Hope for the Republic

Nirmal Sandhu

IN the last one year this Republic has seen some momentous changes. Threats to democracy and its institutions have grown. The good thing is these have also activated upholders of democracy, including some judges of the Supreme Court. That is reason enough for satisfaction that things won’t fall apart.

If the recent protests and elections are any indication, the number of people who were once in thrall to a strong, decisive leader is declining. The price they are required to pay for having a strong man at the helm has turned out to be quite hefty. They find that on the pretext of nabbing black money holders and tax evaders, Inspector Raj has been brought back. The Aadhaar link to every bank account, investment and transaction means any time some official may find something amiss and haul them up. Their money in the bank is no longer safe. Individual rights and freedoms are in danger of being trampled over by a creepy, ever-expanding State. 

There is a sense of fear in the street. Repeatedly getting reminded of being a Hindu or a Muslim or of having a non-existent majority-vs-minority conflict does not give one a nice feeling at the end of the day. That a joyous moment like carol singing on Christmas could invite a sedition charge is not something even the majority is used to. Such changes in daily life are not what they had bargained for while voting to power the strong leader who had promised development. The unintended baggage they have acquired in the process now weighs them down.

A fast-growing economy that a less strong or even a weak leader would not have dared to disrupt could have thrown up opportunities for their young ones. Growth has been slowed down by ill-thought-out interventions of a leader bereft of sound economic advice. A strong leader gets to hear what he wants to hear.

However, a Republic of fear coexists with a Republic of hope. Their number may not be large, but there are people who are beginning to see through political demagoguery and realise what harm politics of polarisation has caused to a life of social harmony, once taken for granted. Claims of sabka saath, sabka vikas sound hollow. Manipulation of institutions through loyalists at key positions is causing irreparable damage to the Republic.

All this could have been a reason for despondency but the national mood on this Republic Day is less than gloomy. As during the days of the Emergency, signs of hope are emerging. The strong leader no longer seems that strong, that invincible. The thought that he can be wrong too is sinking in. If Gujaratis today are not as enamoured of their former Chief Minister as they used to be for 12 and a half years, it should cause no surprise that Brand Modi is losing part of the shine in other parts of the country as well.

By now the consequences of a botched-up demonetisation have all been lived through. A tax reform like the GST has caused so much discomfort and pain because the priority of the Central and state finance ministers was not to simplify the tax structure for the benefit of the taxpayer but to extract maximum from him to fill their coffers so that voters could be lured with freebies.

Farmer protests in BJP-ruled states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra point to a growing disenchantment with the strong leader the country had so overwhelmingly voted to power only some four years ago.

Those following political developments closely have got used to, or rather got tired of, the coarseness of the political discourse. They have realised that the “demons” the strong leader is supposedly fighting on their behalf are his own creation. 

Muslims now avoid overreacting to provocations by foot soldiers of the Sangh Parivar. The so-called threat from Pakistan has lost its emotive power to work up arm-chair watchers of verbal contests on TV as the one from China has turned out to be an overdone thing.  

While sections of society are leading a life in the shadow of fear, street vandals protesting the release of the film Padmaavat have no fear of the law or of the strong leader. They are allowed a free run in BJP-ruled states and state governments are unlikely to make them pay for the damage to public property. By clearing the film for release, the Supreme Court has once again proved that it is the last hope for ensuring a civilised life when ruling politicians abdicate their constitutional responsibility. Grievances, if any, have to be sorted out in court, not on the street.

Although large sections of the media have fallen in line, tamed by the lure of advertisements or veiled threats, some remain defiant. First the murder of Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh, then the CBI raids on NDTV and then the registration of an FIR against The Tribune and its reporter were crude attempts to browbeat and silence some of the very few independent voices left in the profession.

Ordinary people caught in the daily grind may not fully appreciate the seriousness of the shrinking space for civil rights and liberties, including freedom of the media, but still the murder of Gauri Lankesh and the action against NDTV and The Tribune galvanised a great many public-spirited journalists and activists nationally. That is another reason for hope that the Republic will be safe in the years to come.

The most significant reason for hope is the way the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court broke with tradition and chose to speak up in public. They took the unusual step after having exhausted all available means of redress. In fact, it would have been more distressing and harmful to the Republic had they quietly continued with their job, unmindful of attempts to seek favourable outcomes for certain politicians.

What Justice Chelameswar has said can, in fact, be a general guiding principle for individuals holding public offices: “I don’t want that 20 years later, some very wise men in this country blame them that they (Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph) had sold their souls; they did not take care of this institution; they did not take care of the interests of this nation”.  

If every institution, every public office in this country has individuals who follow the law and the rules, and refuse to be a party to any morally wrong or illegal act or decision, it would become a lot harder for colluding politicians and bureaucrats to deviate from the established procedures, break the law and get away with it.

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