Set the House in order

I did a quick Google search on ‘disruption in parliament'. The results were an incredible 5 million hits in 0.20 seconds — all only on the Indian Parliament.

Members of the government, the Opposition parties and the presiding officers stood out once again, this Winter Session of Parliament, as classic archetypes in projecting indiscipline, indecorous behaviour, recklessness and disgrace of our legislature, to the people, civil society and to the wider world.

I guess the question many Indians are asking, like I am today, is whether this sacred institution — the Indian Parliament — is becoming irrelevant, in a sense a circus buffoon spectacle, rather than an effective instrument to debate ideas and form policy. What has happened in a country that successfully borrowed and blended British parliamentary systems?

Delayed decisions

It is time for our lawmakers to reflect on their own standards of conduct. After all, how can they set laws and be a model for the rest of us without first setting their own House in order?

Critical economic issues facing the nation do not take holidays. And India is not short of issues that desperately need to be addressed.

One had hoped that the issues in front of the nation would be given serious priority. But our MPs see nothing wrong with shutting down Parliament.

Also, Parliament is gaining a reputation as an incompetent law-making body and has become a dead-weight on the Nation, eating away its scarce resources to no purpose. How else can you explain what is going on there, while over 50 important legislative Bills await discussion and passing?

Last week's events have left progressive nations watching India with utter disbelief, and foreign investors bewildered. It is time the Indian public, intellectuals, NGOs and political parties did some soul-searching regarding the functioning of our Parliament.

Let neutrality rule

After all, the grand old idea of the parliamentary system of governance, as it originated in England, must have had grandiose objectives; otherwise it would not have survived over the centuries.

 Political parties and those in governance need to understand that the institution is not anybody's prerogative, to be manipulated for achieving narrow personal or political advantages, temporary or long term. 

The institution's greatness and glory is the sum-total of those constituting it. As pointed out by philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, “When a donkey looks into a mirror, it cannot expect to see a horse!”

 The sanctity of Parliament starts with the total neutrality of the Speaker, who should rise above party affiliation in order to uphold Dharma. It needs much the same quality in the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister should interact frequently with the Leader of the Opposition, who is recognised as the ‘Shadow Prime Minister'. 

Another area of great concern is the Constitution and the working of various parliamentary committees. 

Grappling for consensus

As it is, none of them have an independent and nationalistic mind-set. 

They function on party lines and mutual hostility and can never arrive at a consensus on any subject. The nation watched the subterfuge that was resorted to by the committee that appointed the former CAG, and the Supreme Court had to call the bluff.

There are innumerable examples in Europe where a friendly working atmosphere is created between ideologically different parties, so as to reach consensus on important matters, especially on economic and foreign policy. In contrast, our political leaders seem to behave like enemies, who do not seem to agree even on what day of the week it is! The Government's answer to many of its mistakes is a vehement retort, “You did no better while in power.”

My octogenarian father recalls the golden age of Pandit Nehru, when stalwarts from all walks of life — S. Satyamurthy, Prof. Hiren Mukherjee, S.P.Mukherjee, H.V.Kamath, Piloo Mody, Feroze Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, A.K.Gopalan, etc. adorned Parliament. They had great mutual respect for one another, and total commitment to the nation.

Inaugurating the ‘Bhim Club', started by fat members of Parliament, Pandit Nehru started with ‘unwillingness to accept the invitation for fear of being gobbled up by one of the Bhimas!'

Where did we lose all this wit, humour and bonhomie — all signs of life?

(The author is a former Europe Director, CII and lives in Cologne, Germany. blfeedback@thehindu.co.in )

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