Raj Subramaniam — My country has paid up the ransom, Mr. Hazare!

My country has paid up the ransom, Mr. Hazare!

Disclaimer: I am equally appalled by corruption in governance. I’m not a government stooge.

If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.

The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not “to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions”. There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness. As has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel O’Connel, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.

These are the words of Dr. B R Ambedkar, delivering his landmark speech to the Constituent Assembly before presenting the final draft of the Indian Constitution. Here’s the link to the complete transcript. Take some time out to read it and then some more to ponder over it.

The events of the last few days should pain and scare, in equal measure, every responsible citizen of this country. Even as I write this post, the television is filled with joyous images of people celebrating the Nation’s victory over corruption. The hysteria and euphoria is palpable.

And yet, I’m sad. Very sad. Today, the Indian Constitution lost. We lost. I’m shattered.

We lost because a few hundred people were able to hold a constitutionally elected government to ransom. We lost because one man was able subvert the very Constitution that guarantees everything that we hold dear - our liberty, our life. And we lost because, in our exuberance of having achieved a rare “victory” over our government, we haven’t realized what we’ve lost!

Please don’t get me wrong. I want change as badly as you do. I want a corruption-free nation for my unborn children. I want a government that is truly for the people.

But what I don’t want is the will of a small group, however well-meaning, to trump the country’s Constitution. The founding fathers have blessed and armed us with the most extraordinary Constitution - filled with provisions to accommodate the true will of this nation’s citizenry.

While I completely support Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption stand, I vehemently oppose his means. And I vehemently oppose his hair-brained solutions. I don’t even want to mention the useless piece of legislation, the Lok Pal Bill, that is at the heart of the entire agitation. Shuddhabrata Sengupta and Nitin Pai have written fairly balanced articles on the subject.

It’s a blatant perversion of the constitutional democracy that “award-winning”, “eminent” personalities from the so-called civil society have weaseled their way into the legislative process. The power to legislate is a privilege bestowed on the elected representatives, who, by definition, are answerable to the nation. A bunch of eminent personalities, by the virtue of having won a few awards, have conveniently usurped this privilege without being charged with accountability to the nation. Why should we celebrate the wisdom of awards juries over the democratic process of elections. Remember, a certain Rajat Gupta was the blue-eyed boy of such juries not so long ago.

If Anna Hazare is competent enough to nominate members to represent the civil society in the bill drafting committee, why not completely dispense with elections? Let Hazare nominate the members of the Executive and Judicial branches as well. As Dr. Ambedkar warns in the aforementioned speech, hero worship is a sure road to eventual dictatorship. Read this story in TOI to get a dekko into the workings of Anna’s mind. With due respect to his age and intentions, Anna Hazare comes across as an older (and slightly sober) version of the chest-thumping patriots with warpaint, usually seen on the streets during cricket matches, with grand plans for the country!

Tools like Satyagraha have no place in a constitutional democracy. As Pratap Bhanu Mehta, in The Indian Express, rightly points out:

There is something deeply coercive about fasting unto death. When it is tied to an unparalleled moral eminence, as it is in the case of Anna Hazare, it amounts to blackmail. There may be circumstances, where the tyranny of government is so oppressive, or the moral cause at stake so vital that some such method of protest is called for. But in a functioning constitutional democracy, not having one’s preferred institutional solution to a problem accepted, does not constitute a sufficient reason for the exercise of such coercive moral power.

And equally unfortunate is the irresponsible use of terms like “Revolution” and “Uprising” by the protestors and the media. A revolution is, and has to be, the last resort. It is not a fad. So my dear fellow countrymen, don’t you dare tell me that my country is beyond redemption and needs a revolution.

A nation simmering with anger over the blatant corruption in governance and frustrated with high unemployment rates is a dynamite keg. A small spark, especially in the form of a messiah promising salvation, is enough to trigger anarchy. Hence, calls for civil-disobedience and ‘jail-bharo’ should be condemned.

Effecting socio-political change is not a matter of holding candles and marching in front of television cameras. Such Rang De Basanti inspired shows are not sustainable. If the protesting youth want change, they have to work for it. And work very hard. Any change requires the participation of the entire nation, not just the educated elite. There are hundreds of organizations like the Association for Democratic Reforms (National Election Watch) and Janagraha who working towards educating the electorate. Lasting change is achievable without resorting to unconstitutional stunts. But this requires hard work and an active participation of the youth. Volunteering with organizations working at the grassroots is a good start. But of course, there will be no cameras, no bollywood and absolutely no glamour.

But any further discussion on this issue is moot. A government, weakened by a slew of scams that would put African despots to shame, has caved in. The rubicon has been crossed and a dangerous precedent set.

So, there you go. My nation has paid up the ransom, Mr. Hazare. Congratulations!