Tags:
Journalism of Courage
On Wednesday even as representatives of all parties gathered to meet at 7 Race Course Road to address the Anna Hazare situation Sharad Yadav,the president of the Janata Dal United,rose to address the Lok Sabha. The speech he delivered was by turn passionate,inspiring,funny and,above all,a thoughtful defence of Parliament and democratic institutions. Looking around at the House,he made several well-argued points. No institution in India,he said,was as representative as Parliament. And no institution was as accountable either,he insisted: its members had to go back to the people every five years,sometimes less than that,and often wound up greeting every tree,cow and buffalo they passed. The changes that were needed to address corruption should not,he argued,be seen as undermining Parliament. Nor should they undermine the constitutional structure. When the opposition speaks together,he added,the government is forced to listen.
This argument,which met with much agreement in the Lok Sabha,must be taken to its logical conclusion: Indias political parties must stand firm,together,to ensure that there is a political consensus to defend Indias constitutional institutions. Indeed,further,they must use this Lokpal moment as an opportunity to make them more decisive,accountable and transparent. Yadav made a telling point when he said that Parliament itself was the premier corruption-seeking authority we have: that Bangaru Laxman,from his side of the aisle,and A. Raja,from the other,had both been drummed out through pressure in Parliament,through an opposition united against the government. It is through such institutional power that we need to ensure that corruption is tackled head-on; and it is through a political consensus to bolster Indias institutional strength that this moment of anger must be met.
