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2011-11-08T01:57:00.000-08:00

Anna’s Jan Lokpal- A Threat to Democracy

“Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man”-Ronald Reagan From the 8th century till today, our motherland India has constantly been stripped of her riches- be it the Turks, the British or the modern day politicians ruling our country. Today, India is one of the most corrupted countries across the globe and it is second in the Asian continent. Corruption has become a pandemic disease spreading from the lower levels to the higher echelons of power. It has integrated itself into every single citizen and it has become a Nationalized Ideology. And, it is the main reason why India is yet to become a developed nation.
Innumerable measures have been taken by our government to prevent corruption. Based on the Hong Kong Independent Commission against corruption, a Lokpal bill was drafted in 1969 to prevent corruption. The bill failed to pass through the Rajya Sabha over the subsequent years till date. Over the course of time, corruption has multiplied manifold and the frustration of the common man has reached its saturation point. Driven by these forces, in April 2011, the septuagenarian Anna Hazare started his Satyagraha movement against the government for the Jan Lokpal Bill to be passed.
Millions of people have been caught by the euphoria and are joining Team Anna for the bill to be proposed. The aim of the Jan Lokpal Bill is to eradicate corruption which is a healthy sign for our nation. But many have overlooked the implications of the bill; which if passed, would pose a threat to our democracy, the pillar of our constitution. A detailed analysis of the bill has to be done in order to understand the consequences that it would create.
The Jan Lokpal Bill states that it will establish an anti corruption institution called the Lokpal at the central government and Lokayukta in the state levels which will be independent of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary organs. It will be free from the government and ministerial influence. It has the power to question anyone including the man holding the highest position in our country, the Prime Minister.
If the bill is passed, we will be creating an oligarchic government with the power only in the hands of a few people like Anna Hazare and his henchmen. This contradicts the basic concept of Indian democracy. The ruling government is the one that is elected by the citizens of India. They are the representatives of the people- whom we have chosen to run our government. Now, we intend to form an extremely powerful, non-elected institution that acts as a demi-God trying to overrule the elected and democratic government. The fundamental concept of democracy is “By the people, For the people and Of the people”. But here, the bill will allow a single institution to have monopoly power. That will make India an oligarchic constitution and not the democracy that we are so proud of. It is a known fact that corruption is born from abundance of power and when such an immense concentration of power is given to the Lokpal, it will surely spiral the corruption already present out of control. And the power that Lokpal will be given is without accountability and control.
The Lokpal will be a super cop who will perform the duties of an Investigator, Judge and prosecutor. In other words, they will make the law, implement the law and prosecute those who break the law. Constitutional breaches will have to made for the bill to be passed and the entire democratic structure will be altered. Prominent leader of the RTI, Aruna Roy had mentioned that "Jan Lokpal is a bill impossible to implement. Also, it derails the checks and balances between the judiciary, executive and other organs of the democratic structure”. The judiciary and legislative bodies must be given their sense of freedom to function and this cannot be tampered with.
Another feature of the bill is that it intends to merge the existing CBI and CVC under the Lokpal and function as a single unit. This will lead to clash in the independence of the organizations and also create hierarchical problems. The CBI and CVC are functioning under the government. Therefore, merging them under the Lokpal would bring the whole institution under the government.
The methods that Anna Hazare is implementing are not the so called Gandhian way. He brings his team of people into the Ram Lila Maidan and starts an indefinite fast to make the governments accede to his proposals. This is nothing but blackmail in another form. Anna Hazare may be portrayed as the modern day Gandhi but his past life shows his darker side. In his yester years, when he worked as an Army truck driver, Anna Hazare has publicly stated that “Corrupt people should be hanged”. He was also in favour of belting drunkards and cutting the thumbs of thieves. These are indications to show that we cannot let our country be ruled by a right-wing dictator.
The Jan Lokpal bill will create a revolution in our country that has the power to topple the existing government and create an imbalance. Such an event would impair the nation’s economy, its status quo in the global market and people would start to lose faith in the authorities. Dr. Ambedkar, the architect of our constitution once said “We must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.” The current scenario is that we are heading towards anarchy and building a future, where we the citizens of India would not have a say in how our country will work. The largest democracy in the world would soon become a myth.
The Lokpal would just comprise of a handful of non-elected people governing the entire nation acting as the protectors. The task ahead of them is too big and the resources they have is insufficient. There is no accountability for the fact that corruption will exist in the Lokpal. But, as the great philosopher Socrates said- “Who will guard the guardians?”
It is a known fact that corruption is eating away our country. The Jan Lokpal bill promises to build a Utopian society but considering the political nexus of the nation, it cannot be put to practise. The last thing the nation would need is a premature political decision that would make the situation worse.
The possible solution is to solve the existing flaws in the government. The politicians and bureaucrats should be denied the monopoly of control over the goods and services so that it minimizes their opportunity to abuse power. There should be a more transparent process in the government. An effective bill which not only eradicates corruption but also supports democracy should be brought to practise to build an economic superpower in the future.

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Ancient India

2011-11-08T01:42:00.000-08:00

Everyday life in Ancient India

The achievements of the Aryans in the realms of philosophy and metaphysics have been the subject matter of research by very many scholars and valuable light has been shed on these as a result of their labours. But as regards the social and economic conditions in which they lived there is not much authentic information and whatever is known had to be gleaned from such books as Mahabharata and Kautilya's Arthasastra. The latter book gives us valuable information about the political, social, economic and military organization of Mauryas. The Jataka tales a collection of tales belonging to the pre-Buddhist period give us a revealing glimpse into a period when the fusion between the Aryan and the Dravidian races had been almost completed. It gives us the periods of rule and genealogies of dynasties of kings. Originally the institution of kingship was elective but in the course of time the office became hereditary. The chief source of revenue for the government was from land. The political and economic structure was built up from the village communities. India was famous for her textile goods. There was a thriving metallurgical industry making implements of war.

Trade guilds controlled different trades. The merchant -guilds or associations were so powerful that the king himself could not take away any of their privileges. Another peculiar feature was that those who belonged to particular craft say carpentry were all concentrated in a single village. There was a flourishing trade not only within the country but also with other countries of the world. In the treatment of iron India had made remarkable progress even in ancient times. The iron pillar in Delhi stated to have been erected in the fourth to seventh century AD is a standing monument to this superior knowledge of metallurgy. The pillar has successfully withstood the ravages of time all these years. Panini the great grammarian wrote his learned grammar of Sanskrit in the 7th century BC. Panini's book is one of the splendid productions of the human mind. The ancient Indians were well versed in astronomy, medicine and surgery. They were mindful of the animals and had hospitals for them. In the field of mathematics their contribution was outstanding. They invented the zero and decimal place-value system. They could divide time into the minutest part. The ancient Indians had vast conception of time and space. There were centres of higher learning corresponding to the modern universities in places like Taxila. It is stated that the eminent grammarian Panini studied in that university. The position of women was honourable at home and in society.

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Medieval India

2011-11-08T01:16:00.000-08:00

The period from the 8th to 12th century in political life in India is particularly dominated by the presence of large number of states. The bigger ones tried to establish their supremacy in northern India and the Deccan. The main contenders in this struggle for supremacy were the Pratiharas, the Palas and the Rashtrakutas. In the south the most powerful kingdom to emerge during this period was that of the Cholas. The Cholas brought about the political unification of large parts of the country but the general political picture was that of fragmentation particularly in northern India. It was in this period that India's contact with the new religion of Islam began. The contacts began late in the 7th century through the Arab traders.
Later in the early 8th century the Arabs conquered Sind. In the 10th century the Turks emerged as a powerful force in Central and West Asia and carved out kingdoms for themselves. They conquered Persia but their lives were richly influenced by Persian culture and tradition. The Turks first invaded India during the late 10th and early 11th century and Punjab came under Turkish rule. Another series of Turkish invasions in the late 12th and early 13th century led to the establishment of the Sultanate of Delhi. Within a few centauries after the rise of Islam in Arabia it became the second most popular religion in India with followers in every part of the country.
The establishment of the Sultanate marked thebeginning of a new phase in the history of medieval India. Politically it led to the unification of northern India and parts of the Deccan for almost a century. Its rulers almost from the time of the establishment of the Sultanate succeeded in separating it from the country from which they had originally come. The sultanate disintegrated towards the end of the 14th century leading to the emergence of a number of kingdoms in different parts of the country. Some of these like Bahmani and Vijaynagar kingdoms became very powerful. In society new social groups -the Turks, the Persians, the Mongols and the Afghans besides the Arabs who had settled in India. There were important changes in economic life also. Trade and crafts received a stimulus and many new towns arose as centres of administration, trade and crafts. New elements of technology were also introduced during this period.

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