| People's Manifesto | 0 comments |
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2 Apr 2012 @ 14:52, by Shreepal Singh
The Central Committee of Indian People's Congress is working to prepare a short document - People's Manifesto - which is intended to be the Voice of Humanity. Though this document is being prepared in Indian context and addressed to Indian people, it equally deals with the concerns of peoples of other democratic countries as well. It may be read in the international spirit.
(Draft)
People’s Manifesto – in Participation with People
Political Issue (Document No. 1)
Speaking truth is considered a great virtue in our country since ages and denial of truth invites public ridicule and condemnation. And, it is truth that the demand made by Anna Hazare (and his team) for making a strong Lokpal law to fight corruption in India has got a great public support. Likewise, the demand made by Baba Ramdev (and his supporters) for adopting ‘swadeshi or indigenous’ in every walk of national life and for bringing black money of Indians stashed in foreign countries back to India has got a great popular support. But our representatives sitting in Parliament deny that Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev represent the will of Indian people. These representatives claim that they alone represent the people’s will and have ridiculed Anna Hazare (and his team) as outsiders. Our Parliamentarians have dismissed these leaders and their movements as ‘outsiders’, civil society and not representing the people will. Parliamentarians assert that these popular leaders have no right to speak on people’s behalf. These public movements lead by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev and the reasons given by our Parliamentarians to dismiss them as not representing the people will raise serious questions about the meaning of democracy. These questions need people’s attention and consideration. The time has come to consider the questions raised by our Parliamentarians. The time has come to assign people and their representatives their right places in relation to each other in our democratic political system.
We, the people of India, had chosen at the eve of independence from foreign rulers to constitute ourselves as a nation into democratic republic. By all accounts, the essence of democracy is that it the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. Democracy is the self-governance of people. Democracy is the self-governance of people for their own development, progress, betterment and happiness. Negatively speaking, democracy is not the rule of a king or dictator over people. Neither is democracy the rule over people of a class or group of persons who may come to possess money or political power. The superiority of democracy as a political institution over all other alternative political institutions like monarchy, dictatorship or theological states lies in the fact that in democracy the sovereignty, the supreme power, rests in the hands of people and they are the masters of their own fate. In democratic India, people are supreme. In democratic India, Parliament, which is made-up of their representatives, is not supreme or superior to people. Parliament members are servants who are chosen by elections to serve the people, their masters. Even the Indian Constitution, which the Indian people have enacted, is not above and superior to Indian people. If the Indian people do not like that the national resources of the country like land, forests, mines etc. should be given in the private hands, their this desire has the supremacy over all other considerations. To say that giving of these national resources in the private hands is the only way to bring progress and development of an otherwise poor India does not provide the democratic authority to overrule the people’s desire to reject this model and to choose a different and alternative model for bringing progress to India.
But all people do not think in this manner. There are disagreements and antagonism among different sections of people. People are not unanimous in their opinions about any or everything and it is but natural. In the matter of taking decisions by people on any issue, the unanimity of their opinion is the best thing that could be achieved, though it is almost always elusive. The next best thing to having unanimity of opinion in taking decisions, which could be hoped for, is to arrive at a decision by the majority of opinions. If all people agree on one thing in taking their decision, it is good; but if they disagree, they may arrive at a decision by the majority of opinions. It is the power of this mechanism to resolve disputes and disagreements among people that makes democracy, as a political institution, better than any other alternative or competitive institution. It is but natural that all people are not similar or alike in their circumstances. Some are poor and some are not. Some are educated, powerful, intelligent etc. and some are not so fortunate because of their disadvantageous circumstances. Because of this difference of circumstances, there is almost always a clash of interests and economic antagonism among different segments of people. The beauty of democracy is that this clash of interests among different sections of people can be resolved amicably and without violence.
However, the unfortunate aspect of democracy is that when decisions are taken to the liking of majority and to the disliking of minority, the minority has to submit itself, obviously much against their wish, to the unpleasant dictates of the majority. When decisions thus taken by the majority relate to important issues, like distributing national wealth or rights to exploitation of natural resources or rights of access to material means necessary to sustain, educate, progress and prosper oneself etc., the minority has to suffer the loss and the majority would gain the advantage. It is an obvious outcome of democratic self governance of people. However, if by any crude or subtle device it becomes possible (and it comes to happen) that the wish of the majority is distorted and the wish of the minority is flaunted as the wish of the majority, then it is the distortion of democracy. In a distorted democracy, the wish of the majority is distorted and the wish of the minority is flaunted as the wish of the majority. In such a distorted democracy the wish of the minority is imposed on the majority and the majority has to suffer the loss, much against the democratic principles. Another unfortunate aspect of democracy is that there are very many devices – both subtle and crude - available in it those make it possible to distort and thwart the will of the majority and to flaunt this disguised minority-wish as the will of majority. The chief device among (like caste considerations, resorting to corruption and crime etc.) them all is the device of money-power. Money is not available equally to all and one who has more money uses this money-power to distort the choice and will of the majority-electorates. This defect of democracy forces the majority to come to the streets, launch agitations and create a law and order problem in an otherwise peaceful society. This defect of democracy makes it possible that a tiny minority of national and multi-national corporate houses, with or without the helping hand of democratic political power, decide economic policies in most of the democratic countries world-over much to the disliking of people and against the majority will. This defect of democracy produces popular movements like Anna Hazare, Baba Ram Dev etc. in India and Occupy Wall Street in the U.S and Occupy London in the U.K. These movements represent the will of majority of people. And, these popular movements are solely against the so-called democratic governments that boast of itself to represent the will of the majority.
In the matter of democratic self-governance of people, the ideal situation is that people do not elect third parties - other persons - to represent them and to take decisions on their behalf. In this ideal situation people can directly participate in the decision making process and arrive at decisions on all crucial issues concerning their lives, lands, waters, forests etc. without any need to have outsider third persons to take decisions on these issues on their behalf. In the bygone ages when there was small population living simple life in villages this type of direct democracy was possible. People in ancient India had indeed practiced this type of political institution. But today in a country having enormous population spread in vast geographical area, the practice of this type of direct democracy is not possible. However the technological advancements may make it possible for us in very near future to practice people’s direct democracy. Today, we are a bit away from this type of democracy of technologically empowered people. But certainly even today we can take some steps towards achieving this goal of a democracy of technologically empowered people. Even today we receive and transfer our money – money that is the most precious thing of all to us– by the use of internet and mobile phones. Likewise, we can certainly transfer or withhold our votes in favor or against our supposed representatives through internet and mobile phones on daily basis. This type of empowerment of people by utilizing technological advancements requires drastic reforms in our existing outdated electoral laws. This technological empowerment would allow Indian people to take their fate in their own hands. When today it is technologically possible for us to vote, elect and recall our representatives on daily basis there is no reason why we should not use this powerful technological tool to empower our people in the field of their democratic self-governance. To remedy the current dangerous situation prevailing in India, our country should take prompt starting steps in the matter of electing and recalling people’s representatives by utilizing technological advancements, as has been suggested below.
The first thing that is required today is to make our democracy truly representative of the will of people, so that democracy can survive as a political institution of people’s self-governance. The true representation of people’s will in our democratic self governance is otherwise also necessary today; a sense of dissatisfaction and discontent is currently prevailing in some sections of our people and our institutions badly need the people’s support and power to withstand against the armed revolts, separatism, public movements etc. of these dissatisfied and discontented elements. To make our democracy truly representative of the will of people, it is necessary that all matters of policies that directly affect the lives of common people and bring an irreversible change in our national life should never be allowed by our people to be decided by persons sitting far away from them and over whose acts people do not have any control after electing them. The demand of Anna Hazare to take away the power from people’s representatives sitting in Parliament to take decisions in such matters and to give this power to village panchayats/ city councils is the most important one and in the right direction in the matter of Indian people’s democratic self-governance. This demand is more effective in setting our corrupt democracy right in comparison to the efficacy of a Lokpal institution.
Recently a demand has been made by the Chief Minister of a State (Prakash Singh Badal, the Chief Minister of Punjab) that Constitution of India does not meet the requirements of our times, like the need to protect federalism, and that a new Constituent Assembly should be elected by the Indian people to frame a new Constitution that meets the requirements of our times. We agree that India should be a federal political structure and, while ensuring that the unity and integrity of India is protected, the principles of local autonomy and federalism should be strictly adhered to by our multi-ethnic country. And, we go further and say that Constitution of India does no longer provide a mechanism whereby the will of the people is truly reflected in the matter of democratic self governance; and that this Constitution needs to be drastically amended or replaced by a new one to cure this defect. By enacting a new Constitution or amending the present one, Indian people should ensure that the representatives who are nearest to them are given the highest power and authority and who are farther (or away) from them are given the least power and authority. It is befitting in India that village panchayats and city councils are given the sole authority to take decisions on important issues concerning people’s lives like taking lands, forests, mineral wealth etc. away from their hands or handing these resources over to others for use and exploitation. In such important matters, representatives sitting at central place (in national capital) far away from people who elected them should have the least power to take decisions. These representatives sitting in national capital should have power only to carry forward/ implement/ coordinate the execution of the decisions already taken by Indian people through their village panchayats/city councils. The time has come for Indian people to demand that all power and authority to take decisions affecting their lives be given to people working through their panchayats/ city councils; that the representatives of people sitting far away from people in Parliament be given the work only to implement those decisions taken by people uniformly throughout India and to coordinate and ensure their compliance.
The second thing that is required to make our democracy truly representative of the will of the people is to technologically empower Indian people to express their will in the matter of electing and recalling their representatives. This can be done by utilizing the technological advancements already available today in the matter of electing and recalling the people’s representatives on regular basis. It is possible today – it is reality today – that Election Commission of India can put in place and maintain an electoral internet website, which is connected to every single mobile phone used in India. The required software can be created that makes the use of a mobile possible only when and if a vote is cast by the user first. The required law can be enacted to make this democratic exercise obligatory on the part of every phone user. Votes for and against a representative can be tallied by the Election Commission on daily basis to find out the will of the electorates for or against that representative. The electoral laws can be enacted to provide that if a representative falls below 50% in popularity of his electorates for continuously six months or so, he shall be shown the exit door.
What we need to progress as a democratic nation is not to invite capital – of national and multi-national corporate houses– to invest in India, to privatize every national resource here and to make unimaginable profits by exploiting these national resources; what we need to progress as a democratic nation is to make our democracy true representative of the will of the majority of Indian people. But whether the representatives of people ever permit the Indian people to become technologically empowered and self-govern themselves, is an issue to be decided by the people. The movements of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are the first steps of Indian people in this direction.
As soon as Indian people are empowered by utilizing technological advancements in the matter of their democratic self governance, they will be able to express their true will on the important policy matters. Today the functioning of our democratic system is defective. Solely because of this defect in our democracy, a tiny number of persons have come to possess money and political power. They claim that their decisions are Indian people’s decisions. These persons, while claiming to work in accordance with the will of our people, assert that giving away of our national resources in the private hands is the only way to bring progress and development of an otherwise poor India, much against the resentment, opposition and agitations of our people. Our democracy is defective and the claim of a tiny number of powerful persons that they represent the wish of Indian people is false. Because of our defective and outdated democracy, these powerful persons neither represent the wish of Indian people in giving away our national resources in private hands nor do they have the democratic authority to overrule the people’s desire to reject this model of bringing progress to India and the people’s right to choose a different and alternative model for achieving progress in our country. If the Indian people do not like that mines, minerals, lands, forests, education or healthcare be handed over to profit-seeking national and multi-national private hands, then the people have the democratic authority to reject these moves.
If the group or section of persons who are presenting and implementing these moves towards privatization of everything are found by a credible method of ascertaining the people’s real choice that this group or section of persons as a matter of fact does not represent the choice of people, then this group or section of persons cannot have the democratic authority to go ahead with these moves any further, how so much money or political power they may possess. This is the spirit of democracy. This is the crux of democracy. The model of bringing progress in India through the so-called economic reforms (or privatizing all economic activities) will turn India very soon into a very powerful world economy where a tiny number of persons will be the richest in the world and the remaining vast majority of ordinary people will be living an abject life hovering around, below or above, the line of poverty; where science and technology would be highly advanced but its benefits would go not to people but to corporate houses; where all national resources would be in the hands of corporate houses to make profit and not in the hands of people – the real owners of these resources – working there on the conditions imposed by those corporate houses; where automation of production made possible by technological advancement would be used to fire working people out of jobs to make more profit and not to ease their workload; where a great Indian army will find itself fighting wars for others to fulfill the designs of national and multinational corporate money (like wars being fought in Iraq and Libya by western armies to get oil-contracts for corporate houses); and where peace of Indian people and the world will be shattered.
The alternative model of bringing progress to India could be to empower Indian people in their democratic self governance; where technologically empowered people exercise ever vigilant control over their self government by monitoring the performance of their representatives, by constantly electing and recalling them; where thus empowered people have the exclusive privilege to carry on the economic activities of production, distribution and consumption of products and have the job, in addition to the job of running government, to keep accounts of wealth generated by people; where the empowered people impose iron discipline on national economic activities backed by extreme penalty to the erring individuals; where the incentive for people working as managers, administrators or executers in the matter of carrying on economic activities is not to make profit but to earn social recognition and respect; where the benefits of the advancement in science and technology directly go people and not to corporate houses to make more profits; where the automation of production-process made possible by technological advancement is not allowed to be used by corporate houses in pursuit of their greed of more profit to result in laying-off and unemployment of working people; where India would weave people’s lives around Asia’s ancient humanist values of cooperation and not competition; sacrifice and not greed; compassion and not selfishness; socio-economic justice and not exploitation; where India would promote integration of Asia as a block in the world affairs and set a global agenda for humanity for world peace, progress, harmony and enlightened human life. Now, who will decide which one of these two models of bringing progress to India is better? Certainly, the tiny minority of national and multinational corporate houses, with or without the help of our representatives, have no democratic right to decide this question. And, certainly, the people of India have this democratic right to decide which one of these two models of bringing progress this country should adopt.
Today our democracy has been distorted by money. Our people’s republic has been hijacked by national and multi-national corporate houses. They are tiny in numbers and rich in money but are able to thwart the will of the majority. In league with each other and with the helping hand of our own elected representatives, this tiny minority is racing against time to bring an irreversible change in Indian national life in the name of economic reforms. This tiny minority has evil eye on an Indian peace loving and contented way of life. This evil design of tiny number of powerful national and multi-national corporate houses is to turn India into a market and turn Indians into animals consuming their products, where Indian people are left with no option but to work for them from early mornings to late nights only to be able to pay insurance premiums and bills to sustain their lives and catering to the greed of this evil minority. We cherish democracy. We love democracy. And, democracy is the rule of majority over minority, howsoever intelligent or rich or powerful this minority may be. In democracy the people are supreme and not the money. The money of the corporate cannot be allowed, whether with the help of our representatives or without their help, to distort the will of the majority, to turn Indian people into their consuming colony and to turn this country into a stinking mass of hapless humans groaning under the weight of their greed for more profits.
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