Bedlam. Pandemonium. Tumult. Furore. Noisy scenes. One automatically associates these words with Pavlovian penchant to Parliament of India, the cosy habitat of that elite and exclusive club called People’s Reps. The combined din of our large and diverse democracy finds its concentrated reverberations here, and really, what an echo it is turning out to be! Be it monsoon session or winter session, whatever the climate outside, it is always stormy inside!
One does not know if our democracy has been founded on firm foundations, but certainly our Parliament building seems to be. It has, over the decades, withstood the ominous onslaught of terrorists’ bombs and bullets, the crash of several minority governments, the seemingly limitless exhibitions of lung power, the thudding of angry footsteps of its inhabitants as they either rush to its well or stomp out of it, the swish of flying missiles that now include papers too, thanks to Mamata, and perhaps every other type of sound that God has conceived. Yes, the true architect of our democracy, seems to be the one who built its symbol – its circular walls stone deaf to the cacophony in and around, as deaf as its members are to their voters’ woes.
No less than the Speaker has lamented last week that the House was becoming a laughing stock and threatened to quit for the ‘n’th time. The declining decorum in the House is a direct fallout of the deteriorating quality of the human material that occupies it. And the reasons are obvious. Criminalisation of politics is the first culprit and has led to criminalisation of Parliament too.The passage from prison to Parliament has no checkposts, the EC’s best efforts notwithstanding.
But even more apalling is the criminal ignorance of many of the members on issues. There is nary any homework on their part before a discussion. How many can come through an IQ test that even a Plus 2 student can handle with ease? No doubt, there are an enlightened few, but that tribe is dwindling. Debate is dead and drivel thrives instead. Little wonder that the voices inside that hallowed premises sound so hollow. Indeed there is more debate on prime time and Press than in Parliament.
Coalition politics has also contributed its mite to the general degradation. Friends today, enemies tomorrow and pals again the day after! As even one vote or an abstention can bring down a government, parleys gain precedence over principles. Vital Bills are deemed important for discussion only if their passage or rejection can lead to the government’s survival or fall. Otherwise, the members are not interested and are keen to push them through in a hurry, en masse. Even laundry bills get better attention from housewives.
Result? Members walkout on flimsy pretexts when they are actually voted and paid for being inside. Ministers duty bound to respond to queries are absent at the appointed time. The law-makers can’t even stick to simple procedural norms of Parliament; most don’t even know them. As the rulers and the opposition alternate in power, the morals and behaviour also trade places. But ‘United we Stall’ remains their common motto. The Chair, for them, is a piece of furniture, not a seat of authority. And all this ugliness is on parade purportedly for the people and at the people’s expense! — the cost of a single-day sitting runs into crores of rupees. And worse, the MPs are now pitching for a pay hike! And if you talk about accountability, they would walk out on you too!
Parliamentary proceedings do not even qualify as entertainment though the DDs religiously beam them, day in day out. The governing body is dead sick reflecting a democracy in decay. Indeed, the country is best governed only when Parliament is not in session!
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