THE LAST PAGE

POLITICS AND CONSTITUTIONAL 
RECTITUDE           

A strange case of constitutional rectitude has come to my attention, which I want to share with my readers. This concerns, to begin with, an old-time political organization called the Swatantra Party and its current relevance. It came to my notice while reading the monthly journal Freedom First (June 2014) that has provided the background. The Swatantra Party, as the younger generation may not be aware of, was founded 55 years ago on 1 August 1955 by C. Rajagopalachariar, or Rajaji as he was better known, to fight the vision propounded by Jawaharlal Nehru, on the one hand of depriving farmers in rural India and herding them into collective farms and, on the other, opposing private enterprise by forcing the thesis of the State occupying the commanding heights of the economy in the name of socialism. That met the fashion of those times. The Swatantra Party did not last long. Though in a short span of fifteen years (1959-1974) it did remarkably well in some states – Rajaji had passed away in 1972 – it suffered a resounding defeat in the 1971 elections, spreading panic among its supporters. At a national Convention of the party it was decided to close it. But the party’s Maharashtrian Branch (along with four other branches) decided to stay alive and in 1990 when it became mandatory for political parties to register with the Election Commission of India, it received a shock. This is what happened: In December 1976 Mrs Indira Gandhi rammed through the 42nd amendment to the Constitution of India converting India from a Sovereign Democratic Republic into a “Sovereign, Secular, Socialist Democratic Republic”. According to Freedom First from which I am quoting, it was laid down that a party could not be registered in India unless it swore by socialism. Reportedly a new section 29 (A) had been added which stipulated among other things “that a political party seeking registration should swear in writing its allegiance to the principle of Secularism, Socialism and Democracy”. As Freedom First saw it “this effectually bars political parties who do not subscribe on Socialism from registering and participating in elections unless they are prepared to lie”. This the Swatantra Party, Maharashtra is not prepared to do, because all its life it has been opposed to Socialism. It would seem that the Party filed a writ petition in protest in December 1994 in the Bombay High Court. The petition was admitted, but as the journal put it, “it is yet to be heard even though 20 years have passed”. As of March 12, 2014 one learns 1,616 Parties are registered of which six are national parties, 47 State Parties and 1,563 unregistered ones. The Swatantra Party is obviously not opposed to secularism though one suspects what it means in practice. It would seem the term “Socialism” has not been defined in the Constitution of India nor is it opposed to the right of a non-socialist citizen to hold his personal views. Says Freedom First “Based on the amended Preamble, the Congress government passed in 1989 an amendment to the Representation of the Peoples Act introducing the concept of registration only to those political parties that swore by socialism. A new Section 29 (A) was added to make that clear. All that the Swatantra Party wants to see is the striking down of Sub-Section 5 of Section 29 (A) of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1951 as being ultra virus of the Constitution of India to the extent it requires the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the association or body desiring registration to contain a specific that such an association and body should bear true faith and allegiance to the principles of socialism”. Several questions arise in this connection. Should the Constitution lay down that Socialism is the ultimate vision of the country? And what, pray, is socialism? How does one define it? Where does it begin and where does it end? Can’t citizens form an anti-socialist party and fight to the bitter end? What about Human Rights? Why should a party “swear” to uphold socialism in order to get registration? The Swatantra Party’s writ petition has raised several points. For one thing it states that “the term socialism has not been defined in the Constitution of India or in the said Act and the requirement to declare allegiance to a tenet so shrouded in vagueness can serve no possible purpose”. For another, it says that “without going into the question of the precise definition of the term socialism, the right of a non-socialist citizen to hold his personal views and be entitled to all the privileges enjoyed by the socialist fellow-citizens cannot be denied” and that “in particular his access to the legislative body as an individual and as a party cannot be hindered by denying him the privileges of registration as political party”. And then there is the problem of what constitutes ‘secularism’. Writing in Bharatiya Pragna (May 2014) S. Gurumurthy raised the point that when Narendra Modi performed Ganga Aarati on his return to Varanasi to thank the voters who had elected him some ‘secular’ intellectuals began asking whether Modi’s Aarati was in tune with secular politics. Asked Gurumurthy: “Given the drift of the Indian secular discourse they might not have asked this question if Modi had carried a chaddar to Ajmer dargah, a ritual in Ajmer. Wrote Gurumurthy: “The Indian secular discourse, forged as a vote-catching device has always become increasingly perverse. It is likely to intensify even after the electorate massively voted and elected Modi”. Actually, as Gurumurthy pointed out, a news paper said in a front-page edit that symbolism of Narendra Modi were an expression of the cultural nationalism of the BJP which, it contended, was not consistent with secular polity”. Hasn’t the time come when ideas such as socialism and secularism are widely debated on a national scale to clear the air? And to think that Modi was banned from doing the aarti before the elections: What have we come to? The words ‘socialism’ and ‘secularism’ have lost all meaning and it is time we accept that as truth. And the time is now.