Failure Of National Integration Council: Fault Dear Brutus Lies In Ourselves
By Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava
26 September, 2013
Countercurrents.org
As was expected the National Integration Council [NIC] meet organized on Monday proved a non starter. The meet was called in the wake of Muzaffarnagar riots. Central government rightly thought there was a crack in the communal unity but the way the political leadership of the states rejected the meet was really astonishing,
It was the 16th meet of the NIC. NIC is not a constitutional body. Its status is extra constitutional but it has a big say on those issues which affect the nation and larger section of the society. It is chaired by PM with the objective of discussing the ways and resolving the disputes affecting adversely to national unity. It is comprised of major Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of states and UTs with legislatures, recognized national parties , major regional party leaders, chairpersons of five national commissions, representatives from media, labour groups, business houses and eminent personalities of the country. Hence it is representative body of a cross section of the society.
The meet adopted the resolution focused on to condemn violence in any form, protection of women, concerns about SC etc. The whole exercise did show that political leadership of the country is only paying lip services to the declining social conditions.
There is no gainsaying the fact that communal environment in the country has been disturbed by these riots. The Muzaffarnagar riots have brought into focus the activities of the political elites. The arrest of MLAs suggest that all is not well at the level of the political leaders. They are main guide to whole politico-societal structure. The real political dynamics in the country show that they have unsucceeded in discharging their duties.
The recent decision of the cabinet to issue the ordinance in order to allow the tainted politicians to contest the election shows the deficit at the political level to reform the system. When bad politicians enter the system, how the objectives of NIC to maintain the communal harmony can be realized. Thus discussions at NIC appear to have no relevance.
This is unethical development as the people of the country need those who are the best legislatures. As in Switzerland the many members of the Federal assembly are continuously allowed to elect for the assembly due to their experiences, political qualities, M Guiseppe Motta and Phillippe Etter are such glowing examples. In contrast in India all political parties have consensus on the restoration of the tainted politicians in the system. The recent behaviour of BJP on the issuance of ordinance shows the deficit in political morality as its Prime Ministerial candidate skipped the NIC meet, it has never opposed the tainted politicians’ entry in a real and substantial manner and now complaining the President about the ordinance. This is masked political morality and all political parties subscribe to it when the need occurs to them.
In the country the parliamentary system of the governance has been misused by the political parties. The emphasis is on winning the election, hence politics of developing a certain group as its committed voter has come into fashion. The founding fathers of the constitution had not even contemplated that in a rule based constitutional society the major stakeholders of the governance, the political parties would play such roles.
This is the most unhealthy trend in the Indian politics.It has succeeded in putting the real issues in background and establishing the wrong things as correct one. When the factors which ensure the win are different from development, national integration, NIC like meetings are bound to fail. As a result the real issues are relegated into the background, illusory, trivial and even harmful issues start to dominate the scene.
Indian politics is victim of such mindset. The moot point is that political leaderships need to realize that its primary duty is to protect the people, thereafter to aim for the comprehensive development, hence no other considerations can be accorded importance.
Another important fact is that parliamentary system aims to allow the common people to participate in the political process and governance but now it has emerged as an elite system where the common people find no role to play in effective manner except to vote during the elections as political parties have developed a closed door system with an eye on winning the seat anyhow in order to gain the majority. In England people have immense faith on their political leaders; they know that leaders will do only good for them. That is the reason that in England so far no written constitution has been available, no fundamental rights have been mentioned. In India though the similar system exists. The constitutionalism in the country is in abundance but political trust is on decline.
The government and opposition need to understand that people are the main clients for whom the whole system exists. Hence they need to put things in right manner. The rhetoric in meets like NIC will be of no avail unless the right approach is adopted. The absentees in NIC do not realize that India has a composite culture which needs to be nurtured at every step. The meet has failed to understand that integration of the nation is possible not only by the people but main role is to be played by the political leaders. They need to develop a consensus on every troubled issue which affects the India social milieu.
The message is clear that it is the political weakness which bring many troubles, need is to strengthen it, the other institutions and people at large will spontaneously follow the suit. Political leadership must exhibit integration first at crucial issues, think in right direction and execute the best policies framed with people in mind. The guiding principle is Indian constitution and thoughts of founding fathers.
Dr. Vivek Kumar Srivastava has twenty years University level teaching experience, presently Assistant Professor in CSJM Kanpur University[affiliated college],Vice Chairman CSSP, Kanpur a think tank and educational hub for deprived section of society, has presented papers in Chile, Australia, Finland, South Korea, Sweden etc., regular contributor to Mainstream Weekly, has been published in Dainik Jagran, AJ newspaper. Email: [email protected]
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