Neelabh Mishra - Modi Sarkar, beware of tampering with the Constitution / Soli Sorabjee: What we need to guard / Arun Shourie calls campaigning for Modi one of the "biggest mistakes" of his life: "What we are going towards is a pyramidal decentralised mafia state"
In the din of the
recently concluded winter session of Parliament caused by the ill-advised
demonetisation decision, a serpent more sinister for our republic lurked hidden
from the public eye and media glare.
In one of the brief interludes of business
amidst the disrupted session, an insidious question was planted in the Rajya
Sabha on December 2, 2016 - starred question No. 185 by BJP MP Dilipbhai Pandya
of Gujarat, regarding ‘Review of the Constitution’. The question addressed to
the Minister of Law and Justice had three points:
- The status of the effort made so far to
review the Constitution.
- Whether the constant increase in the
number of bills being moved to amend the Constitution indicates the need
for such a review; and
- Whether any person/group is studying this matter and advising the ministry and if so the details thereof?
The answer of the
government was ominous and necessitates eternal vigilance on the part of the
citizens who value our hard-won liberty, democracy, pluralism and strong
republican institutions as envisioned by our Constitution—a fruit of careful
deliberation and debate by nation builders imbued with the ideals of our
freedom movement and the best of human civilisational values.
The government’s reply
to Pandya’s question was laid as a statement on the table of the House by Ravi
Shankar Prasad, the Minister for Law and Justice, and Electronics and Information
Technology. In its written reply tabled in the Parliament, the Government of
India, ominously finds our Constitution inadequate and subject to continuous
review not by any august Constituent Assembly duly and democratically
constituted by the people of India, with whom collectively the sovereignty of
this democratic republic reside, but by ministries and departments that derive
their validity and existence from the very Constitution that they seek to
review. And they claim to do so on the recommendations of a Constitutional
Review Commission - the Venkatachaliah Commission - dubiously constituted by a fiat
of the previous NDA government without even the sanction of the then elected
Parliament.
In response to the
first point of Pandya’s question, the government statement says ‘...The
Commission submitted its report on 31st March 2002. Action on the
recommendations made in the report lies with the various Ministries/Departments
of the Government of India which are administratively concerned with the
subject matter of the recommendations….’ The government reply further says that
the copies of the report had been forwarded to these ministries/departments to
examine and process the recommendations.
In reply to the other
two points in the question, the government statement says, ‘Review of the
Constitution of India, with a view to bring them in harmony with the current
economic, social and political situation in the country, is a continuous
process normally done by Central Ministries/ Departments as part of their
business.’
The government’s
callousness about the Constitution as a document enshrining the core of our
democracy, republicanism and the collective sovereign will of the Indian people
is reflected in its reply to the parliamentary question. It reduces the
Constitution of India to a mere set of administrative procedures and rules that
must be and are subject to constant review by administrative units and
committees set up by the government of the day, rather than by the collective
will of the people in exercise of their sovereignty and democratic rights. And
mind you, it’s not talking about mere amendments that every Constitution of the
world undergoes from time to time, but talking of a comprehensive
constitutional review, a euphemism for a new Constitution.
It’s the government of
the day that derives its legitimacy in a democratic republic from the
Constitution that the people of the country bring into being, rather than the
other way round. It’s the government that is accountable to the Constitution
and the people continuously, and not the other way round. Circa 2017 should be
the year when the people of this country should confront the government over
its designs on India’s Constitution and democracy. Democracy is just not about
getting a majority to rule and do as you like, irrespective of accountability
to the core of democratic and republican values.
http://www.nationalheraldindia.com/todays-take/2016/12/29/editorial-modi-sarkar-beware-of-tampering-with-the-constitution
Our freedom fighters and members of the
Constituent Assembly who drafted free India’s Constitution attached great
importance to fundamental rights. They did not subscribe to the fallacy that
fundamental rights are a gift from the state to its citizens. They rightly
believed that individuals possess basic human rights independently of any
Constitution by reason of the fact that they are members of the human family. A
Constitution does not “confer” fundamental rights. It confirms their existence
and accords them protection. That is the rationale of fundamental rights…
Utmost judicial
vigilance is necessary with regard to restraints on the fundamental right of
freedom of expression and personal liberty, which are the favourite targets of
attack by authoritarian regimes because their suppression enables the regime to
neutralise the dissenter, jettison accountability and ensure its continuance… Serious violations of
fundamental rights occur during emergencies. The usual facile excuse offered is
that fundamental rights are required to be suspended temporarily in order that
the nation may survive. Actual experience establishes that those to whom
supreme authority has been conferred are reluctant to give it up. Temporary dictatorship
often becomes permanent tyranny because when the safeguards of the Constitution
are surrendered to the rulers the means of getting them back also get
surrendered… Read more:
[On] Twitter, [it’s] not individuals speaking but organised forces. These are now armies and that shows the debasement of discourse in India. And, it vitiates the atmosphere of the country. … It’s part of a well thought out strategy. And, the country better wake up. It’s not a crazy person in the street. I remember a comment on Mussolini’s black shirts – they were nothing without the state but with the state they were everything. With the state backing them, they are everything. This applies to a large section of the media today...
A former supporter of the prime minister, Shourie calls campaigning for Modi one of the “biggest mistakes” of his life. Before this interview, Shourie, in another interview, had criticised PM Modi of running a one-man “Presidential government” and called his two years of governance “a great opportunity completely missed”.
A former supporter of the prime minister, Shourie calls campaigning for Modi one of the “biggest mistakes” of his life. Before this interview, Shourie, in another interview, had criticised PM Modi of running a one-man “Presidential government” and called his two years of governance “a great opportunity completely missed”.
In
the interview with Chaturvedi, he calls out Modi for the “Indirafication” of
BJP and for espousing the values of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Here
are some quotes from the released excerpts:
On the Narendra
Modi government: It’s a
decentralised emergency. What we are going towards is a pyramidal decentralised
mafia state, where local goons will belabour anyone whom they think is doing
something wrong. The central people will look the other way. The central people
will provide a rationale for the goondas at the local level … It’s not love for
the cow but just an instrument for domination.
Indira vs Modi: The one big difference is at that time Mrs
[Indira] Gandhi still used the law. Now it is not the law. These people are
acting outside the law. These people are acting outside the law. This is true
fascism because you say what is the law? I am the law. All this action is being
done outside the government, worse, things are being done inside the government
to choke the existing laws
On Modi’s response
to controversies spurred by BJP leaders: A statement is made, an incident is created. A campaign is launched. He
remains silent. Everybody says, baba please speak, begs him to speak. No. When
the campaign has been milked or that abuse has been milked for what it can
yield, then at last, three months later, he makes some ambiguous statement.
Like motherhood is good. We should all respect our mothers.
On Raghuram Rajan’s
resignation: After the RBI
governor has been thrown out, this gives very important signals. First, it’s a
favour to those corporate houses. Second, it gives a very important [signal]
that if you don’t do our bidding and are not seen to be doing our bidding, you
are out. Third, it’s a signal that professionals are not welcome in this set up
and then, the most important, that no institution will be autonomous. The so
called Gujarat model is exactly this. One man, nobody else. One man going to
any extreme. The man not even realising that drama is not achievement.
On RSS: Modi and Shah are every day espousing RSS
values, these are their values. This is the RSS in power. It is foolish to put
it on a pedestal. Look at the chaps who have been put in institutions.
That’s the long-term consequence … All this talk over the country is only to
justify this takeover. The takeover is also not of some great historic mission
but to ensure government cars, to sit in government offices. This is the level
of ambition of the deprived! The oppressed who has been cast out, his
aspiration is to be like the oppressor… read more:
‘It’s a Decentralised Emergency… A Pyramidal Mafia State’: Arun Shourie on Modi Sarkar
https://thewire.in/98900/decentralised-emergency-pyramidal-mafia-state-arun-shourie-modi-sarkar/
and the Express summary:
‘It’s a Decentralised Emergency… A Pyramidal Mafia State’: Arun Shourie on Modi Sarkar
https://thewire.in/98900/decentralised-emergency-pyramidal-mafia-state-arun-shourie-modi-sarkar/
and the Express summary:
See also
Six Outrageous Things BJP Leaders Have Said About Dadri Murder
NAUJAWAN BHARAT SABHA on attempts of 'Sangh Parivar' to foment communal tension in Delhi / Beef murder bid to stir hatred ahead of polls? / SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN: The fight is now over your right to not be killed for what you eat
NAUJAWAN BHARAT SABHA on attempts of 'Sangh Parivar' to foment communal tension in Delhi / Beef murder bid to stir hatred ahead of polls? / SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN: The fight is now over your right to not be killed for what you eat
The Broken Middle - my essay on the 30th anniversary of 1984
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
