR in 1957 and Yuri Gagarin became the first astronaut to orbit in space in 1961. Nehru got obsesses with Russia. Thus he established a chain of government owned steel mills, oil refineries, heavy industrial plants like Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Earth Movers, etc. All these have become sick units. The Government of India made a u-turn now and we have a Disinvestment Minister in the person of Shri Arun Shourie, whose task is to wind up all these sick units/corporations and remove all investments/control by the Government of India.
In Manipur, Imphal Hotel Ashoka, an ITDC (India Tourism Development Corporation) run hotel was closed for more than a year. With more than fifty employees and a salary expenditure of over rupees three lakhs per month, Imphal Hotel Ashoka has become a white elephant. Our Tourism Minister, Shri C. Doungel hopes to revive Imphal Hotel Ashoka. We wish him good-luck. Though I am not trying to dishearten our minister but I am tempted to point out that even ITDC-run hotels in Delhi are also unable to sail on an even keel. These are being wound up.
Indian philosophy preaches survival of all-the strong, the weak, the poor, the handicapped, and the disabled and in fact all. Our national policy is governed by this philosophy. It is more humane, more sublime and more spiritual. In our eagerness to stop exploitation of the weak, our government introduces control over the would-be exploiters. The result is a license raj, permit raj, etc. This is encouraging corruption at political and bureaucratic levels and is impeding progress. Small Asian countries like Singapore, Taiwan, etc. are far ahead of India in per capita income. In a recent survey of about one hundred and twenty countries of the world, to find out the order of corruption-free governments, Sweden ranked number one. Whereas India was around ninety-one and Bangladesh trailed the bottom. This shows the quality of governance in India is very unsatisfactory.
The basic defect in Indian democracy is the low material content of our politicians, particularly the elected representatives. Recently, Supreme Court issued a directive to the Election Commission of India to prevent criminals from contesting elections. All political parties got united and decided to pass an election reforms bill on the plea that laws are to be enacted by legislators and Supreme Court cannot over-step their jurisdiction. Parliament could not pass the bill due to pandemonium on petrol pump and gas agency scam. Since parliament has been postponed sine-die, the Government of India pushed the bill in the shape of an ordinance. The requirement of an ordinance confirms our suspicion that the current method of Indian elections is not producing expected result. Be that as it may, since India is a democracy, the people of India have the right and opportunity to correct the wrong. This right and opportunity comes to the people at election time after every five years.
Freedom implies responsibility. Responsibility involves honesty and sincerity. Democracy is irresponsible hands in anarchy. The people of India who wielded sovereign and supreme power must be honest and sincere. The Indian nation cannot absolve this responsibility of electing our representatives who are worthy of the trust reposed on
them. Elections in India are corrupted by money power, gun power, muscle power, etc. there is no doubt that the Government in power misuses power, muscle power. That was the reason why Sakaria Commission had recommended President’s Rule in all states three months before elections are to take place. Now, there is demand for imposition of Governor’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir and President’s Rule in Gujarat. This kind of mistrust people have on our governments.
On the other hand, in all democratic countries of the world elections are held under an existing government. An alert and responsible electorate can always teach a lesson to a non-performing ruling political party. The voter must understand his democratic rights and realize at the time of casting his vote will determine his own future as well as that of the nation. Complaining later that our politicians are all corrupt and unworthy, exhibits hypocrisy. Let us remember the old adage that ‘the people will get the government they deserve a better government, by voting boldly and honestly.
(The author is a former member of the Manipur State Legislative Assembly)
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