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THE GRAMMAR of ANARACHY
As I Feel It
I wrote in my Blog on ‘ Satyagraha and Democracy’
and also on ‘ The Corruption Debate ’ with reference
to the agitation of Anna Hazare and the Civil
Society on the Lokpal and corruption and Yoga Guru
Baba Ramdev on black money and corruption. Much has
happened very fast in intervening months. There are
a few lessons to be learnt from the prophetic
warnings of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, father of the Indian
constitution. He said in the Constituent Assembly on
November 1949:
Quote
We must hold fast to constitutional methods of
achieving our social and economic objective s.
It means we must abandon the bloody methods of
revolution. It means that we must abandon the method
of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and
satyagraha. When there was no way left for
constitutional methods for achieving economic and
social objectives, there was a great deal of
justification for unconstitutional methods. But
where constitutional methods are open, there can be
no justification for these unconstitutional methods.
These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy
and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for
us.
Unquote
We all know the aftermath of Baba Ramdev’s agitation
at the Ramlila grounds. Baba Ramdev is in trouble.
His close associate Balakrishan is on the run. I
think Baba discredited h imself
and the message on black money. He tried to assume
that he was more powerful than the duly established
Government and the constitutional set up of the
country. Nobody shall undermine the importance of
the issue of black money. But the process to address
the problem shall have legal and constitutional
support. Now Baba Ramdev is busy in proving that the
money and property he amassed over the years is
white and legal. I think it would be difficult. It
would be advisable for the Baba to read and consider
Dr. Ambedkar’s reference to the grammar of anarchy
in his thought provoking speech.
Coming to the agitation of Anna Hazare and the so
called civil society, it is going to be, to my mind,
yet another disaster. Anna Hazare is a respected
Gandhian. The members of the civil society like
Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal, Santosh
Hegde who are the supporters and instigators of the
agitation are also well placed intellectuals. The
cause and issue of corruption for which they are
agitating is also important and topical. They made
their point and the Government of day fell in line.
The joint drafting committee on the Lokpal bill was
constituted. The duly elected Government has agreed
to introduce a bill in the Parliament on the Lokpal.
Anna Hazare and the civil society are not satisfied
with the provisions of the said bill. There is no
problem. They may still have differences with the
authorities. But to sort out these differences now,
they are expected to go to the Parliament and not to
the Jantar Mantar. They shall speak and convince the
political parties and the MPs and get their wishes
included in the Lokpal Bill. They make the
Government agree or if not, may consider defeating
the Government on the floor of the house.
Thy may even consider amending the constitution to
accommodate their wishes not only with regard to the
Lokpal but also any other issue. The constitution
provides for such arrangements. Anything outside
this would amount to subscribing to
the grammar of anarchy which the framers of the
constitution spelled out. Let us hope that the saner
sense prevails and these issues are addressed
through constitutional means. Corruption needs to be
tacked head on. There are not two opinions about
this. But how it could be done ?Certainly by not
shouting from the top but by faithfully and
diligently working for the empowerment of the
society at large though constitutional ways and
means. I reminded of an Urdu couplet of Dr. Iqbal:
मस्जिद
तो
बना
दी
सव
भर
में,
इमां
की
हिरार्त
वालों
ने,
मन
अपना
पुराना
पापी
है
बरसों
से
नमाज़ी
बन
न
सका
!
By. Mr. Ramesh Chander, Retired Indian Diplomat
03-08-2011 |
