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Show some grace Spots of stripes |
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A case of misplaced sympathy
A small town tale of life & death
Why traditional vote banks are melting
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Show some grace THE Modi government is wasting its time and energy on issues it can do well without. One can understand, even if not condone, vicious poll campaigns against political opponents, but once an election is over, the contestants are expected to leave the bitterness behind and work together in the larger interest of the country. The BJP was a bad loser as was seen in the previous Lok Sabha, where it wasted a lot of time of the House by frequent and prolonged disruptions. It is on way to becoming a poor winner as well. The sack/transfer of some of the Congress-appointed Governors, especially of one who was close to completing her term, was a petty act. Another act that lacks grace is the denial of the position of Leader of the Opposition to the Congress. Few will buy the BJP argument that it is the Speaker who appoints the LOP and the government has no role in it. By its graceless act the Modi government has pushed itself to a corner. The Supreme Court has asked it to explain how the Lokpal will be selected in the absence of a designated Leader of the Opposition. With its 44 members, the Congress does not meet the condition laid down by India's first Speaker that the claimant party must have a minimum of 10 per cent seats in the Lok Sabha. To back its claim, the party relies on a 1977 law on the salary and allowances of the LOP, which is silent on the 10 per cent cutoff, but refers to the Leader of “the party in opposition to the government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such” by the Speaker. The court or the government will have to settle this issue. There is a BJP view that the Lokpal can be appointed even if there is a vacancy in the selection committee, which means without the LOP. An appointment made without an Opposition role may not hold. The Supreme Court has pointed to a grey area and it is for the government to give a satisfactory response.
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Spots of stripes Several
national parks and reserves that are home to the tiger are believed to be now overflowing with the wild cat, i.e., the population has exceeded the numbers that those marked areas can support. This is good news and bad. Good because it shows our conservation efforts are bearing results. Bad because the moment tigers begin to move out of the deep forests they come into conflict with people living on the periphery, and that leads to resistance to conservation plans. And does India - or the world - today have a tiger population that is sufficient to ensure the survival of the species? Nowhere near. Only some of the limited area spared for wildlife has become overcrowded. As a short-term measure, the need is to facilitate the spread of the tiger to protected forests that do not have it. Moving out is a natural part of a tiger's
behaviour, but this migration needs unbroken forest connections, which is becoming increasingly difficult as the contiguity of the green cover is broken by development. Roads, rail lines, fields may take up only a small strip of land but can divide two adjacent forest areas. This is where 'wildlife corridors' become crucial for the survival of the species. At present ensuring these corridors remain functional is not easy as no law gives the power to preserve them. And that is one specific demand of the conservationists that needs to be addressed. A lot of conservation initiatives never get off the ground -- not for want of will but lack of a mechanism to coordinate between several departments across state and Central governments such as environment, forest, defence and industry. This mechanism needs to be put in place urgently. A valid question someone may ask is: why save the tiger? The answer: because the tiger is at the top of the wildlife chain. If we have preserved the tiger, we have preserved an entire ecosystem that supports it. The present government owes this to itself, for there are already murmurs on which way it leans in the development-versus-environment debate.
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Don't find fault, find a remedy. — Henry Ford
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Dearth of war news COLUMNS of "war news" are published daily in the papers, but there is little that is stirring coming from the seat of the most terrible war now being waged. We only receive such news as refer to small skirmishes and there is a monotonous ring about the results. The reports are favourable to the French and the Belgians, the Germans being held to be of no account. There is considerable mistrust of the war news now sent and the strict censorship has led to the starting of sensational rumours by the imaginative. The following remarks of the Indian Daily News on the situation is very apt: — “Rumours go around and spread solely because of the censorship for censorship cannot stop rumours. It can only stop the truth and to us the truth seems to be the more desirable. We have read with interest the following in a Bombay paper supposed to be written by a military person quite in the know: ‘The censorship will be absolute and rigid. No news of the slightest importance will be published until days or weeks after the decisive event has occurred. If any definite and illuminating statement is made, presume that it has been published as a blind.’”
ALTHOUGH this is not the sowing season in India for the agriculturists, it is well to keep them informed of the changed conditions in the commercial world and of the position of cotton, oil seeds, jute, coffee, tea and other produce that have been largely exported to foreign countries. Rice and wheat being food grains in India, many will be grown as before if not on a larger scale, since there is sure to be demand for them. It is impossible to say what demand exists for the exportable produce so long as the war lasts.
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A case of misplaced sympathy
Deterrence, retribution and reformation form the three components of justice. For the prevention of crime and safety of society at large, the first assumes the most significance; for providing closure to the victim and his/her family, the second is of utmost importance and, from the point of view of the offender, the third component provides the prospect of correction and rehabilitation. Natural justice would place the rights of the victim, the potential victim and the societal benefit over that of the offender but the wisdom of some places the rights of the snatcher of other people's rights above that of the victim, the family and society at large. From such wisdom stems resistance to stern punishments. The Cabinet decision to take heinous crimes out of the purview of the juvenile law again left such activists frothing at the mouth. The reason given is that the murderer, rapist and acid-thrower juvenile would be exploited by adults in jail. First, it seems to be a case of misplaced sympathy and secondly, if the 15-17-year-old perpetrators of heinous crimes are vulnerable to adult criminals, then by the same yardstick, are not petty offenders and 10-year-olds susceptible to the same kind of exploitation at the hands of heinous criminals in juvenile homes? Even if this question is left unanswered, the right way to address the concern would be to let the offender serve his/her sentence in the juvenile home and then be transferred to adult jail on reaching the threshold age. But according to rights activists even the most horrific criminal can be reformed within three years if the right kind of investment is made in juvenile homes. A country which does not have enough money to pump into basic education and healthcare is expected to hire top-of-the-line counsellors and psychiatrists to cure pervert minds, even if we assume for a moment that such a cure is possible. So that means that until and unless the country becomes rich enough to ensure the provision of necessary tangible and intangible infrastructure in juvenile homes, the other two aspects of justice being sidelined, such offenders and many other potential felonious elements emboldened by the lack of fear of punishment will continue to create chaos in society. The rising crime graph will do no help in decreasing poverty levels and hence the cycle will never break. In the current scenario, neither juvenile homes nor adult jails turn out reformed individuals but the ones coming out of the latter, after having served commensurate punishment, have the fear of punishment lingering at the back of their minds. That lends reason enough to consider taking juveniles charged with serious crimes out of the purview of the Juvenile Justice Act . Such consideration would also accord due weightage to the other two components of justice. The clamour for change in the Juvenile Justice Act grew when the juvenile who was old enough to lead the gang in the most brutal rape in recent times was sentenced to just three years in a reform home because he missed the majority age by a whisker and hence is deemed by law to be not fully aware of his actions. A child becomes accountable for his act as soon as the realisation of what can harm or hurt him dawns upon him as he simultaneously knows the effect of the same act on the other. The Indian law anyway gives the benefit of the doubt to offenders. The additional leeway given to juveniles has further wiped out the fear of the law and will continue to do so, leading to a society full of intrepid criminals. The disastrous fallout of letting off juveniles is the growing mobilisation of adolescents by gangsters, anti-social elements, traffickers, rioters and even terrorists who encourage them to commit crime with impunity. The lenient juvenile law in future will be flashed with increased frequency and fervour as some kind of shield to hesitant youngsters. It will be used to counter the fear of punishment. Lastly, the retributive aspect of justice, which is often dismissed by phrases like "A tooth for a tooth will make the world toothless" , has to be addressed as this component forms the foundation of natural justice and is also a must to ensure that wounds do not fester. A tooth for a tooth will make very few toothless in many years but nothing for a tooth will make many toothless in a few years. Another such perspective is that it is not the aberrant juvenile who is at fault but the hormonal changes that are at work. Does not this sound like a scientific mien of the remark "Boys will be boys"? Anyway firstly, how come all teenagers, going through the same puberty changes, do not end up on the wrong side of the law? The same argument, if extended to adult crime, would translate as "The individual is not to be blamed but greed, lust, jealousy and intolerance is." Another other pet argument of activists is that most juveniles who commit crime are from an underprivileged background and thus deserve leniency. First, even most adult criminals come from similar backgrounds; so tomorrow, the same leniency could be asked for them. Secondly, and more importantly, poverty can force someone to pinch a loaf of bread or pick a pocket but not rape, brutalise or murder. Such atrocious acts are a result of a criminal streak which can be kept in check in most cases by the fear of stern punitive action. Reform should not be seen as an alternative to punishment but as complementary to it because only then, will the three components of justice be served. In case a certain lobby thinks reform to be a substitute and a fitter way to check criminal elements then they should come forward and demonstrate the same. Wonder how they would react if they were brutalised with an iron rod! Would they map the brain, the hypothalamus, empathise with their background or act
otherwise? The writer, based in Jalandhar, does voluntary social and environment-related work
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A small town tale of life & death The son thought it worthwhile to take the advice of his worthy sundowner companions to decide the future course of action. Knowing full well that euthanasia still had no legal status in the country; they still decided to take up the subject with the doctor, confident of their proximity with him. The doctor refused to be a party to implementing their decision but signalled them to indulge in the act in the ambulance which would be carrying them home from the hospital. So the company of friends decided to relieve the mother of one of their friends in her best interest from the "moh" and "maya" of this transient phase called life. As is so typical of such politico-aristocratic families, death is not something which can take place in abeyance. Even before Biji's imminent death, the news of her death spread like a wild fire, partly due to her family's efforts, partly on its own. Social media played its own part. Soon people from the political spectrum, media and eminent personalities descended at their residence before the arrival of Biji's body. As Biji's ambulance came out of the hospital premises, as had been pre-decided, her life support system was withdrawn. She was expected to breathe her last in another 200 metres of the journey but she was pulsating much beyond that. Soon the friends counselled her son to take a longer route home for the inevitable to happen. But Biji didn't oblige even as the longer route was drawing to a close. Soon Biji was taken on the "geri route" of the city from where she again came out pulsating. Concerned over the embarrassment they would face back home owing to the presence of visitors, they decided to give a new twist to the tale. They declared on their arrival back home about being witness to a miracle about Biji's resurrection. The miracle was there for all to read in the next day's local newspapers. And yet, the inquisitive breed that these journos are, smelling something fishy, they approached the doctor concerned for his version. Last heard, the doctor had to part with a princely sum to spare him the horrors of blackmailing journos. Biji, meanwhile, has recovered to her usual self and is hale and hearty. Postscript: All characters & incidents in the above write-up are fictitious. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is merely coincidental.
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Why traditional vote banks are melting
AN extraordinary social transition that has been evolving in India over the last six decades found clear expression during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Of course, the 16th Parliamentary elections were epochal in many ways due to factors like the highest number of eligible voters in the world, highest percentage of voter turnout, efficient Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), relatively peaceful campaigning and polling. But from a sociological perspective, the most far-reaching positive impact felt by the country has been, what this author calls, the “melting of vote banks.” “Vote banks” have held sway over Indian politics since the time of sociologist MN Srinivas, who coined the term in 1948, and FG Bailey, who predicted its gradual disappearance in 1957. Variables that matter Although ideology and commitment to democracy should be the twin pillars of any political party, in India other variables like caste, religion, language and ethnicity shape the origin and development of political parties as well. Except for a few political parties, most others have come into existence on such grounds. MN Srinivas used the term “vote bank” way back in 1948, during his field study of Rampura, a multi-caste village, southeast of Mysore city, and after the first democratic elections which took place in independent India between October 25,1951 and February 21, 1952. According to Srinivas, “The coming of elections gives fresh opportunities for the crystallisation of parties around patrons. Each patron may be said to have a 'vote bank' which he can place at the disposal of a provincial or national party for a consideration which is not mentioned but implied.” (Page 70, Collected Essays, Oxford, 2002). Primordial loyalties These vote banks were growing and expanding since 1952 in electoral politics at all levels. FG Bailey of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, used the “vote bank” concept to show how caste leaders influence elections, based on the election studies he conducted in Orissa in 1957. Bailey was of the view that traditional groups, which have nothing to do with representative democracy, influence the elections because the candidates or parties capture these groups and use them as vote banks. According to AM Shah, the phrase “vote bank” extended to groups with primordial loyalties as well, resulting in another phrase, “vote bank politics”. Seeing the tremendous possibilities of social change through the vigorous democratic election process in India, Bailey predicted that “vote banks of this kind will disappear quite rapidly as a new generation grows up.” But for this process, he had a caveat: These vote banks should not be “consolidated and fortified by other means” by the parties concerned. (Page 20, Politics and Social Change, Oxford, 1963). Subterranean forces In fact, since 1957, during the 57-year period when 14 parliamentary elections were held, political leaders and political parties were making all efforts to consolidate and fortify their vote banks by all means —caste, community, religion and language using diplomacy, patronage, money and muscle power. But what some of the political leaders/parties could not discern were the subterranean forces working in Indian society since the Independence and the movement towards a pan-Indian society with individual freedom. New style of politics In some of the South Indian states like Kerala, it was evident since the late 1950s when the Communist party got a majority and formed the government. The impact of Periyar's Dravidian Movement and the emergence of Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu was another case. In fact, what Bailey observed in 1957 after seeing the election process in Orissa (now Odisha) has come true in spite of the efforts of the political parties and leaders to consolidate and fortify it. When in 1967, MN Panini went to study the same Rampura village where MN Srinivas had seen ardent vote banks, the situation was different. He could discern that a new style of politics was emerging with a “changing character of patron-client ties.” The new generation has taken over. The vote banks were slowly and steadily melting away and the 2014 elections tell it all. Take the case of Muslims. The Congress president met Shahi Imam Bukhari of Jama Masjid, Delhi, in April, 2014 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Then, Bukhari made an appeal to Muslims to vote for Congress candidates but the party could not get even a single seat out of seven in Delhi. It clearly shows how the vote-bank pot is melting. On the other hand, Muslim leaders in Aligarh were exhorting their community to shed “Congress nostalgia.” The Bombay Muslim Federation had sent volunteers to campaign for AAP candidates. The emergence of new ideologies and movements immensely contribute to accelerating the melting process of vote banks. The Aam Admi Party (AAP) got 29 per cent votes in the Delhi Assembly elections and its share went up to 33 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections in the seven constituencies. At the all-India level it secured two per cent of the total votes cast, that is, 11.08 million voted for AAP transcending the vote banks more than the established parties like CPI or JDU. In Punjab, AAP got 24 per cent of vote shares breaking conventional barriers of the established parties. Case of Bihar & Uttar Pradesh In Bihar, the Yadav community had dominated the political scene since Lalu Prasad Yadav became the Chief Minister of the State. He was also able to mobilise Muslims in his favour. This political vote bank was termed as 'MY' equation. It worked in three consecutive State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, but started diminishing and Lalu Prasad's Party RJD lost heavily in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Take the case of Uttar Pradesh. In this state the Dalits constitute 20.5 per cent of the total Dalit population in India. In the elections since 2007, its vote share has been going down. While the BSP got 30.43 per cent vote share in 2007, its decline was steady: 2009 — 27.42 per cent; 2012 — 25.91 per cent; and in 2014 — 19.6 per cent. Mulayam Singh Yadav mobilised the Yadav and Muslim communities in his favour and won the State Assembly election in 2012 by almost two-third majority. But, this vote-bank politics did not work in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections and out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, it could win only five seats. Although in the past, the BJP's vote bank in Uttar Pradesh mainly consists of Brahmins, Banias and the urban middle class; in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, it won 73 seats in Uttar Pradesh, getting wide support from all sections of society. Negation of traditional calculations According to the CSDS-Lokniti survey, in Haryana BJP consolidated most castes except Dalits and Jats. Nearly 52 per cent Brahmins and 51 per cent OBCs voted for the BJP. Maharashtra witnessed fragmentation of vote banks in the last decade. The Adivasi vote was almost equally divided between the BJP-Sena and Congress-NCP alliances. Among the major Dalit communities only neo-Buddhists favoured the Congress-NCP. Nearly 60 per cent OBCs have supported the B JP-Sena alliance. Coming to Gujarat, the prime ministerial candidate was the primary factor. The state saw the negation of the traditional calculation of regional base of various parties. CSDS survey says not even half of the Dalits voted for the Congress. In Rajasthan, the Congress had a strong hold over the Jat community whereas the other dominant Rajput community used to support the BJP. But in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Jats in general supported the BJP. This may be temporary but the myth of a permanent vote bank is disappearing. One of the major reasons for diminishing vote-bank politics is that its “patrons” could not deliver good governance. Over the years, they became more corrupt and preferred giving tickets and high positions to their near and dear/family members on a big scale. The substantial change of voters' profile is another factor for contributing to the melting of vote banks. As political parties could not defend the rights of the vulnerable sections who, at one time, were taken as competing vote banks — Dalits, OBCs, etc. — voters have become more politically conscious and prefer to test performing candidates/parties, who can deliver at the governance level. Affirmative action, special measures to uplift the poor and downtrodden, good governance discourse, all have contributed to it. In a democracy, individual is the unit and the individual is the deciding factor. Thus, the states known for caste loyalties, the caste-oriented political parties continue to face serious electoral debacles. Now people vote for stability and issues like development, good governance and peace according to their choice keeping aside incentives and dictates from the patrons, middlemen, caste leaders and netas. As far as the younger generation or the young voters are concerned, they want a safe future with prosperity. They use all modern technologies towards this end. The social media, information technology and mobility have come to their advantage. For these young people, a meaningful democracy is the answer to their many problems and they play a vital role in the elections. The ultimate result of our multi-party, democratic elections is that Indian society is becoming a modern society, transcending narrow communal, religious, ethnic, language and other divides and considerations. The individual as a decision maker is coming to the forefront and traditional community leaders are receding to the background. Therefore, people's choice of party will swing like a pendulum in every five or ten years. Today parliamentary elections witnessed it; tomorrow we will see it in all the state assembly and panchayat elections as well.
The author is Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi Politics of vote bank
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