Himanshu Shekhar
22nd July 2008 will be remembered as an extraordinary day in the history of Indian democracy for reasons both good and bad. The flashing of wads of cash in the sanctum sanctorum of democracy’s temple sent shock waves across all sections of the society.
Without even going into the merits of the case, one can say that what unfolded that day in the Lok Sabha would compel voters to regret the kind of representatives they have chosen. But all that would only be a part of the larger story. Incidents of July 22nd also reaffirm one’s faith in Indian democracy.
Lok Sabha expressed trust in one of India’s most strategic foreign policy deal post Independence. The house also made reasonably clear that majority in that august body was in favour of the nuclear deal as leader of opposition LK Advani said, “BJP is not against the deal.”
The honourable Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, emerged victorious and many experts referred to it as being ‘graduated into politics’. Singh emerged as King and he had every reason to celebrate his success for he was called a ‘patient in ICU’ by the Leader of Opposition a day earlier. The ‘patient’ not only survived but emerged stronger from ‘ICU’.
Omar Abdullah’s speech
One of the most heartening sights in the Parliament came in the form of a young MP. National Conference’s Omar Abdullah reminded the nation that a handful of people can’t malign an entire community by citing parochial preferences.
What Omar said will be embedded in the history pages because of its subtle boldness and because it reassured world community that when it comes to India, there is no distinction of religion. “I would like to remind this house that I am an Indian, I am also a Muslim and I feel no distinction between the two,” Abdullah said.
Omar further added, “I fail to understand how nuclear deal is anti-Muslim and why religion based politics is being brought into this.”
Speak up for ‘Speaker’
One man who played a pivotal role in anchoring one of the stormiest debates in Parliament in more than a decade is Somnath Chatterjee. The honourable Speaker decided to choose the Constitution of India over CPI(M) and was expelled from the party which he served for four decades.
“Chatterjee may have acted according to the Indian Constitution but the party constitution is supreme in case of party members,” CPI (M) Bengal secretary Biman Bose said. Will they side with Indian Constitution or CPI (M) is for people of this country to choose.
His command and integrity ensured that the Parliament completed the scheduled work despite of unbelievably shameful moments.
Somnath’s defiance will undoubtedly go a long way in initiating a debate in his party, which seems to have very little room for intra party democracy.
Truth will make us free
The most dramatic moments in 50-odd years of Indian democracy was the flashing of cash wads. Minutes after the cash was displayed and telecast live across millions of homes, a private news channel claimed of possessing the ‘cash for vote’ tapes. The three MPs to whom the cash was allegedly offered, claim, that the tapes show how they were approached with bribe.
No one knows if the allegations are true or not. The news channel decided not to air the tapes handing them over to the Speaker, citing privileges of the Parliament. One wonders if it was pure investigative journalism or motivated. Channel needs to answer.
It has happened in an era when the people of India have started believing that the Fourth Estate is growing into an able watchdog of democracy. Anybody who claims to be the fourth pillar of Indian democracy has a moral duty to bring out the truth in front of ‘We the People.’
Meanwhile, let the aberrations not guide our thinking and blur our vision. What matters is that ‘Democracy’ emerged victorious on the 22nd day of July, 2008.
