Politician or Constitution?

What's first: Politician or Constitution? Of Democracy's fabled Four Estates, the Indian Constitution ignored the First and the Second, Clergy and Nobility, with the contempt they deserved. It laid great score by the Third, Parliament. And it indirectly recognised the Fourth, the Press. It says a lot about the way we have practised democracy this past half-century that the order envisaged by the Constitution stands reversed today. Clergy in the form of religious lobbies, and Nobility in the form of VIPs, IAS babus and the Moneyed Mafia come above others. Parliament has gone into self-destruct. The Press is a victim of marketing maniacs within and would-be controllers without. A nation state is only as good as the foundational institutions that hold it up. Parliament and the judiciary were the most obvious of these foundations. A network of other supervisory bodies was also put in place, their independence constitutionally protected so that no scheming politician or vested interest could interfere. This guaranteed independence gave institutions like the Comptroller & Auditor General, the Election Commission, even the CBI a halo that commanded high respect. In practice, however, the Constitution proposed, the politicians disposed. Parliament received a lethal blow when Sanjay Gandhi filled it with "elected" street hooligans who provided the shouting brigade he wanted. The man and the autocracy he represented are gone, but the culture of hooliganism he developed continues in Parliament. Dishonourable MPs have built on that culture. We have seen MPs taking bribes for raising questions, and MPs smuggling illegal emigrants abroad. Now we have an MP going into the cockpit of an aircraft and calling the pilot a glorified driver. This man is not even a people's representative as he claimed; he won a nomination on the basis of his wealth and his friendship with corrupt politicians. Any Parliament would be demeaned by such arrogant members. Unlike Parliament, which went from bad to worse, the judiciary recovered from Indira Gandhi's onslaught. It is today perhaps the single most important upholder of people's rights. That can hardly be said of the crucial institution of Comptroller & Auditor General. When T N Chaturvedi, who retired from that post, accepted a state governorship at the behest of a political party, he dragged the reputation of the C & AG down along with his own. It was as violative of democratic propriety as Balram Jakhar accepting a governor's post after being Lok Sabha Speaker. Now even the Election Commission is getting devalued. After the glory days of T N Seshan's masterly independence, the appointment of Navin Chawla, politically branded by his closeness to the Indira Gandhi family, gave it a body blow. Now the appointment of former CEC Gill as a minister in Delhi has eroded what is left of its credibility. In the days to come, perhaps the Election Commission will play its role as the CBI is playing its. This is the singular contribution of the Sonia Gandhi culture that envelopes all appointments today. Even her critics must admit that the daughter-in-law is subtler and cleverer than the mother-in-law. One needed Emergency to impose her will on the country. The other does the same thing without Emergency. Cry, the beloved country. Sriram Savarkar Hinduism is more a way of life than a method of worship. Dharmo Rakshati Rakshithaha If you protect Dharma, Dharma will in turn protect you. If people slap Hindus once, Hindus will slap them twice!!

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