Enduring results of the Indian democracy project

Sunday, May 04, 2014

In a conversation with two visiting Indian scholars this week in Colombo, the focus shifted to the
seemingly easy manner in which the Bharathiya Janatha Party BJP! Prime "inisterial candidate in the
ongoing elections, #arendra "odi appears to have captured the $technocratic% space in the Indian
political consciousness&
"ore $authoritarianism% needed in India'
(rue enough, as one of these conversationalists and a celebrated feminist! pointed out, the Indian
electorate has been proved to surprise even the most astute of political watchers& But as she observed,
$what I am most surprised by is the capitulation of much of the middle class to fiery rhetoric that
promises much but lacks solid principle) it is infuriating&%
#o less infuriating is the media cheering s*uads in this heated pre+election campaign, culminating
rather astoundingly perhaps when a leading television channel hosted a show to discuss whether India
needs $more authoritarianism% with enthusiastic voices calling for a new $authoritarian% leader&
Certainly this dynamic can be contrasted or compared with ,ri -anka only up to a certain point& Easy
e*uations cannot be arrived at in regard to the world%s largest democracy& (he tug and pull of
contrasting forces within that massive country is just too varied& (he range of opinions given the
breadth of Indian activism is too multifarious to invite simplistic comparisons&
.istoric and stark divergences
But some reflections are opportune& Primary in this regard is the divergence between India and ,ri
-anka regarding the intensity in which citi/enship is claimed and worked& (o be perfectly clear, we are
talking here not of political leadership but of the manner in which citi/ens demand entitlements& 0nd
even given adoration of the "odi rhetoric by si/eable segments of the Indian business and middle
class, the pendulum swing can never be too e1treme& (he very nature of the Indian electorate ensures
that&
0t one level, the historic divergence between the two countries could not be starker& 2hen the Indian
nation state emerged from the colonial regime, its great constitutional drafters gave rights
consciousness generously with both hands to the Indian people& 3irst and foremost unlike the ,ri
-ankan constitution drafters in 4567 and 4568 whose pusillanimity was e*ualed only by their arrogant
elitism!, they installed the right to life as the most basic of all rights& In following decades, even with
inevitable obstacles regarding the implementation of judicial orders, still the ,upreme Court steered the
rudder of legal protections away from the shoals of political capture&
In recent years, this heady judicial activism has lessened& (he Court itself has been plagued by
accusation of corruption against senior judges& 9et, the integrity attaching to the premier judicial
institution in India has not diminished& :uite unlike ,ri -anka, the Indian judiciary has remained
relatively untouched by scandals surrounding individuals& Indeed, the ravages wreaked on ,ri -anka%s
institutions would not have occurred in India, given a stubbornly $homegrown% consciousness on rights&
In post+war ,ri -anka however, conferences, talk sessions and the mere issuing of statements in legal
theory continue merrily even while the law literally dies around us& 0musingly enough, we see the very
individuals who were once contributory and collusive in the ugly degeneration of judicial independence
during the ,arath ,ilva Court for e1ample, now wa1ing elo*uent on the ;ule of -aw& (hese are the
stuff that ribald comedies are made of&
(he law has stood its ground in India
"oreover, the investigation and proof of allegations against Indian federal ,upreme Court justices is
not merely by partisan politicians but is subjected to initial in*uiry by a committee drawn from the
legal community& It is only thereafter that the matter goes to both .ouses of Parliament& 0 truly
scandalous event such as the 7<4= witch+hunt impeachment of the ,ri -ankan Chief Justice will be
impossible in that country) the storm of outrage that would follow would bring down a government&
(his is an eventuality that will not be risked politically&
(he bigger conte1t is that, e1cept for e1traordinary e1ceptions in India, the law has stood its ground&
>n the other hand, the e1ception has become the norm in ,ri -anka& (he absence of law enforcement is
the order of the day& -et alone the seething issues of minority grievances, we have abandoned the basic
working of the law& (here is indeed an irresistible impulse to break out laughing when non+adherence
to law and regulation is solemnly discussed, as was the case recently in regard to the $casino debates&%
Is there any need to even talk of the law' 2ho really cares'
(he survival of the Indian institutions
0nd as we note 2orld Press 3reedom ?ay, there are significant differences in the manner in which the
media works in both countries& Corporatism and political partisanship had wreaked its own damage on
Indian media& But its reach and credible impact is far different to the ,ri -ankan media& 2e do not need
censorship any more& Indubitably we have become our own best censors& >ther struggles are also
illustrative& (hus, the right to information ;(I! in the Indian polity has been obtained not through
political concession but by hard battles on the streets& ;(I has been used to e1poses corrupt judges,
politicians and public servants& (hese are not easy victories) the list of ;(I activists who have been
killed grows year by year& But yet, the stubbornness of the ;(I spirit prevails&
0ll this goes to say that whatever tumult may occur in regard to the Indian Premier stakes, the Indian
people need not fear the degeneration of their institutions& 2hatever harsh criticisms that one may have
of Indian foreign policy, the results of the Indian democracy project lies in its claiming of a bold,
sometimes raucous but always arrestingly vibrant citi/enship&
2e may well feel envious& 0s the parroting of meaningless nonsense mas*uerades as democracy and as
we put up with the most profound indignities for the sake of $survival%, our deadened $state of
citi/enship% surely cannot pose a greater contrast than this&