Unanimity in Polity

 This was supposed to be about a certain journalistic breakthrough but ended up being yet another boring and dreary piece about the dismal state of politics. While going through the copious references to the leaks by various agencies, one common factor dawned upon me – not a single head of state had unequivocally shown his/her support for the embattled founder and his creation. Julian Assange, whom many have rechristened as the “Cyber Osama”, through the WikiLeaks has in fact done something even OBL could not – he has divided the populus and united the polity. The September 11 attacks, by shaking the bedrock of American arrogance, instilled a sense of fear which brought them on the same pitch as the government in its War against Terror. It took them 8 years to come out of that shell and throw out the Bush administration. The Cablegate incident on the other hand has divided American public into those who condemn callous treatment of confidential transcripts and those who champion free speech. Since the leaked cables date back to ‘66 and span across multiple presidencies, both the Democrats and the Republicans are unanimous on their stand of plugging the leaks.

Closer home, Ratan Tata attempts to invoke the same unanimity by petitioning to increase the scope of the 2G scam probe to the time when the BJP-led NDA was in majority. If he succeeds, he would at least save the nation a part of the bounty that Raja has allegedly stolen from her. The recent logjam over the relevance of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in the winter session of the Parliament has caused a loss of  ` 171 crores to the nation. With the UPA and opposition parties playing the blame game, this session has turned out to be one of the most un-productive ones in the history of the Indian Parliament. A senior Congress spokesperson, with all the arrogance of the world, has said that since his party is in power what ever it decides has to be followed. The Opposition is unyielding to the extent of blackmailing the government by stalling parliamentary procedure for no less than 23 days. Interestingly, the only thing that was agreed upon was a minute of silence in remembrance of the 2001 attacks – not on the WTC or Pentagon but the Parliament House itself.

The present telecom minister, while debating the merits of a JPC, claimed that it has none since there already are seven different agencies investigating the same and that a JPC is nothing but a vehicle for political propaganda. What is interesting is that it was the UPA while in the opposition that held the then government to ransom when the Tehelka expose was a burning issue. The NDA in response has decided to hold apolitical rallies in seven Indian states campaigning against the rampant corruption of the central administration. Not surprisingly Karnataka, where NDA itself is under criticism, is not one of them. Such blatant disregard for democratic principles is not only impeding positive growth but is also creating an atmosphere where the electorate is left befuddled and distraught. If members of the Indian polity cannot be unanimous in their opinion, they can at least agree to disagree and leave the public to decide for itself who the culprits really are instead of throwing flower pots in the assembly or holding dharnas on the speaker’s table.

Having talked of the U.S.A and India, it becomes imperative to mention the supreme example of political unanimity – The People’s Republic of China. It may seem redundant and frivolous to talk about unanimity in a single-party system, but remember that the founders of the Muslim League and Janata Party were also once members of what has now evolved into the Congress (I). China through its enforced unilateralism has emerged as the leader in terms of production and export of agricultural and industrial goods. Now before you play the “violation of human rights” card, it would be wise to note that China ranks above India in the Human Development Index. And the figures that contribute to such indices are distorted in both nations.

As Charles Dickens famously wrote, and we will keep on quoting him (as nothing better has since been said or written), “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”. Our economy has been growing leaps and bounds and in contrast the politicians have managed to submerge to greater depths than previously imaginable. It is now upto us to make the best or worst out of it.