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ESSAY
Getting It Right
We must try to attain growth, but without sacrificing our constitutional values
HARISH SALVE
14 August 2009
Indian democracy — at the distance of near six decades into our “tryst with destiny” — has been an unqualified success.
We have secured the three pillars — a legislature changed by the ballot, a robust judiciary and a fiercely free media. The general elections of 2009 dispelled the doubts as to the efficacy of the Westminster model in providing a stable government, while in its home country, Prime Minister Gordon Brown rebuffed the demand for advancement of elections on the ground that they may result in a fractured verdict!
Winston Churchill, in a speech in 1931, described India as a geographical term rather than a nation — we have surely proved him wrong. There is, however, a long way ahead to fulfil the constitutional pledges embodied in the Preamble to the constitution.
The first affirmation in our preamble is to secure for all, justice — social, economic and political. But the delays of the legal system have made a mockery of the rule of law and made ordinary justice a chimera. We need serious investment in the infrastructure of the judicial system — more judges, better salaries for them, better court-management techniques, and specialised commercial courts in the metros. But the point is, do we have the political will to do so, even if it results in a significant number of those who adorn our legislatures being speedily sent to jail?
Social justice is served best by removing economic disparities and providing opportunities for inclusive growth. Projects that create wealth and employment serve social justice better than erecting statues to deify pachyderms.
Equality of status and opportunity, which is the second affirmation of our preamble, also demands a correction of course. The political empowerment of dalits has been one of our greatest successes, but unfortunately it has decayed into vote bank politics. Measures of “affirmative
Discrimination” (reservations) have degenerated into reverse discrimination — the proof is in the din against excluding the “creamy layer” from the benefits of reservation.
The third affirmation in the Preamble is of freedom. Freedom of conscience is most important without which there can be no development. And evolution of humans and freedom of speech is one of the most important manifestations of such freedom.
The courts have zealously guarded this freedom. But now rising intolerance is evident in society — and is a new measure from which some seek to reap political dividend — whether it be the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in Mumbai or the Ram Sene in Karnataka.
The breach of constitutional values, however, has had far more devastating consequences than the transgressions of the express letter of the constitution. Debasement of politics by its criminalisation, divisive vote bank politics and blinking at egregious corruption, and a growing trend of “regime revenge”, have taken a toll on the economic development of this country. Investors too are hesitant because of irresponsible politics.
In the ultimate analysis, the most fundamental freedom for the common man is the freedom from want. For the poor, constitutional rights and freedoms simply do not exist. There is no alternative to growth, and growth of the kind we need cannot be attained unless we improve the standard of governance.
Along the arduous journey of the past six decades, our politics lost touch with constitutional values. We must surely strive to attain and better the Chinese model of economic growth, but without sacrificing the basic values upon which this nation, and its constitution was founded.
The author is former Solicitor General of India and senior advocate in the Supreme Court
(Businessworld Issue Dated 18-24 Aug 2009) |
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