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POLITICAL DIARY
Virodhi Or Dushman?
ENFORCE MORAL CODE FIRMLY
By Poonam I Kaushish
New Delhi, December 11, 2007
Rajnetik virodhi ya jaani dushman? Tragically, the lines
between a political opponent and a sworn enemy have got
blurred. Nothing epitomizes this better than the brazen
communal campaigning in the Gujarat Assembly poll. Which has
trashed basic courtesies and decencies. Ended the camaraderie,
bonhomie and respect among healthy rivals. Unabashedly revived
the burning issue of communalism. And caste. That could set
India ablaze and threaten its unity once more.
Everyone and everything has become game in the land of the
Mahatma. From desh bhakts to desh drohis. For the Congress,
confused about its support base, devoid of a vote plank and
desperate about stopping its main opponent, the BJP from
returning to power, it fell back to its tried and tested
formula --- blatant minoritism, which, actually, is brazen
communalism. For the Saffron Sangh it is a do-or-die battle
for the Hindu poster boy Chief Minister Modi.
The ball was set rolling by the Congress President, Sonia
Gandhi, at a tribal rally in the State. Wherein she denounced
Modi as a maut ke saudagar and promised to "throw the cheats
and liars out of Gujarat." Retaliated Modi, “Italian mud will
not stick on me. It is they who are hand in glove' with maut
ke saudagar. Till today, Afzal Guru, who masterminded the
attack on Parliament in 2001 hasn't been hanged defying the
Supreme Court verdict.”
But he did not stop there. At another rally, Modi played the
Hindutva card to the hilt. He asked the crowd: “You tell me
what should have been done to Sohrabuddin? (An alleged
Pakistani terrorist killed in a police encounter). “Kill him,
kill him, kill him...,” the people responded. “Barobar chhe
(that’s fine).” “Sohrabuddin got what he deserved. Do I need
to take Sonia Gandhi’s permission for this? Hang me if I have
done anything wrong.” Leaving none in doubt about his target:
“Gujarat ke dharti pe maut ke saudagar nahin rahne doonga!
Retorted another Congress senior leader Digvijay Singh: “Modi
is a terrorist and Gujarat has become a hub of Hindu
terrorists.” Countered the BJP Dy Leader in the Lok Sabha
Vijay Malhotra, “Sonia has a hatred for Hindus. She speaks
against Hindus and chooses to remain silent when atrocities
are committed against the community," Snapped the CPI leader
Gurudas Dasgupta: “Modi is an unchanged lunatic... He is a
cynical and criminal challenge to democracy.” Added the Prime
Minister for good measure: “If you are against the Modi
Government, only God can save you.”
Today we may hang Modi. But will this stop the mud-raking.
“No”. All are tarred by the same brush. Be it the Congress,
the BJP or any other political party. If the Congress is upset
now, it too has to accept its share of the blame. Was it
correct for Sonia to dub Modi as a “maut ke saudagar?” Or for
Digvijay to call him a “terrorist” and the PM to assert that
“Bhagwan hi malik hai.”
True, Modi has no business to incite the crowds on the
Sohrabbdin issue, specially as the matter is pending in the
Supreme Court. No matter that he may have been provoked by
Sonia into commenting on Sohrabbdin. But two wrongs don’t make
a right.
This see-saw battle between the BJP and the Congress seems to
tell us everything, yet nothing about our polity. Indeed, a
sad reflection on the depth of political depravation we have
come to. What is most worrying is that the campaign of slander
in the Sonia-Modi battle transgresses all limits of political
and public decency and etiquette.
The issue is not whether the BJP is able to beat the Congress
at the numbers game. Nor that both have sacrificed morality at
the altar of power. The issue is also not that the Election
Commission has issued a notice to Modi for his comments on
“Sohrabuddin and linking his name to terrorism, made in the
speech, amounts to indulging in activity which may aggravate
existing differences, creating mutual hatred and causing
tension between different communities, and would involve
violation of the provision of clause (1) and (3) of Item I of
the Model Code of Conduct " Nor is it about his reply.
Sadly, in a milieu where politics has degenerated to a
euphemism for community and caste, cheap thrills and seetees.
Chanted by one and all parties with each propounding its own
recipe of communal and caste harmony, according to their own
warped and selfish political needs. None cared a damn for
morality and none had the patience to bother about the
Election Commission reading the riot act under the model code
of conduct, except for scoring brownie points against each
other. Ends mattered not the means. Winning was the name of
the game. To hell with Gandhi. That too in the Mahatma’s land,
Gujarat.
The EC was left free under the Moral Code to cry hoarse that
“no party or candidate shall indulge in any activity which
aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or
cause tension between different caste and communities,
religious or linguistic”. Also, “there shall be no appeal to
caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques,
churches, temples or other places of worship shall not be used
as forum for election propaganda.”
Further, “criticism of other political parties, when made,
shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record
and work…Criticism of other parties or their workers based on
unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.” So
what? The Congress has once more fallen back on its tried and
tested formula --- putting its secularism against the communal
forces. And Modi has dumped development and is now hooting for
Hindutva.
With parties and candidates wantonly violating the Code, what
is the remedy? Alas, the EC is powerless. Asserted Secretary
Wilfred: “The Model Code of Conduct lacks legal sanction. It
is intended to work as a moral policeman to ensure free and
fair elections. We can only freeze a party’s election symbol
or derecognize it as a national party. Nothing more, nothing
less.” In other words one can merrily violate the code
brazenly and yet get elected to the Lok Sabha and the State
Assemblies.
Importantly, India is today at the moral crossroads. It is
time to take a good fresh look at the Model Code of Conduct
and, wherever necessary, recast it. We need to give more teeth
to the EC. Even give it the power to countermand an election
in case a candidate violates the Code.
Our leaders and parties too must get rid of their excess
baggage of communalism and casteism made a lot more malignant
by our unstable and fragmented politics. With everyone
propounding his or her own recipe of communal harmony, the
nation is getting sucked into the vertex of centrifugal
bickering. Wherein none cares that if this continues, the
colour of India’s river could turn blood red, a repeat of the
horrendous pre-partition nightmare.
The people must not allow themselves to be fooled or taken for
granted. Specially, as we know that our politicians have
perfected the art of cultivating low morality and high greed,
donning different party robes, according to their whims and
fancies --- and the need of the hour. Leaving India
dangerously communal, but the political parties and their
leaders hypocritically secular.
Clearly, it is high time that we start afresh our experiments
with truth in the Mahatma’s land. More so, in our present all
pervasive decadence, interspersed with growing public
distaste, cynicism and despair. If not stopped now, it could
result in a total breakdown our democratic of institutions,
society, culture and ethical values.
As the nation and our polity readies for a new year there
comes a moment of truth and reckoning, it is time to pause and
ask: Are we putting a premium on slander? On immorality. Will
profligacy be the bedrock of India’s democracy? How long do we
suffer the stampede for sensation and slander? And, what is in
the best interest of India and its democracy?
The parties should remember one age-old truth” If you point
one slanderous finger at another, four other slanderous
fingers will point back at you! Can a nation be bare and
bereft of all sense of shame and morality? And, for how long?
---- INFA
(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)
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