Fear these Furrows

Zero Resistance

It was the 13^th century, when the first attempt was made by the western world to reign in the absolutism of the kings who drew power from the theory of the divine rights of kings. This attempt appeared in Latin and not English in the form of the magna charta or the ‘great charter’ conceived by the feudality to restrain the powers of King John. I am sure, there were checks and balances to power of the kings even before the charta, but that was the time of the republics of Greeko-roman empires.

In India, the systems contemporaneous to the Greeko-Roman were quite evolved, and Kautilya clearly enunciated “Sahayya Sadhyam Rajatwan chakram ekam na vartate” – which meant that the king and council are the two wheels of the cart and the cart cannot move on one. So the council exercised restraint on the King.

The Magna Carta ( the ‘h’ got dropped somewhere down the line ) inspired many chaptalized versions of world constitutions, including some of the best in the world like the American or the Indian, and may be even the Aussie and Kiwi as well.

In that backdrop, it intrigues me no end, that today, in the same India, the democratically elected representatives of the people are toiling overnight to obstruct any public scrutiny or accountability which the Lokpal Bill may bring into the system.

I hear, that the Lokpal bill has been pending for 50 years. Parliament after parliament has, though not so inscrutably, glossed over the bill administering a peaceful demise – holus bolus – to the bill as it could have checkmated the systematized devouring of the tax payer’s money and the methodical loot of the state exchequer.

Exemplary means are used making my home state of UP the hub of innovative corruption. The latest in the litany of scams in UP is in health care, where few CMOs have even lost their life. Crores of central grant is being fraudulently siphoned off into pockets of a chosen few. The usual story. The next steps predictably being an enquiry commission, a judicial probe, 10 years of down time, and a report that my not clearly indict anyone - the powerful perpetuate their power and the loot continues unabated.

Stupor and slumber and archetypical armchair yellow journalism. These being the hallmark of Indian media, it takes an Anna to bring back focus to such a crucial legislation.

The government which today is so inimical to the Lokpal, will not be so, should it be allowed to bring its own moth eaten, watered down and toothless version of the bill, create an investigative agency Lokpal et al but keep it subservient to its whimsical mandarins, manipulate and manoevre it for political priorities just like it does to the CBI.

The problem is far deeper though. It is not only about an obstructionist government inimical to a bill that could bring all its actions under perpetual scrutiny of an institution whose probity would be taken for granted. It is about the people. Today there is a general rot in the society.

The people who vote are not educated enough - and here we should distinguish education with literacy - for exercising their right to franchise in right prudence. In south for example, usually people vote for dole. Any party promising a color TV would garner more votes than one promising a black and white one. What then will become of a democracy? This poll for dole community could be as much as 300 million strong. It is not that dole does not exist outside of India. In many western countries, social security exists which if withdrawn can create a havoc. See London and Burmingham. People are used to live on state benefits, unemployment stipends, free medical care etc. So India is not unique.

The middle class, or the bourgeoisie as many would like to call it, and both the haute bourgeoisie and the petite bourgeoisie is usually the class that spear heads a revolution. Any social scientist would easily testify to this. Once instigated, the rest of society joins in, the lower classes bring it critical mass and an element of universality and invincibility, and the so called elite, some visibility. The problem is that Indian bourgeoisie is still engrossed in enjoying the newly found freedom of higher disposal incomes. Their favorite pastime is snacking while watching cricket on TV front or lolling in the malls. Today it is not so concerned about taking serious and affirmative action curb corruption.

Nonetheless, it is true that the middle class is sick of corruption and they discuss and debate on this issue for hours on end. This somewhat lackadaisical attitude of the Indian bourgeoisie encourages politicians, granting them, their sycophants and the bureaucracy some sort of immunity.

But we all know, that the Government if fighting a losing battle against Anna and it is a matter of time that the right now apparently unconscionable bourgeoisie will stand up to resurrect a revolution that will be unstoppable and that will be the time when such bills will sail through with zero resistance.