The reports on the plight of India hockey hit the newspaper headlines everyday
If I understand correctly, the present crisis in Indian hockey is on account of non-payment of the normal dues to the players. It appears to be some sort of bureaucratic bungling. It must be happening to other games too. Since hockey is our national game and this time the players refused to budge, the issue seems to have drawn media attention. Pathetic !!
The other day Prime Minister Sh Manmohan Singh mentioned about freeing science from the bureaucratic clutches. Well, who stops him doing that ? He runs the country ! I remember, few years back, Sh Bajpai, erstwhile Prime Minister, also expressed similar feelings. Are they indeed helpless before the powerful bureaucracy or just the crocodile tears ? one wonders. It only shows that the persons in power can play with everything, even judiciary, Rathore (DGP) case is a classic example. A good democracy always has checks and balances on the use of authority by the public servants.
All this has to change some day. In democracy, the ultimate power lies only with people, provided they exercise it through ballot box. But in a country like India, where voting percentage never exceeds 60%, most candidate get elected on the support of the minority of the population. In such situation, expecting accountability from the elected representatives will be asking for too much; bureaucrats only fall in line.
Should we think about changing our national game ? I am not clear as to how these so called "national" things were decided earlier; say national game, national bird. Going by the logic, the game which is played and popular nation-wide should become a national game. Hockey certainly does not qualify that test. Why not collect national level statistics through census ?
Let us take a bird’s eye view of some of the events of last week
If former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore has got away with a six-month sentence for molesting a 14-year-old girl, Ruchika Girhotra, who killed herself three years later, while desperately searching for justice, it is mainly due to a glaring lacuna in the 150-year-old Indian Penal Code (IPC), which does not have any provisions for child victims of sexual molestation.
While there are special provisions for child victims of rape, where the minimum punishment is 10 years jail as against the norm of seven years, the law on sexual abuse, under which come all abuses apart from rape, has been left untouched.
This anomaly has not been redressed even after the Law Commission, in its 172nd report in 2000, recommended a provision recognizing and penalizing child sexual abuse. Besides expanding the definition of rape to include all forms of penetration, the commission suggested the introduction of an offense called "unlawful sexual contact" to impose a maximum sentence of seven years on the likes of Rathore.
Ruchika case is a glaring example of how the law and order machinery can be misused for personal gains by those in authority- politicians and officials. It also underlines the fact that necessary amendments to IPC must be made, giving due consideration to such crimes. Rathore misused his authority in every possible way. He got Ruchika expelled from the school and framed false cases against her brother. If such a person is left scot free, it will be a very bad example of Indian system of justice.
Spirituality is not a search for the God. It begins when you get connected with HIM from within. That connecting interaction with the surrounding, that relationship, is a spiritual experience. Read my new blog post on the subject.
Compulsory voting:
The Gujarat government has enacted a law which makes voting compulsory in all elections, save the legislative and parliamentary elections. It has drawn mixed reactions. They range from acceptance of the norm, lauding it even with caveats that it is impractical.
Some objections:
One: it is not practical.
Two: that it is anti-democratic to force people to vote.
Three: It has a punitive element in it so it is bad.
Four: it amounts to authoritarian move and makes elections something akin to what happens in the people's democracies of Communist regimes, not a liberal regime.
Some supportive arguments:
Poor turnouts:Poor turnouts give room for poor representation.
60 years, no change:If for six decades and more, the country's citizens have not taken the responsibility seriously enough and where on an average, the voter turnout is just about 60 per cent, then serious steps are called for.
Not anti-democracy: It is not anti-democratic. It deepens democracy because the law makes it voter-centric. The option "none-of-the-above" (NOTA) on the ballot serves two purposes. One, it lets the voter say that he is disgusted with the list of candidates. He can express his disgust instead of lamenting about poor options and not voting.
Test it: One needs to give it a fair try and if required, make suitable alterations so that the law is made to work. If elections could be managed near-perfectly in India, this too can be managed quite well.
Quid pro quo:If we do not realise that we have a duty in return for the rights and privileges conferred on us because we are citizens of a democratic country, then the rights and privileges are not ours. One has to acknowledge that quid pro quo.
That quid pro quo has never been enforced because in a free democratic country, it is assumed, the rights include the choice not to participate in the due process, which makes the country truly democratic. If I do not want to vote, the arguer says, it is my right not to. To me, that is not acceptable.
The year that has gone by:
No, I am not going to talk about global warming or the recession. I bring your attention to an event that sent shivers down Pune city and blackened the face of humanity like the Ruchika’s case mentioned in the beginning: Molestation and Murder of Nayana Pujari
All of us must vote, for it is a privilege given to all citizens of democratic India! Our vote counts !!
A special appeal for all those searching for alibis how not to vote. As one saying goes: people get the governance which they deserve. Shying away from voting is not only forfeiting your constitutional right but also a disservice to the nation. If the government that comes to power does not work, we are also responsible, for we voted them to power. So for nations sake, please vote !
If we want better law and order, clean public life, efficiency and development, then it all begins with one vote.
Whom do we vote? The first step is to know the candidate you intend to vote.
Do not vote for candidate or party seeking vote in the name of caste, region, religion or language. The character and the secular credentials of the candidate must be above the board.
The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2008 Democracy Index ranks India 35th among the 'flawed democracies' of the world. As citizens, should we reject these findings, as most of our politicians have done promptly. The agency has used some 60 indicators to assess. Let us make our own assessment, using some of the major indicators.
Civil Liberties: We enjoy full civil liberty. However, thousands of innocent people languish in jails without any trial for years.
Political Culture: The politics in the country is polarised on caste, region and religious lines. The parliament sessions are marked by chaos. The members often do not sit in the House. What can you expect, when criminals become legislators!
Public Participation: The most dangerous feature of our democracy is the public apathy. The 50% of the population, i.e. women, do not have adequate representation in the governance. The people do not vote; as a result the legislators are mostly elected on the minority vote.
Government: The Indian government machinery is known for its corruption and inefficiency, world over.
Under these conditions, if someone calls India a flawed democracy, it is not too much off the mark
The forthcoming 15th Indian parliament elections will star 714 million voters, 17 million of whom are in the age group 18-35 years. When we compare these figures with those of the 1st parliament elections, which had 176 million voters, it could be said that the things have got bigger; but have they got better ?
Over the years, single party governments have been replaced by the multi-party or coalition governments, both at the States and the Centre. The ideology has been replaced by the unprincipled opportunism. Today's coalition looks like a heterogeneous condominium of political parties, widely differing in ideologies, desperately sticking to power. This is revealed by the fact that in the last parliament there were 125 MPs, i.e. 25% of the House, facing criminal charges, including rape and murder. No wonder we see the officials and the local politicians following the footsteps of their bosses in power. What should a voter do if he finds all the candidates equally undesirable ?
As per the provisions of the rule 49-O, stated in the 'The Conduct of Elections Rules', 1961, a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he does not want to vote anyone. Although the person’s right not to vote would be recognised in the total vote counting process, in no case would there be a re-poll. As of now, what rule 49-O will do is to register the person’s signature or thumbprint. This would also require the voter to reveal their identity, which goes against the system of secret ballot. Further, even if 49-O votes are more than the winning candidates’ votes, it would not negate the result. There is no judgment as yet on the implications of 49-O towards the upcoming elections and the barring of candidates from a re-poll.
There is a need to take a positive cognisance of the negative vote. This is an effective way to cleanse the politics. All nation-loving and the democracy-loving citizens and even the MPs should take a note and bring in the electoral reform to that effect
The new Election Commissioner V. S. Sampath, rightly advocated the elector's right not to vote. However that would have to be given shape through a legislation.
At present a person can write down on a piece of paper and give it to polling booth officials that he is not interested in voting. This violates the principle of secret voting. In order to provide this facility on EVM (Electronic Voting Machine), a separate law is required.
The legislation, if properly drafted, will mark a watershed in the electoral reforms. If the number of such negative votes is more than the votes polled by the individual candidates, the election may be canceled.
The schedule of the parliamentary elections in India has been announced. I view vote as a means to strengthen democracy. I have a three point programme for all voters, especially young voters:
(1) Exercise Your Constitutional Right: All eligible citizens must register and vote.
The intelligentsia in India have a strange apathy towards elections in general and voting in particular. Those who do not vote have no moral right to criticise the Government.
(2) Vote for Secular Politics: Eliminate those who seek vote on account of caste, creed, language, region and religion. The governance can be improved only by choosing right candidates through the democratic process. (3) Make the right choice: Vote for those whose character is above the board and those who speak for development only View other blogs authored by Dr J D Bapat
