What 42 years of parliamentary democracy could not do; 300 hours of fasting did. And yet politicians rise together to point out that parliament is supreme. One they are not. The people are. We elect them to be there. Two, even if granted by the constitution the parliament might be the highest authority, the level of lethargy displayed by it has rendered it ineffective. If the parliament is serious about establishing its supremacy, it has to seem to be wanting to do something about it.
There might be a million excuses for not passing the legislation. The irrefutable fact is that they did not. Until now. A lot of people are calling yesterday's parliament session a victory for the campaign; and there are some who are restrained, even circumspect of the happenings. We need perspective before we begin analyzing yesterday's session.
After a long time, we witnessed a proper debate in parliament. The last 10 years or more all we have see on a daily basis are walkouts and both the houses being adjourned. There have been numerous reports in the media on the number of hours wasted, the amount of tax payers' money which goes down the drain every time the house is adjourned. Attendance of our MPs in Parliament has been abysmally low, important issues sidelined, laws not passed, generally the MPs not doing the job they have been elected and paid to do. It is the same as any one of us showing up at our offices, giving a big 'fuck you' to our bosses, collect our paychecks and going home. If the parliament is really supreme, should they not adhere to the most supreme standards of efficiency?
What happened yesterday was that our legislators were pushed into doing their jobs. IT has been either the Supreme Court or various other agencies (CAG, CVC) in the last few years who have gone about goading parliament to function. But there is only so much these agencies can do. Left alone, our MPs are happy bunking sessions and not going about their jobs. Arun Jaitley pointed out yesterday that the bill was originally tabled in 1968, passed by the Lok Sabha in 1969 and ever since they have just sat on it. The parliament was dissolved in 1969 and nothing happened since.
The fact that a man had to fast for more than 12 days is a sad statement of how things have been in this country. The fact that lakhs of people turned up to support him is reflective of the immense anger and disappointment the public feels towards the sheer apathy of our elected representatives. Who, may I point out, have acted ONLY because of the fast and the support it gained. There was no intention of the government to table the bill until AH fasted for the first time in April. They have been in power for seven years and have not introduced the bill even once. This monsoon session would have undoubtedly been about the various scams unearthed in the past few years, with the opposition walking out.
That we, the people managed to make them stay put and discuss the bill is nothing short of a victory. The means employed might not be correct in the view of some people, but there was nothing else that could have made this happen. Where were Aruna Roy, Arundhati, Vinod Mehta, NDTV all the people now opposing the 'blackmail"? They could not have been bothered less about the bill. They might not have even known about it until now. Our politicians have been forced to take action not because of such people's articles, discussions or activism. It has never been enough to get things done. They needed a rude awakening, which in my opinion has come too late even now. Why are these naysayers content with the govt. sitting on a bill for 42 years, but have a problem if they are forced to discuss it now? Only because it was not their issue to begin with, in fact not an issue at all.
Protests in the past have been about staging dharnas and employing other means to achieve goals not less important but logistically easier for the agencies to implement. To get our parliament to come together as one, to discuss a long delayed legislation, to indulge in an earnest discourse, nothing short of the last few days' events would have worked. One hopes that this won't have to be repeated. One hopes that the government will at least show more earnestness in engaging the people of this country and solving their problems. Because what a lot of people overlook is that if the govt. does not, the next protest will be nothing short of a revolution.
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