Democracy in peril

Culture and decency are tricky words. They are not essentially subjective but invariably reflect the community around. For instance, culture is the evolved decency of a community, while decency is the individual culture of a person. Pepper spray and half-naked demonstration in the highest legislative bodies of this country says it all. Compromising the culture reflects the decadence of the society and divorcing the decency represents the collapse of the individual character.

The highest legislative bodies of this country have long become bohemian and reflects the total disconnect from the people, whom they are supposed to represent. How else would you explain the arrogance of the high command in not appreciating the ground realties in a state and the ignorance of a group of ministers who have virtually no idea, whatsoever, of the mindset of the people of Amudalavalasa or Markapur or Proddatur. They refuse to respond to their grievances, even granting they are standing on a commitment and leaders who gatecrash into the house with a pepper spray or virtually manhandling the Deputy Chairman of the house, tearing the papers in his hand. The party high command conspiring to make its party members into marshalls to handle the demonstrators physically, closing the gates of Parliament, switching off of the TV live transmission, cutting the country from the happenings of the house- this is a bizarre and sad reflection of the culture of our politics. The darkest hour in the history of Parliament. This is not the purpose for which these houses were intended. We had great luminaries like Babasaheb Ambedkar, Mavalankar, Ananthasayanam Ayyangar, etc, to name a few, who poured wisdom into the legislations to safeguard the welfare of our country. What we are seeing is only the denigration of moral values, ridicule and shame and a dangerous abortion of the parliamentary democracy.

A Rashtriya Lok Dal MLA Veer Pal Rathi and his colleague Suresh Sharma took off their clothes and stood on their seats raising slogans (for whatever may be the cause) while the Governor B L Joshi was entering the house to address the members. Utter Pradesh Minister Azam Khan brazenly encourages them “why only shirts, the legislators should have removed pants too’’ to prove that they are real men! And the leader of the assembly, the youngest Chief Minister of the Country Akhilesh Yadav was laughing at the sight!

And then, a minister in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was accused of sexual assault. An FIR was lodged against him in Srinagar. The opposition member of People’s Democratic Party Syed Bashir Ahmed insisted on the government to take action against the minister. The speaker of the assembly Mubarak Gul ordered the marshalls to remove the shouting legislator from the house. And then the member slapped the marshal in the very house!

The speakers of the various houses getting elected by the majority party, becoming partisan to the ruling party has become a routine by now. There was a hue and cry to elect non-partisan leaders since long. The crux of the problem is the parties are choosing lumpen elements to contest, who in turn are denigrating the honour of the house, because they themselves have no idea as to what this great institution means to our society. One member of 15th Lok Sabha Pinaki Mishra lamented in a TV debate that the last 5 years in Parliament are the most disturbing years of his political life.

The people have not forgotten the members of the legislatures watching porn films in the House or MLA Hanuman Bedi of Rajasthan uttering unprintable words in the assembly. How many times have the members broken the mikes of the speaker or fought with mikes on the floor of the house.

The highest bodies of this country have long become boxing rings. The hope that the privilege extended to people of this country through TV transmissions to have the first hand exposure of the deliberations in the legislative bodies gave vent to the leaders performing their unruly caricatures to boast their participation--not in the discussion but to impress their muscle power. They are performing to the galleries outside. Why else do you require pepper spray in Parliament? Imagine Jayaprakash Narayan, Sardar Patel, J B Kripalani and many others confronted with pepper spray! (it is time somebody like R K Laxman draw a caricature of this!)

It is Kiran Bedi, who suggested on a TV talk show that it is time we introduced “yellow card’’ system as in games. You misbehave once you will be given a yellow card and will be suspended for a day. You misbehave again you will be given yet another card suspending you for the entire session. And somebody wondered as to why not, he be debarred to contest elections altogether? The pity is that our legislative bodies have long become playing fields where the physical strength of a member is being tested instead of his wisdom or ability to run the country.

We have seen the tallest leaders like Potti Sreeramulu laying his life to augur a new state, while these leaders bartered the individual and collective honour of the institution losing the cause altogether retiring from the political scene, apologising to the misdeed.

A person becomes an animal when his mental and moral faculty fails him and he is bereft of his ability to drive home a decent idea. The highest legislative body is supposed to represent the elite cream of the largest democracy of the world. Instead, unfortunately, it became a stage to settle accounts in a boxing ring. Pepper spray is the final nail on the coffin.

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