The Hindu Business Line : The rule of law

In West Bengal, the Gorkhaland Jana Morcha has taken the decision unilaterally to replace West Bengal vehicle number-plates with ones bearing an unofficial "GJ" number. It has also begun a campaign to deface office signboards which have "Government of West Bengal" written on them, replacing "West Bengal" with "Gorkhaland". The payment of some local taxes has been halted. Apart from registering cases against perpetrators of these acts, as far as reports indicate, the State authorities have made no arrests so far for these illegal acts.

In Maharashtra, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has gone on the rampage, their target being people from some other States. The State authorities have been shaking heaven and earth with their threats and directions to take action against the law-breakers, but till the time of writing nothing much appears to have been done on the ground.

It is nothing short of being a matter of grave concern to the structure of the Indian Republic that, instead of taking concrete action against those guilty of breaking the law, the Chief Minister of the State is reported to have given an "ultimatum" to his own police force that "they had to deal with MNS activists with an iron hand".

Adding insult to injury is the challenge thrown at the State Government by the principal MNS leader daring it to arrest him.

Absent from Lok Sabha

In New Delhi, right in the well of the Lok Sabha, there have been reports of an MP from Assam threatening to disrobe in front of an august assembly, including the Prime Minister and lady members, in order to press his point on communal problems in his region.

Coupled with this is the report appearing in a national daily which said that, till date, the Lok Sabha had met just for 32 days this year compared to a high of 151 in 1956. Even if the sitting-record for the rest of the year is good, 2008 is expected to stand out as the year when Parliament met for the shortest period to discuss matters affecting the well-being of the nation. Is the nation really doing so well that MPs can afford to stay away from the House where national problems are being discussed and debated and, presumably, devote more of their time to "constituency work"? Admittedly, seen from one of view, things are not so bad, after all.

Bright side

For one thing, despite the pressures it is having to bear vis-…-vis the international financial churning currently on, the economy continues to be on an even keel. It may dip in the weeks ahead as the liquidity problem trickles down to the lower levels but, all said and done, it is on firm ground with respect to productivity and competitive strength.

For another, the nation's technical expertise is about to add have one more feather to stuck in its already feather-laden cap, with the first Indian moon mission, Chandrayaan-1.

Every Indian should feel proud of these achievements, especially because they have been able once again to put India (or the subcontinent generally) back on to the world map. But the fact remains that unless there is an accompanying reform in the standards of political behaviour, these gains are under the constant threat of being lost. This is because such attainments are firmly rooted in political and social stability, which in turn depend wholly on the quality of the Indian leadership. Among other things, the place of the rule of law is sacrosanct within this framework and executive authority must be seen to bolster this position irrespective of other compulsions.

Is this what is happening in our Republic these days? If not, why not? And what is the remedy?

RANABIR RAY CHOUDHURY