COMMITTEE BhavishyaAagman (Futuristic Committee)

Transcription

1 COMMITTEE BhavishyaAagman (Futuristic Committee) AGENDA Is Indian democracy & integrity under threat? For few years there has been a noticeable change in the ethos of the people in social, political & even moral approaches. The nation needs to uphold the constitution of India, its preamble as supreme law its directive principles with seriousness. NOTE FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD The Executive Board takes immense pride in welcoming you all to our committee - BhavishyaAagman (Futuristic Committee). The agenda for the committee is - Is Indian democracy and integrity under threat? For a few years, there has been a noticeable change in social, political and even moral approaches. The nation needs to uphold the Constitution of India, its Preamble as supreme law and its Directive Principles with seriousness. The art of debating helps you to rationalize your thoughts and provides a healthy environment for dissent and disagreement. It provides you with a constructive platform for you to solidify your opinions and position your worldview. The following is the background guide for BhavishyaAagman. The executive board has listed some of the topics that will broadly shape the course of the debates and discussions that will take place when the committee will be in session. This list is indicative but not an exhaustive list and the research should not be limited to this background guide only. The executive board expects the delegates to find new realms in the agenda and bring them forward in the committee. We will really appreciate if the delegates can bring something new to the table for discussion. We hope that this two day experience will arm you with the skill of constructive argumentation and will be an enriching experience for all of us. All the very best to all parliamentarians. Regards, Anshita Shukla, Prerna Singh

2 Freedom in a democracy is the glory of the state, and, therefore, in a democracy only will the freeman of nature deign to dwell -Plato WHAT IS DEMOCRACY? Democratic form of government remains the most popular form of political structure, with almost every second person in the world living in a democracy today. Although there was a slow increase in the number of democracies around the world over the last 200 years, the most dramatic rise was seen after the disintegration of Soviet Union. The world saw a phase of democratization, with 97 out of 167 countries being democracies by the end on Democracy is perhaps one of the most widely known words today, however it still remains essentially contested. The Cambridge Dictionary defines democracy as- the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. At the root of it lies the principle of self-rule. Democracy as a form of government ensures that citizens have a say in who rules them and how they are being ruled. It provides space for disagreement, dissent, and debate. One of the earliest instances of democratic civilizations were found in the Indian republic prior to the birth of Buddha, sometime before the 6th century BC. They were known as MahaJanapadas or Ganarajya which were situated in the Vaishali( present-day Bihar). However, the recorded history of democracies can be traced back to Athens, Greece. The term democracy is in fact derived from the Greek dēmokratiā, which was coined from dēmos ( people ) and Kratos ( rule ) in the middle of the 5th century BCE to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek city-states. These states imbibed the principle- rule of the people. Different countries around the world have chosen different paths to democracy either through national movements, overthrowing colonial regimes, or a slow transition. As Barack Obama said- Democracy cannot be imposed on any nation from the outside. Each society must search for its own path, and no path is perfect.

3 HISTORY OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY Constitution which enshrines the ethos and essence of democracy, liberty, and brotherhood. Our democracy has stood the test of time in the first sixty years of our independence. Over the years, we have witnessed its evolution from a time when a single party, the Indian National Congress dominated at both the center and the states, to a multi-party democracy. The values and the procedures that formed the Indian democracy developed over the long years of India s anti-colonial struggle. A vision of what Indian democracy ought to look like emerged as India fought for its independence from British colonialism. In 1928, Motilal Nehru, the then president of Indian National Congress, along with eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India. The resolution at the Karachi session of Indian national congress, in 1931, highlighted how independent India's constitution should look like. It reflected the vision of substantive reworking of the Indian social structure in order to have genuine democratic nation and society and not just formal holding of democratic elections. The vision of democracy that the nationalist movement of India had envisaged was clearly sped out during this session. It articulated the values that formed the expression and ethos of the Indian constitution. By the 1940s, the Congress had become a fascinating organization. It was a microcosm of India. There were staunch socialists in Congress at one end, and diehard free-marketers at the other. The demand for a Constituent assembly in 1939, was finally articulated in 1945 by the British imperialists. In July 1946, the elections were held and in August the Indian National Congress s Expert Committee moved a resolution in the Constituent assembly which contained the declaration that India shall be a republic where social, economic and political justice will be guaranteed to all. Between 1947 and 1950, was the time when India grappled with partition trauma with millions of displaced refugees crossing the borders and finding new homes, adds to the uniqueness of the constitution. Administrators across the country, put together electoral rolls to make the universal franchise a possibility. The narrative dwells on the complicated processes of engagement between bureaucrats and the people, the procedural equality introduced by adult franchise, all of which have deepened the roots of India s electoral democracy. India managed to forge a democratic constitution by 1950, replacing the Government of India Act, 1935 as the country s primary governing document. Our constitution is mainly inspired by constitutions of countries like UK, USA, Ireland. Even some parts from the constitution of countries like Germany, Japan, Australia were adopted. The Preamble of the Constitution, which recognizes India as a sovereign socialist secular democratic Republic, is a guiding force and directive for the lawmakers in

4 order to attain the basic objectives of the Constitution such as: to secure to all its citizens social, economic and political justice; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and opportunity; and promote fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. The Directive Principles of State Policy contained in Part IV, Articles of the Indian Constitution was borrowed from the constitution of Ireland. The Directive principles are broad directives given to the state in accordance with which the legislative and executive powers of the state are to be exercised. BR Ambedkar considered them to be a powerful tool to transform India from a political democracy to an economic one. The Constitution created a bicameral legislature, an independent judiciary, a federated state with significant powers located at the National Centre. And in , the first general elections were held. THREATS TO INDIAN DEMOCRACY Democracy is under threat in this country under the present central government. It is a super emergency that is going on in the country. -West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (November 24, 2017) Yashwant Sinha quits BJP, says 'democracy under threat

5 -Business Standard Four of India's most senior Supreme Court judges have warned that democracy is under threat because of the way the court is being run. -BBC NEWS (January 12, 2018) India has for ages taken pride in its democratic functioning but from time to time it has come under serious threats. Some of the current threats are- JUDICIARY- REDRESSAL MECHANISM OF CITIZEN GRIEVANCES UNDER THREAT The Indian Judiciary for the first time conducted a press conference to address the citizens of the republic. It pointed out the impending disaster we were heading towards. This statement came as a result of the fact that the Justices were unhappy with the way Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra has been allocating cases of national importance whose judgments can have far-reaching implications which can even alter the course of the nation to judges with less seniority. The principal disagreement between the four judges is that their disapproval is based in their perception that Justice Misra is abusing his executive powers to alot cases selectively, ignoring age-old principles on allocation of judicial work. This also brought to the forefront the increasing interference of the ruling party in the working of an independent judiciary. In the foreseeable future, the enslavement of judiciary by the ruling party would not come as a surprise. SEDITION LAWS- THREATENING FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION The sedition laws today have called into question the ideas of freedom of speech and expression in the largest democracy of the world. It says 'Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India' shall be punished with life imprisonment. The sedition law IPC Section 124A was made a law in Among the crimes, it includes causing disaffection towards the King of England. The time of its drafting, 13 years after the 1857 revolt, was not accidental. Recently the misuse of this law has become glaringly evident. On February 2016, three JNU students accused of sedition were arrested. In the year 2014, some of the Kashmiri students were charged with sedition for supporting Pakistan in a cricket match between India and Pakistan. FAILURE OF EXECUTIVE In a latest, the RSS student wing, the ABVP, ran riot in Ramjas College on February 22, The ABVP members attacked the college staff and students, with the Delhi Police standing by at best, but brutalizing women, men, and the media, removing photographic evidence from their mobiles and cameras. There has been no investigation or action against Delhi Police following this incident.

6 In 1942, just before the Quit India Movement, the colonial government introduced the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance. This controversial law is known now as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and is used in states as far apart as Jammu & Kashmir and Manipur for long periods of time. The Supreme Court in its most recent judgment on Manipur has tried to reduce the rigors of the provisions of this law by ruling that the AFSPA cannot be used indefinitely as "it would mock at our democratic process. FALL DOWN OF SYSTEM OF CHECKS AND BALANCES The ongoing Delhi crisis is a sad reality of how the famous system of checks and balances of Indian Democracy have failed. The entire issue started with ambiguity regarding the allocation of powers between the Lt.Governor and the Chief Minister of Delhi. This led to the Lt. Governor acting as a tyrannical Viceroy, subverting the elected Delhi government (AAP) at every step. The Supreme Court failed in its duty by delaying the clarification required. The Election Commission begins to arbitrarily disqualify a number of AAP MLA S with the Presidents signature. It was only the Delhi High Court which saw through these subversions and restored justice. Yet, the Delhi Crisis was an eye opener to how our democracy nearly failed. All institutions from Supreme Court to Election Commission, President of India to CBI failed to uphold justice. CITIZENS AND DEMOCRACY The Constitution of India provides provision to protect the right of the country s citizens and ensures socio-economic empowerment of all sections of the society. A democracy is based on the role of its citizens and they have to be conscious of both their rights and duties and the steps taken towards the welfare society. For healthy working of the democracy is important to have a two-way interaction between the citizens and the state. The Principles of the rule of law-in context to Indian democracy-means that the state is governed by law and not the ruling party. However, with the exercise of democracy over the decades, the rule of law is flouted by the party in power for vote banks.

7 Looking at the future, the health of Indian democracy in next few decades will get better or damaged depending upon the role the citizens play. The citizens need to realize the importance of constitutional provisions regarding the role of political parties and the amount of control they can exercise over the state. An unresponsive citizenry s apathy towards government and political issues creates a sense of unresponsiveness which lays breeding grounds for extremist issues. An active citizenry who engage in political arguments and debates will lead to the evolution of new and fresh ideas. It wishes to nourish India s pluralist ethos that believes in dialogue, exchange, and debate. There has been lack of active participation from the part of Indian citizenry regarding the current political situation. Whereas, when we look at the example of the political environment in America and the stand that the American citizens are taking against the conservatism of the government, we see how the role and voice of citizens put a check on the powers of the state. Various people marches are taking place in America against the Trump government, like the recent nationwide march against the prevalent gun laws in the country. In India, we do not see such kind of steps taken by the citizens in order to put limits on the power exercised by the government. In past few years, there has been a change in the way people participate in the democratic functioning of the state. The reasons for this are two-fold. While on one side, there has been almost negligible effort from citizens to check the power of the state over the democratic institutions of the country, the Indian government in the recent times has failed to create spaces where citizens may interact freely and peacefully. True citizens always speak of expanding the base of democracy, overcoming its constraints through popular action aimed at social justice, and going beyond its present limitations and curtailments of rights. In order to understand democracy, we need to detach it from the instruments of the state and see it as people s power. Equality, secularism and the rule of law are among its basic building blocks. Despite its plurality and diversity, if you had to reduce India to a single society, then the ethos of that society would be embodied in the "basic structure" of the Constitution.. RESEMBLANCE TO PERIOD OF EMERGENCY It has been 43 years since India was under emergency. The leaders of our country while framing the Indian Constitution had certain basic values that they enshrined in the constitution such as freedom, equality, justice, fundamental rights, an independent judiciary, system of checks and balances etc. The 1975 emergency of India changed the course and face of Indian democracy. It was the first time when the emergency was imposed not because India was in danger but because Indira was in danger.

8 The emergency was officially called on the grounds that war between India and Pakistan along with the oil crisis in 1973 has drastically affected the economy of the country and due to internal upheaval. However, it is argued that the real reason was something else. On June 12th, 1975, Justice Sinha of the Allahabad High Court, found the Prime Minister guilty on the charge of misuse of government machinery for her election campaign. The court declared her election "null and void" and unseated her from the Lok Sabha. This eventually led to the proclamation of internal emergency where there was manipulation of the constitutional provision to ensure the safety of the ruling party and particularly of Indira Gandhi. As it is often said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Present circumstances showcase a glaring similarity to that period. YashwantSinha, asserted that 1975 is NOT the same as the situation today... Why? Because today s undeclared Emergency, under the present dispensation, is far more grave and dangerous. Censorship was the most criticized point of emergency, no dissent against the ruling party was tolerated. Yashwant Sinha points out that today though there is no censorship on the press- because today s media is allowed to say anything it likes, so long as it is not critical of the ruling government at the Centre. Todaythe scenario is much more communally aggravated with religious conservatism on the rise. There are serious questions on the independent working of the three organs and the ability of the supreme court to uphold the principles of the constitution. CONCLUSION Indian democracy has been changing fundamentally since its inception. From the single-party domination of Indian national Congress to multi-party systems, Indian democracy has witnessed almost all forms of political structures. Social attitudes impact the polity in various subtle ways. Germany, Italy and other smaller European nations that went over to fascism in the 1930s exhibited first, intolerant socio-cultural values. In Germany, Hitler s rise was preceded by a strong reaction against modernist trends which was reflected in extremist conservatism policies. However, it is true that the present Indian government cannot be called fascist in any way for a variety of reasons, for example, the country still holds free and fair elections, has a relatively independent judiciary and an army that does not serve any single party or ideology. Anyone s idea of the nation must have space for others within it, otherwise, that idea can turn exclusivist. As soon as one section begins to impose its exclusivist

9 idea of the nation on others, and labels those who imagine the nation differently as traitors, it becomes anti-democratic and potentially dangerous. India s rich legacy of democracy and it s functioning as the largest democracy in the world has carved out an important position for it in the global arena. David Cameroon, the British P.M during his recent visit to India regarded India to be the beacon of democracy to the world. Over a long span of time, it has seen many ups and downs, has waxed and waned but has managed to survive.