VIMARSH- INDIAN POLITY: WHERE ARE WE HEADED?

Vimarsh, the monthly discussion session of Vivekananda Kendra International was held in its premises at 6.30 pm on 25th June 09. Sri Ajit Doval, the honourary director of Vivekananda Kendra International, gave a brief introduction of the topic of the day and the speaker, Sri Govindacharya. Sri Dovalji explained that the individual, the society and the political thoughts along with the values constituted the radii of concentric circles which converge to a common centre, that was our national consciousness. The political tenets prevalent in the society not only decide the strategic future of the nation, but also give an orientation to it.

Sri Govindacharya while initiating his oration explained that parochial concepts akin to fundamentalist doctrines, mutually contradictory to each other were manifesting in the society. For example- On one hand, the French President has vehemently criticized burqa as a sign of Islamic obscurantism and on the other hand, President Obama of USA was extending an olive branch to the Islamic nations and commiserating with the perpetrators of Islamic terrorism & obscenity is glorified as a sign of modernism and progressive thought

He expounded the fundamentals of democracy as it would be feasible in India. He expatiated that legislature, executive, judiciary, media, the non-governmental factors and the people are the pillars supporting the democracy and of those, people were the most significant. He reflected that legislature was erroneously being given a disproportionately high importance, while the fact was there were other factors whose significance far exceeded it. For example- the Islamic lobby, the leftist do not have a large representation in the legislature, but they wield a huge influence in the society. He explained that the multiplicity of political parties with each reflecting a distinct ideology, is an important hallmark of democracy but it has got completely vitiated. Each political party connives with the sources of money and muscle power and after winning the elections becomes subservient to them. He explained the various periods and the different factors dominant during them, that influenced the outcome of the elections.

He said, the current state of affairs in the political arena is like a football field where the ruling party and the opposition constituting the dueling teams are colluding with each other for their ulterior motives and swindling the guileless masses. He reminisced the atrocities perpetrated on the opposition parties and leaders during the emergency in 1975.

He described the pitiable condition of the Indian politics in which moral values have got completely back seated and how money power has become the most powerful means to winning elections. He remarked that although the Election Commission was equipped with a lot of powers but owing to the absence of a potent legal framework, it was not able to enforce them. The present political leaders and Karyakartas( activists) are devoid of any moralistic ideology and have degraded to the level of managers and employees, with politics no longer being the domain of service and sacrifice for the nation, but degrading to a business, a profession etc. He explained that in view of these state of affairs prevalent in the nation, democracy has become a misnomer and has become a corporatocracy. He described how the political state prevailing in the nation has become similar to what prevailed in China during the rule of Chiang Kai Sheik in the 40s and the criminals, the separatists, and the insurgents have become the modern version of the warlords of that era.

He described that the middle class people were becoming indifferent and developing a lacklustre attitude towards the plight of the nation and this was like the behaviour of an ostrich which when confronted by enemies hides its face in the sand thinking that he could evade his enemies by occluding their vision. He commented that we should not become incumbent on the parameters of the western world like the World Bank Report, the GDP figures for appraising the level of development but should have our own indigenous integrated parameters such as water level, soil fertility, level of pollution, forest cover, man-cattle ratio, for assessing the development accomplished in the nation. He elaborated the 5 exigencies of Hinduism- 1) feeling of communion with all the elements of the universe 2) perceiving the all-pervading divinity 3) Taking care of everybody with emphasis on the weaker sections of the society 4) Man is a part and not the master of the nature. As humans are endowed with greater abilities, they should act as trustees of nature and protect all her constituents 5) Human life is not meant for indulgence in licentiousness, but meant for achieving higher goals like protection of society, nation, Dharma etc. Our contribution to the society should be proportionate to our consumption. We should not confine ourselves only to prosperity, but maintain a harmonious balance between prosperity and culture. Confinement to materialistic prosperity alone is a demoniac characteristic, while a stable equilibrium between them reflects Dharma. The concept of competition which implies the survival of the fittest and the annihilation of the weak, is the law followed by the animals in the forest and has no place in Hinduism.

He warned that we should not have a confrontist, conflicting agenda but integrate all the components of the society while steering it on the path to progress. We should have an integrated technique blending the intellectual, spiritual and the emotional approaches for overcoming the challenges facing the nation. The problems faced by the nation were complex and only time-taking, multidimensional techniques, often backed by experimentation could overcome them. He exhorted the audience to shed away their greed, fear and attachment which were impeding the progress of our nation. He also explained how attachment was more fiendish than the other two factors and it led man to his doom. He cited the examples of the two illustrious characters of Mahabharata- Bhishma and Krishna, how Bhishma in spite of his selflessness and dedication succumbed to the feeling of attachment to his ego and lost his power of discrimination between Dharma and Adharma. He described the relative importance of the individual, party, society and the nation as follows: individual< party < society < nation.

He concluded that the nation was the most significant unit and we should be ready to undertake any sacrifice for enhancing her interests. Initiative, courage and experiment are the components of giving a viable altrnative to the impending anarchy.

The speech of Sri Govindacharya was followed by the Question-answer interaction with the audience

Sri S.R Sharma( IAS retd) asked Sri Govindacharya that the society was facing daunting challenges and how could it be possible for one individual to rise up against all the corruption and degradation prevalent in the system. Sri Govindacharya explained that we were misinterpreting Hinduism as a superstitious blind faith devoid of any logic and rationale. He also added that we have to start with ourselves and for effecting any changes in the society, we have to first bring about the transformation in ourselves as according to Kautilya, the eminent intellectual of India, there is a deep nexus between the individual and the society, with any change in the one triggering a simultaneous change in the other.

Professor Makhanlal, the eminent historian reflected that Hindu and Hinduism were geographical terms and they were never used in connection with the Dharma practiced in the nation. All whatever was from the Hind Mahasagar{ Indian Ocean} to the Hindukusha was described as Hindu. Commodore Puniya, added that the term ‘Hindutva’ was never used in the freedom struggle against the British and ‘Hindustani’ was more inclusive and appropriate than it.

Sri Ajit Doval concluded the session and said that politics should be an instrument for serving the nation and for bringing about the necessary change in the society, we have to first bring about the change in us. He thanked Sri Govindacharya for his remarkable oration and gave the vote of thanks to the audience

Various well known personalities like Sri Vijay Kapoorji the former Lieutenant governor of Delhi, Admiral Raman Puri, Ambassador N.N Jha, Sri A.N Verma, the former chief of RAW, Sri S.R Sharma IAS(retd), Sri I.P Gupta, former governor of Andaman and Nicobar, Sri S.N Dwivedi director public relations M.P government took part in the discussion. Vimarsha was compared by Shri Mukul KAnitkar, secretary VKI.