Speaker’s pique

Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, is a man on a mission. In his project to secure his office against any external interference, he will brook not the slimmest glimmer of interference. Having begun by gently nudging the political class towards a debate on the independence of presiding officers of our legislatures, he has since worked himself up into a fine whirl. Chatterjee has now ventured beyond India’s borders to map democracy as he perceives it. And his formula for colouring the New Democratic Order, the parts of the world he will honour with his presence, is simple: concede his exceptionalism as representative of the world’s largest democracy. So pity the Australians. Spare a thought for a Commonwealth Parliament Association meet in Canberra that will be bereft of Chatterjee’s accumulated wisdom. All because the Australian government would not accede to South Block’s requests that Chatterjee not be frisked by security upon disembarking Down Under.

Does the Hon’ble Speaker realise how undemocratic his objections are? By projecting Canberra’s refusal to put in abeyance a law that mandates frisking as an “affront” to India, he undermines the very democratic ideal he invokes. Intrusive security checks are an increasingly pervasive annoyance of life these days. Millions of air travellers would share Chatterjee’s distaste for it. As would all those visitors to New Delhi’s Parliament House who pass through layers of checks to glimpse or to aid in the working of Indian democracy. It is irritating, but it is a factor of present-day realities. Protocol has perhaps insulated high officials from these daily intrusions. They may have even forgotten that this bandobast is in greatest measure aimed at securing their lives.

It would be ludicrous if this incident led to an India-Australia spat. However, some emulation is in order. At countless Indian airports one finds boards announcing a long and endless list of functionaries exempt from any security drill. It’s time to pull them down. As a sign of allegiance to the equality that sustains Indian democracy, let there be no differentiation. Speaker Sir, you may just find that equating exceptionalism as respect was just that most dangerous of things, false consciousness.