By Inder Jit
(Released on 15 January 1980)
Good government, we were once taught, was no substitute for self-government. Following independence, we learnt to our cost that the reverse was no less true. Self-government was also no proxy for good government. In 1977, a new choice was posed before our people. Bread, it was argued differently, was no substitute for freedom. Our people understood the basic issues involved and asserted themselves magnificently. A miracle followed and, contrary to all expectations, Mrs Indira Gandhi and her caucus were trounced and thrown out. Another miracle has now happened. Mrs Gandhi has arisen like the Phoenix from the ashes to the chagrin of all those anxious to stop her and prevent a return to authoritarianism. Our people have now made it clear that freedom by itself is not enough. They also want bread and security — and a good government. There is no other explanation for what has come to pass and brought Mrs Gandhi spectacularly back to power.
Mrs Gandhi has, no doubt, every reason to rejoice over her unprecedented majority in the Lok Sabha. Mr Charan Singh and Mr Jagjivan Ram, too, can draw some comfort from the voting analysis. They and the other parties opposed to the Congress (I) have not done as badly as reflected in the seats won in the new Lok Sabha. Thanks to our electoral system, Mrs Gandhi has once again won a massive majority, not a massive mandate. Less than 50 per cent of those who exercised their franchise voted for her party, as in 1971. Nevertheless, the Opposition leaders and Mrs Gandhi would do well to realise that the earlier they face the harsh realities of the situation the better for them and the country. Colossal challenges await both the Government and the Opposition. Mrs Gandhi has to redeem her many poll pledges and satisfy the great expectations she has aroused. The Opposition has to be on the guard and ensure that the Constitution and democracy are not subverted.
Initial signals from both sides have been constructive and promising. Mrs Gandhi has spoken of national reconciliation, sought the cooperation of all people and assured the Opposition that there will be no vindictiveness. The Opposition leaders have gracefully felicitated Mrs Gandhi on her triumph, ignoring the bitterness of the poll battle. However, a great deal will depend upon genuine willingness of the both sides to function in the true spirit of parliamentary democracy. Regrettably, much of the trauma and trouble of the past decade has arisen due to wholly inadequate understanding of the delicate mechanism of parliamentary democracy. Few still realise that parliamentary democracy is essentially a government by discussion and that the system can function only if the Government and the Opposition act in unison and, assisted by an independent and experienced Speaker, show willingness to compromise and accommodate. There is no scope in it for arrogance of power and for a Government to function as a brute majority.
Outwardly, our democracy has appeared to function. General elections have been held and successive Parliaments constituted. Parties enjoying the confidence of the Lok Sabha have formed Governments and ruled over the country, barring the recent aberration: the caretaker Government. At the same time, budgets have been voted, legislation passed, no-confidence motions debated and questions generally answered. Inwardly, however, Parliament’s basic health has gradually deteriorated. Even the circumstances which led to the Emergency can be traced largely to the failure of the elected representatives at the Centre and in Gujarat and Bihar between 1971 and 1975. The Opposition inside the legislatures was weak and divided but strong outside. This fact was, however, ignored. The Opposition was treated as of little consequence, forcing its leaders, rightly or wrongly, to take to the politics of disruption first inside the House and thereafter to the streets.
Mere talk of national reconciliation and cooperation is, therefore, not enough. Both sides must back their words and fine sentiments with action and prove that they mean what they say. (Life in New Delhi, as I once wrote, has over the years become a conscious and continuous exercise in double talk and deception.) Simultaneously, offensive language will need to be avoided and temptation eschewed by the new rulers to indulge in sweeping condemnation of all that has happened during the past three years. There is no gainsaying that the country today faces many grave problems. Mrs Gandhi herself has spoken of the immediate need to curb runaway inflation and restore law and order. But it is neither proper nor statesmanlike for her and some of her close colleagues to indulge in hyperbole and say that the country has been reduced to “a ruinous state” and “not one step has been taken towards progress”. Unfortunately, the Janata leaders acted likewise following their victory in 1977 when they said that nothing had been achieved during thirty years of Congress rule.
Initial signals from both sides have been constructive and promising. Mrs Gandhi has spoken of national reconciliation, sought the cooperation of all people and assured the Opposition that there will be no vindictiveness. The Opposition leaders have gracefully felicitated Mrs Gandhi on her triumph, ignoring the bitterness of the poll battle.
Undeniably, there has been disastrous bungling in the recent management of civil supplies of sugar, kerosene and other essential commodities. But credit must be given where it is due. Three things alone might be mentioned. First, new records in food production have been achieved and measures taken for speedier progress. Food production shot up from 111 m. tonnes in 1976-77 to 131.4 m. tonnes in 1978-79 by increasing the area under irrigation by 5.6 m. hectares and doubling the use of fertilizers from 2.5 m. tonnes to 5.1 m. tonnes. Experts in the Planning Commission expect at least 120 m. tonnes this year despite the severe drought, the worst since 1918. Second, drought has been managed smoothly, without any major problem and without the need for going abroad with a begging bowl. Buffer stocks have not been run through. These still total over 18 m. tonnes. Third, the Election Commission has been able to hold with the help of the Centre and the State Governments the world’s biggest general election to date largely peacefully, notwithstanding the fears of widespread violence and rigging.
The country has not done too badly over the past three years in several other sectors, including sugar production. But problems have got multiplied and confusion worse confounded because of Mr Morarji Desai’s failure to provide dynamic leadership — and sheer incompetence and muddling during the past six months. Before anything else, the new Government will need to turn its immediate attention to the country’s infrastructure of transport, coal, power, steel and cement, which is today caught in a vicious circle. The railways are not moving because there is no enough of coal. Dhanbad and the rest of the coal belt is not producing enough coal because of inadequate power from the DVC. Worse, the country has not been able to get even one additional tonne of coal despite massive investment of hundreds of crores of rupees for the past two years in the nationalised sector because of unprecedented goondaism in and around Dhanbad and the lack of political and administrative will (deliberate, according to some) to enforce law and order. DVC is not producing enough power because of bad system of management and endemic labour trouble.
Simultaneously, immediate stops have to be taken to arrange for massive imports of crude, which will take care of the diesel and kerosene requirements of our farmers and other people all over the country. (According to agreed opinion at the final meeting of the Charan Singh Cabinet, severe shortage of diesel and kerosene was among the principal factors that roused the wrath of the people against the Lok Dal and the Janata at the poll; few were willing to draw a distinction between the two parties.) New Delhi could perhaps take advantage of its large buffer stock of foodgrains and offer the Soviet Union a couple of million tonnes of wheat in return for the crude which we need badly. According to a top expert, two million tonnes of wheat could take care of the diesel requirement of UP, Bihar and some other areas whole year. The USA, it may be recalled, recently cancelled its deal for supplying the Soviet Union 17 million tonnes of wheat Following Moscow’s intervention in Afghanistan.
Much else remains to be done and requires close attention both internally and externally. Law and order will have to be enforced firmly without adopting any fascist short cuts or reviving memories of the dreaded Emergency. (A veteran editor close to Mrs. Gandhi said in a panel discussion on Delhi Doordarshan last week that the railways could, according to a top official, be got moving with “the help of 1500 arrest warrants.”) No less important is the growing threat to India’s unity and integrity, as reflected in the recent developments in the strategic but largely neglected north-east region. Some discipline will have to be inculcated through example, remembering the age-old precept: yatha raja, tatha praja. The administration will have to be toned up and encouraged to function independently. The experience of the past three years leads to one conclusion only: the need for an independent civil service (as in Britain) functioning exclusively in the best interest of the country and not of any one party or its political bosses.
Simultaneously, offensive language will need to be avoided and temptation eschewed by the new rulers to indulge in sweeping condemnation of all that has happened during the past three years. There is no gainsaying that the country today faces many grave problems.
New Delhi has also to deal boldly and expeditiously with the recent developments in Iran and Afghanistan and the threat they pose to India. An altogether new view needs to be taken of Indo-Pakistan relations. But before we can do so effectively we will need to pull the country out of its present political and economic mess. Mrs. Gandhi has got what she had asked for: a two-third majority and a second chance to give India a strong Government and prove that as Nehru’s daughter she is not authoritarian and sincerely stands for democracy. But pious platitudes and sentiments will not help. The people demand solid results and cannot be taken for granted. They look forward to result-oriented programmes and purposeful action. A great opportunity was missed in 1971 when the country gave Mrs. Gandhi a massive vote in response to her popular slogan: garibi hatao. This must not happen again. The Janata and the Lok Dal, for their part, will do well to learn from recent bitter experience and consider ways and means of promoting a two-party system and strengthening democracy. Clearly, it is time for hard decisions in all sides.— INFA