60 YEARS OF INDIAN PARLIAMENT

I have been reading the recent articles on euphoria that has gripped the political class on the completion of 60 years of India’s parliament. To quote Sonia Gandhi – “an anniversary is also a moment of reflection, to consider our role and place in the rich fabric of our nations life and history. The integrity and independence of parliament must be preserved and protected at all costs with no room for compromise.” Wow what a laudable statement indeed.

Taking a cue from her I have been doing my own reflection and am quite bewildered at what I see going on. On reflection I find that the 16^th. Lok Sabha  has a strength of 552 members and of these 162 members have criminal and/or other cases pending against them. Our politicians, who comprise the integrity of parliament, have some really stark and compelling cases against them. Consider this- 14 LS members reportedly have cases of murder against them (what are they doing outside and attending parliament, when they should be in jail), 20 reportedly have an attempt to murder charge against them, 13 of abduction and 11 have charges of cheating against them.  So, about 33 % of the 16^th. Lok Sabha, is under a very dark cloud indeed, and they have the temerity to talk of the “integrity” of parliament.

Can these members really uphold the “integrity” of India’s parliament? And where will this lead the country?  We have been mute witnesses to the almost daily disruptions in parliament, we have seen unruly behaviour (with one MP striding up to the treasury benches and tearing up a bill – when proceedings are telecast live) again almost every day, walkouts, non issues being hotly debated (if you can call it a debate) and generally uncivilized behaviour is more the norm rather than the exception. And some MPs are caught watching porn and some are caught in the act and CDs circulated.

These are the lawmakers of our country. And we the people have elected them. So I guess we get the government we deserve. But is this what India deserves? A government that is dithering all the time. A government that is held to ransom by fringe players, who make up the numbers to prop up a government, which has no right to govern. And we are told that these are the compulsions of coalition politics !! What a travesty, on all of us long suffering Indians. And whenever our MPs are called names they hit back citing that the “integrity of parliament” must be upheld at all costs. And that is why Anna Hazare’s campaign has been a big hit with the people but not with the parliamentarians. They just don’t realize that they are the people who have contributed most, to erosion of parliament’s lack of integrity and a total disenchantment with the political class. A crying shame indeed that politics has now come to be criminalized in the way it has.

So what can be done? Is all lost? I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. And not all of our MPs are bad – but they get tainted with the same brush.. unfortunately. All we have to do is to start a small movement for change – even a small one where each of my readers makes a personal commitment that we will not vote for any candidate who has any criminal case pending against him/her. It is a duty we have to undertake unfailingly as it is both a duty as well as an obligation to future generations of Indians! Just think for a minute – is this the India that Rabindranath Tagore dreamed and wrote about when he penned …. to this India let me awake?