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| We must solemnly admit to failing the Constitution | | | Jagmohan
It was on November 26, 1949 that the Constitution of India was adopted. To commemorate this historic event, November 26, every year, is observed as the Constitution Day. In the context of the coming elections, it may be worthwhile to examine, on this year’s Constitution Day, how the lynchpin of the constitutional apparatus, the voter, is functioning.
It were "We, the people" who gave ourselves a modern Constitution committed to high ideals. But was it really "we" or a small segment of leaders of our freedom-struggle who were inspired by great ideas and idealism? Now, that "we, the people" are increasingly occupying a larger space on the national stage and appearing on the scene in our true colours, do these ideas and ideals not look like mere words which are daily cast aside in our conduct, our behaviour and our attitudes? Is our conduct, behaviour and attitude consistent with our constitutional aims of creating a fair and just society by fair and just means.
Do "we, the people" understand the true meaning of democracy and its pre-requisite of having a clear mind which can distinguish between the elementary right and elementary wrong and which is not led by destructive forces that bring the criminal and the corrupt to the forefront or cause further fragmentation of an already fragmented society? Do we not constitute an ever increasing network of bribe-takers and bribe givers?
How is it that "we, the people" have continuously been throwing up leadership that is willing to live with the worst type of social and cultural evils and not fight and end them? Why do even the most educated among us choose to go to abominably dirty temples controlled by abominably ignorant, corrupt and obscurantist elements, pay obeisance and make offerings in cash, kind or both?
How is it that "we, the people" remain intellectually and morally so timid as to invariably turn a blind eye to sordid heaps of degeneration that lie scattered all around us and not realise that for cleaning the stagnant and stinking drains of our society, strong reformative cultural current needs to pass through it? Why is no one among us providing social, cultural and intellectual leadership which would look to the ancient times when the Indian mind was pure, powerful and profound and her soul creative, calm and compassionate and rekindle that mind and re-awaken that soul, and rebuild an India on the strength of forces emanating from such a rekindled mind and a reawakened soul?
And how is it that "we, the people" have all along been oblivious of what Swami Vivekananda had underlined about a century ago: "You may make thousands of societies, 20,000 political assemblages, 50,000 institutions. There will be no use unless there is that sympathy, that love, that heart that thinks for all. But where is the heart to build upon? Where are the foundations?"
These days, as a major cause of poor governance, we often hear of the failure of institutions — failure of the executive, Parliament, judiciary and other public and semi-public organisations. But we rarely hear of the failure that lies at the root of all these failures, that is, the failure of "we, the people". It is we — at least a substantial number of us — who have first to acquire pure and sympathetic hearts, powerful and profound minds and ennobling souls. Only then the nation would be able to find the right kind of persons and provide them with the right kind of motivation to take State institutions in the right direction and run them honestly, fairly and firmly.
Let me give an example, of how "we, the people" act as voters. To check criminalisation of politics and entry of criminal elements in Parliament, amendments were recently made in election rules.
It was, inter alia, made obligatory on the part of the candidate to file an affidavit, with his nomination papers, giving full particulars of the criminal cases, if any, pending against him in any court of law. The objective was to ensure that the voter had full information about the antecedents, character and dispositions of the candidate.
To my mind, it was clear from the very beginning that this would be another exercise in futility and another measure of self-deception to which our Election Commission, our courts and our arm-chair intellectuals often resort to. And it turned out to be so.
In the course of elections to the 14th Lok Sabha, the candidates furnished the necessary information. Yet, about a 100 candidates, who were involved in criminal cases, got elected. About 30 of them had serious charges — murder, dacoity, rape, kidnapping and extortion — pending against them.
The problem all along was the voters — the stuff they were made of. Even prior to the amendments, the involvement of some candidates in criminal cases was known to the voters. But most of them were willing to ignore it. They were either beneficiaries of the criminal activities or considered caste, creed and other parochial factors more important. Morality, rectitude, concern for the health of the polity or future of the country mattered little in their calculations.
Clearly, the outcome of the amendments could not be different from what it came out to be. In fact, the number of Members of Parliament involved in criminal cases increased in the 14th Lok Sabha as compared to the corresponding number in the 13th Lok Sabha. Some of them even became ministers in the Union Cabinet, holding important portfolios.
Unfortunately, our decision-makers — Election Commission, Parliament and the executive — did not have any inclination to deal with the real problem which lay embedded in the outlook of the voters; instead, they contented themselves by making a few amendments and entertaining a belief that the problem had been solved.
How right was N.A. Palkhivala, when, years ago, he observed: "The foundation of the Constitution has been shaken by the folly of the people, the corruption of the politicians and the negligence of the elite".
Author is former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir |
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