India - Unity In Diversity

INDIA - UNITY IN DIVERSITY India is a major country of South Asia and geographically the seventh largest in the world with the dubious distinction of being the most populated country in the world after China with a population of more than 1.1 billion by the end of 2010. It is also a nuclear power. India is a very large country with diverse history, culture, religions, castes, languages, practices and ethnicities. It is said that India is the home to about eight hundred languages. It also has different castes and religions, some home grown while some others assimilated from outside and different life styles and geographical features through the length and breadth of the country. States

and

Union

Territories

as

provided

in

the

Indian

Constitution are regional administrative tools for the governance of the country. Division of the country in to States and Union Territories makes

governance

of

the

country

viable

through

compact

administrative regions. The largest state of India is Rajasthan and the most populated one is Uttar Pradesh. Goa is the smallest state of India as well as the least populated. Among the Union territories, the largest is Andaman and Nicobar Islands while the most populated one is Delhi. The smallest Union Territory is Daman and Diu and it is also the least populated Union Territory of India. In spite of the diversities, certain basic similarities mostly derived from Dravidian and Aryan ethnic groups from the pre-historic age are

basic to the Indian soul and bring a kind of inexplicable sense of oneness among the people of India.

INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Indian Constitution is the largest, most bulky constitution in the whole world. No other country has got a constitution as large as India’s. It has got 396 Articles and 7 schedules. The Constitution of India provides Fundamental Rights to its citizens and imposes specific responsibilities as the citizens of the country. It provides that Fundamental Rights cannot be taken away from the citizens except in a crisis. There are also Directive Principles provided in the Indian Constitution, which suggests to the Government about its obligations to the people and how to discharge them. It has become a farce in India

that

politicians

and

political

parties

during

the

election

propaganda use the provisions of the Directive Principles to lure votes as promises and their agenda for the governance if they win the election and forget the promises all together once they are secure in the saddle of power. Directive Principles are not imperatives of the constitution to follow unlike the Fundamental Rights and thus are followed only at the convenience and benefits to the political party and its leading lights holding the reigns of the power. The Constitution provides for a Central Government for the country and provincial governments in charge of regions formed on the

basis of historic, linguistic, cultural, ethnic or administrative divisions called as States or Union Territories. The Prime Minister with his council of ministers leads the Central Government where as States and Union Territories by the respective Chief Ministers with their councils of ministers. INDIA AND SECULARISM

Secularism means exclusion of religion in policy and governance. Secularism respects all religions as equal outside the scope of the governance. It is not anti-religious by any stretch of imagination. The Constitution of India declares that India is a secular country. Though India is historically, culturally and by majority of the population is a Hindu country, it is also the root and birthplace of many other religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and more than 20% of its people are Muslims. Historically also, India was ruled by Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Muslim and Christian rulers as much as by Hindu rulers. Hinduism is often called as a way of life far beyond the concept of religion and always championed spirituality as the core of human life. Vedic hymns and scriptures declare God as beyond all religions. Hinduism as a religion is a new phenomenon originated as a reaction to the threats of alien elements that attacked India and its way of life from the tenth century. Religion even now is not the main stay of the Indian life save for a few deviant elements for political and other related reasons.

If there is any genuine concern in this direction

among thoughtful people, it is concerning the identity and protection of the Indian way of life. This is truer regarding modernisation and globalisation trends than the threat from other religions. Most of the countries in the world are secular save for a few exceptions in West

Asia and surrounding regions where countries proud themselves to declare themselves as Islamic Republics. India always lived up to its expectations of being a secular country in accordance with the spirit of its Constitution. Secularism is a very honourable policy that sees all human kind as one and abjures the evil of division and groups among people.

POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDIA

India as defined in the Constitution is a socialist, secular, sovereign democratic republic. It is a country that was under British rule up to the end of 1940s and gained independence after centuries of alien hegemony that began from the tenth century. It has risen to greater heights since independence and aspiring to be a global power. Being a democracy, and the largest democracy at that, India naturally elects its leaders by the process of election through political representations. India’s is a multi-party political system that naturally led to alliances coming to power in recent days and rendering formation of the government a very complex and unclean political manoeuvres, thereby rubbing off the sheen from its otherwise serious and noble process. The adage that politics is the last resort of a scoundrel comes to play in this context and political powers are often found cornered by proven criminals and other anti-social elements by their sheer muscle and money power that can buy votes. Indian political parties can be divided into two main groups: national parties and regional parties. National parties are those that have an all-India base and presence in most of the States and Union Territories. Regional parties are those that have their base and

presence limited only to a few States and Union Territories and generally has local or regional interests in their agenda.

The two

national parties that really count in elections at present are the Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Other political parties that can be counted in national arena in spite of their regional slants in terms of electoral presence or interests are Communist Party of India (Marxist), Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazagam, Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam, Trinamool Congress and a host of other smaller political parties. The Congress Party is an off-shoot of the former Indian National Congress that fought for the independence of the country under stalwarts like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and has its origin in fight for the national independence with a history of more than a century while Bharatiya Janata Party as a new avatar of Bharatiya Jana Sangha is steeped in the ideology of the national identity with a history of more than five decades. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) as an offshoot of the Communist Movement of India has considerable base in States like West Bengal and Kerala and in Union Territory of Tripura with a history of more than seven decades in the Indian political scene. Most of the other political parties of India are offshoots of the good old Congress Party. Both DMK and AIADMK are the political offshoots of the ethnic Dravidian movement in southern India. The United Progressive Alliance or UPA led by Congress Party is an alliance of political parties that assumed power and formed government for the next five years in India in the general election held in 2009. It is the second successive win for the alliance after it came to power in the general election of 2004 by edging out another alliance called National Democratic Alliance or NDA led by the right-wing

nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. 2009 general election was a tense battle for both the alliances as the election was to decide the future of both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the national political scene and the political life of their Prime Ministerial contenders, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mr. Lal Krishna Advani. The world watched the general election and its outcome with interest as the general election served as a plebiscite on UPA’s decision and moves to go with the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with the USA and other member countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which was opposed by both the right-wing BJP and its allies and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and its left-wing allies that withdrew its support to the UPA a few months before the general election for going with the deal. DECLINE OF BJP

Over the last few years in the first decade of the 21st century, BJP has declined in power and popularity from a position it had steadily gained from a long time. The 2009 General Election showed the depths to which it has fallen. Reasons are many. Leader who led the party along the ladder of rise are now either tired or retired. Atal Behari Vajpayee is now retired and distant from the political scene. Age is taking the toll of leaders like L.K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Down the line in the second wrung, there is shortage of the real talents of political genius, and a few available are busy pulling the legs of each other for supremacy in the party which once carved a niche for discipline, patriotism and service. Its leaders in their forties and fifties want to lead the party by bypassing those of the older generation who formed the second-rung

during the premiership of Atal Behari Vajpayee. The latter are fighting back or resigning. This is how infighting is growing in BJP. The demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 is also haunting it. BJP’s public image as a party of wealthy businessmen and its closeness to rich industrialists is doing tremendous damage to its reputation. The true relief provided to the party in the public imagination by its patriotism and discipline is increasingly eclipsed by the character and conduct of its cadres and leaders these days. It is now unequivocal that BJP and its cadres and leaders no way stand out from other political parties of India in patriotism and discipline save for lip service for political advantage. This removed the greatest advantage of the BJP in the public imagination. Its leadership’s impatience to adopt modern life-styles and liberalization raised doubts about their love for Indian values and culture. Actually Congress showed better circumspection when circumstances warranted such adoptions and showed better respect to Indian values. Though Indians do not express these things in so many words, they intuitively understand it. BJP’s natural human concerns, as proved in their neglect of poor and minorities, are also in doubt. Love and pride for India and Hinduism and their values are praiseworthy. But, hate to anybody is not. It is against Indian and Hindu tenets also. Congress in contrast has done well by its Aam Admi slogan unlike BJP’s 2004 slogan of India Shining meant for rich and wealthy. BJP basically needs strong leadership of the kind of Smt. Sonia Gandhi to steer it ahead with confidence and maturity to reach its former glory. JUDICIAL ACTIVISM

In India, the judiciary plays a very important role as to decide all controversial matters and disputes. The judiciary has been in the

forefront of problem solving in India as provided by the Indian Constitution since it became a Republic around sixty years back in1950. Over this time, the judiciary has usually confined itself to give decisions on matters that were brought to its attention as the relevant provisions of the Indian Constitution were interpreted then. Judicial Activism was not some thing that had been very common then. However, of late this has changed. In India like in South Africa, Judicial Activism of late is playing a very important role in the day-today affairs of the judiciary. This is a change to be seen and noticed. This is because it has been seen that judicial activism when trumpeted aloud and hard is having an effect on the society and thus it has become a part of the judicial system of India from the middle of 1990s. It has been more and more apparent over the last few years. The judiciary is now interfering in matters of public interests even while they are not brought to its adjudication by the interested parties unlike the practice and precedence of the first forty years of the Indian Constitution. Courts these days are taking up matters of public interests on the basis of letters or telegrams received by them, many a time anonymous letters, on the basis of newspaper reports or even suo moto. It tremendously helped the public interests and the cause of justice in most cases. But, there is raging controversy now regarding this judicial activism or pro-active judicial moves of the Indian judicial system, some passionately supporting it while others including government

bodies

openly

expressing

dissent

on

such judicial

initiatives by the Indian Courts. Opponents say that those pro-active measures

amount

to

judiciary

over-stepping

on

the

Executive

responsibilities. An example they give is of the Judiciary directing the Central Government to take measures to protect Indian students in Australia in the circumstance of the latter’s persecution there.

Even though Judiciary has no powers and jurisdiction over foreign affairs, issuing such directions is seen as Courts over-stepping their limits. Also, the judiciary’s direction to pull down all statues of her and others’ raised by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati is seen with concern. Here, the issue is not whether the directions are just and in public interests, but how judiciary can out-step its limits and over-step on executive powers and responsibilities and crush the fine balance provided in the Indian Constitution between the Parliament, Executive and the Judiciary, to the detriment of the peace and balance of the public life of the country.

Judiciary cannot violate the Constitution.

Here, pro-active move in public interest and in the interest of justice per se is not to blame. What is required is discreetness and maturity to remain within one’s limits rather than trespassing to other’s fields. CASTE SYSTEM

Caste system is prevalent in Indian society from a very long time. It still prevails though invisibly for the fear of law. The caste system classifies people as high and low and some highest and some others lowest on the basis of their birth and parentage for life without reference to their merits or demerits. This is a grossly unjust system, more so in a country of India’s spiritual heritage.

This is a case of

highest spiritual values being misconceived and misinterpreted by the second rate sociologists of the ancient India while codifying social laws. Faith being the heart of Indian epistemology, ancient Indian mass followed the codes with vengeance without a second thought and brought India to the present state if guilt. People of the lower castes in India are cruelly treated for centuries and forced to live in inhuman conditions as untouchables. They are treated, distanced and exploited like dirt all their life generation after generation for centuries. In spite

of all the calls for human rights and equality, India cannot be called as completely wiped out the curse of caste system and untouchability from its face. DIGNITY OF THE BISEXUALS

The bisexuals have been discriminated against for a very long time. People have looked down upon them in disgust for a very long time. They have been discriminated against even in the Constitution of India. This is because even the founders of the Constitution of India did not feel that they must be given equal rights as if that these kinds of people are not fit for basic rights. They have lived so for a very long time till now. The founders of our Constitution felt that these people were disgusting and that they must not be encouraged to live this kind of life. Leading a life like this was considered to be ‘verboten’. Indian judiciary has finally decided in favour of the bisexuals. It decided that these people must not be discriminated against in future. People all over India have all celebrated this and have felt that this law was long overdue. People are celebrating this new change. However, the fight has been a very long and weary one and many people have fought very long and hard for this. Demonstrations were held over the last few days in order to put the last few nails in the coffin of the earlier discrimination. Over the last few days, many people of this kind were very vocal and showed a large amount of energy in their actions and also worked very hard for this judgment and it looks as if this is a very big victory for them.

EDUCATION SYSTEM

India was under the British Raj for nearly a century in which India learnt and acquired endless modern customs and systems from the British and their thoughts, methods and practices. Solid administrative system, powerful military set-up, excellent railway network, export and import regimen, diplomacy niceties, sound public health system, flawless public distribution system and effective education system are only a few to name such adoptions.

Most important of them is the

Education System for the reason that it laid foundation for the future of the country. British infused best education system to the country relevant to the time and circumstances that ultimately led to overthrow of the British Raj from India under the leadership of the enlightened products of the Education System like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose to name only a few. It is more than a century since India adopted the good old British Education System and more than six decades since India became an independent country and a republic. Yet, we have not changed the Education System from that time to meet the fast changing needs of the time and requirements of the country. It is in a very pathetic state of affairs indeed. Indian Education System is not keeping pace with the progresses in other fields in the country and the consequence is felt in the fields of other developments. It is like rotten apple spoiling other sweet apples in a basket. Education System in India is a neglected area. The number of new Universities and Centres of Higher Education in India is not on par with the increase in the population of the country. Japan, a country with almost one-tenth of the population of India, has almost three times the number of Universities as India. Also, the percentage of the people who go to Universities and Centres of Higher Education at right age is less than seven percent in India even after six

decades of the self-rule. In the United States of America, the percentage is close to eighty percent while in Finland, it is close to seventy six percent. The story is similar in other parts of the Indian subcontinent namely Pakistan and Bangladesh where outdated education is the staple for the hoi polloi. England from which India borrowed the Education System knew the importance of the right Education System and diligently updated it from time to time. In India, basic education that forms the heart of any Education System is the most neglected area with classes often held in dilapidated single rooms or even under trees and teachers under-paid or irregularly paid. The profession of teachers at all levels is least accomplished in terms of returns and social standing and therefore attracts only the mediocre and leftovers from other fields. This deeply affects the process of educating and moulding the future generation of the country. The educational system in India is far from satisfactory. Main problem is the standard of teachers in schools and colleges being not up to the mark. Though IITs and IIMs have exceptional students and teachers, situation is very bleak in other institutions. India must have many more centers of higher education to make its mark in the world stage. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, said that it would be primary in his manifesto to improve the educational system in India. Unfortunately, this sacred goal ended with IITs and IIMs and a handful of other institutions of excellence. For a country to improve, it has to have a good education system. The gradual decline noticed in the standards of excellence in existing institutions of higher education in India like IITs of late is depressing.

The fall is mainly because of the pay system of the

professors there in contrast to those in China, Korea and Singapore and in western countries where a three-tier pay system is followed to attract the best to the fold. The pay system in most of these countries include a pay package covering the pay pack from the government based on the pay scale to cover basic needs, and other pay packs dependent on the track record of the individual and the institute concerned in the stipulated year. Individual performance forms the pillars in all these pay schemes, thus promoting excellence and rewarding performance. Singapore moved to the performance based pay scale of three components about two decades back, covering basic pay based on the pay scale, another based on the reputation and market demand of the individual teacher, and the third based on his or her performances for the stipulated period. China followed the performance based scheme from 1990s wherein the pay packet based on the pay scale from the government is followed by one given by the university allowing better institutes

to

compensate

better, and the

third

based

on the

performance of the individual in projects and research works. China saw tremendous boost in its research projects and research papers in international journals since then. Pakistan is ahead of India in this progressive step by linking the pay scale to the number of research papers published in international journals. Pay scales and annual increments in USA from many years are based on individual performances. Britain and other European countries like Germany and Italy from which India borrowed its fixed pay package have also moved forward in adopting the performance based package of pay scales for its University faculties. Australia has also moved in this direction. Not that performance based pay package is new to India. All corporate houses and private companies follow this model by instinct

as the foundations of their survival. Indian Government unfortunately is yet to awaken to this cardinal need to promote excellence and reward performance to take India ahead to its dream of the world leadership. It still adheres to the age-old fixed pay scales in the name of job security, forgetting that the basic component of the pay package adequately covers this aspect, and continuing with the old system is tantamount to utterly ignoring merit, excellence and performance, and promoting mediocrity and casual attitude.

This is the bane of

academic governance, giving absolutely no elbowroom to promote excellence or reward performance. Added to this, the interference of the Government in the academic governance and selection and appointment of the faculty are causing tremendous damage to the institutions of higher education of excellence in India. If institutes like IITs, which are the pinnacles of higher education in India, are in this situation, then one can imagine what condition the other centers of education in India are in. This must be changed as soon as possible. INDIA’S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

India has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). All nuclear countries except Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea are signatories to this treaty. India feels that NPT is discriminatory and confirms that it is already complying with all the provisions of the NPT without signing it. It is believed that India has been put under severe pressure from other countries (read ‘The United States of America’) to sign this treaty. But, India held on stubborn for quite some time now. The United States of America and India signed a nuclear deal by which India is

provided an exception from the nuclear sanctions of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for acquiring nuclear reactors, components and fuel from the USA and by corollary from other Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) countries in spite of it being not a signatory to the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) in exchange to allowing its earmarked civil nuclear facilities for international scrutiny and other safeguards. But, India’s ambition was stopped at its track in the summit of G8 and G5 countries held at L’Aquila in Italy in 2009. American President Barack Obama’s administration does not seem to be keen about this agreement with India and its lobbying for pressure on G8 countries to withhold reprocessed fuel from any country that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, meaning India alone, is proving an irritant to India. This is quite a blow to India. THE POSTAL SYSTEM

India is one of the largest countries in the world. Defence service is the largest government organization of India. Railways come next. The third largest position goes to the postal service. India’s postal service is the largest postal service in the world, being larger than that of the United States of America and China in many respects. People interact with other people in one way or the other and developed many means to do so. One of the most common ways of interacting with each other is by sending mails or messages and this in short is the beginning of the postal system. A competent postal system is one of the strong points of India’s capable governance. NORTHEASTERN INDIA

There are thirty tribes in North East India and they all want to have the special status of a state and are thus causing unnecessary bloodshed and destruction by resorting to agitations. The tribes are also fighting with each other and buying weapons illegally and killing each other and the police. This has reached to a point that even the central government is having serious problem tackling the situation. The tribes in big groups fight for their cause of a new and independent state. They are being drawn into fighting each other because of the severe tensions that usually pervade each tribe and its uneasiness with respect to the other tribes that live near it. The tribe members are indulging in destroying communication and transport systems and bringing down houses. The states in North East India are taking serious steps to bring peace to the region. The police and army are kept ever alert in the region. They have resorted to increasing the number of the policemen and are using tighter and tougher measures in order to combat and win against this ever changing and versatile enemy, that is, the tribes and their outfits. However, whether they will be able to do something to tackle this homegrown problem successfully is anybody’s guess. LAW AND ORDER

BMP refers to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. It is the local government organisation in charge of the Bangalore City, the Silicon Valley of India, and a hub of India’s computer industries. BMP looks after

and

manages

the

city

of

Bangalore

through

elected

representatives of the people and bureaucracy. But, often rules and procedures promulgated by the BMP for the administration of the city are ignored and violated creating administrative problems and public

inconvenience. This entails enforcing strict measures against the lawbreakers. Bangalore Mahanagara Palike resorted to such enforcements concerning construction of buildings in Bangalore in violation of rules laid for the purpose. Rules regarding specific heights and distances from the road in construction of buildings are being violated. This is a common feature in Bangalore as in all other cities of India. The violations are so wide spread and the involvement of their own officers is so deep that Bangalore Mahanagara Palike as a rule ignored the violations. It added to the problem.

Builders as a rule bought safety from the BMP by

bribing the BMP officials. However, public outcry against such complicities in part of the BMP forced the latter to act. This led to demolition drives by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike against illegal constructions

and

their

constructions

that

did

extensions not

follow

wherein required

all

buildings

specifications

and were

demolished and stricter vigil is followed in licensing new constructions and compliance of the specifications in doing so. This is great news for the people of Bangalore. Belgaum, a border city and also a district in North Karnataka and famous for its history, is dipped in controversy because of its Marathi majority population in a Kannada majority State. The neighboring State of Maharashtra wants Belgaum to be included in that State on the basis of its Marathi-speaking population. There is an ongoing conflict and enmity between the two States for Belgaum. India’s responses to emergencies need a lot to be desired. Whether it is natural disasters like Tsunami and earthquakes or terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the responses are marred by slowness and uncertainties of the reaction by those in authorities and in charge of

the rescue operations and suitable responses. Often the Government of India was found unprepared for suitable responses and pathetically caught on the wrong foot. India must improve its response time and the quality of the response by proper planning, training, intelligence collection, and institution of right organisations with right people at the helm to minimize the losses and impact of the disaster in issue. It is a paramount need of India to become a great world power.