HVK Archives: A fortnight in government (Excerpts)
A fortnight in government (Excerpts) - Indian Express
Ram Jethmalani (Excerpts)
()
8/6/96
Article : A fortnight in government - The people betrayed
Author : Ram Jethmalani (Excerpts)
Publication : Indian Express
Date : 8/6/96
It was a neat contest. True, the BJP got about 24 per
cent of the vote and the Congress a little larger. But,
in the Westminster model, we count seats, not votes.
Vajpayee was the clear winner. Moreover, in spite of the
Congress's 28 per cent even Congressmen were obviously
embarrassed by staking Narasimha Rao's claim to the
office. Vajpayee was thus the only choice an yet, what is
being foisted on the nation is an algebraic entity. Deve
Gowda would have blushed at the thought of claiming to be
prime ministerial material.
Settled constitutional practice requires that the leader
of the largest party though with no majority must first
be called to form a government. It is implicit in the
practice that the minority government must within a time-
frame conjure up a majority by all legitimate methods.
What is taboo are bribery and corruption. Ideological
compromises, setting a common agenda to deal with major
problems, avoiding controversies about disputable actions
are all legitimate democratic practices. None of these
constitutes what is pejoratively described as horse-
trading.
That there is an Indian culture, no historian or sober
observer of the Indian social scene would deny. Yes,
there are nemerous sub-cultures. But the broad genus of
Indian culture unmistakably exists. Yes, there is
diversity of all kinds and unity cannot be forged by
forcibly obliterating diversity. But, as in the field of
thought every thesis produces an antithesis and finally a
synthesis, so with culture. Diverse cultures existing
side by side inexorably though often imperceptibly change
one another and tend to produce an indentifiable unity.
To resist this process is to waste national energy and
produce conflict, chaos and disintegration. Hindutva is
both the process and product of synthesis. It is not the
BJP's monopoly. It is a national asset. Only Hindutva can
make Ram and Rahim one, remove differences between the
temple and mosque, church and synagogue.
During the President's address, the solemnity of the
proceedings was rudely disturbed by some feminine
outburst when the ban on cow slaughter was mentioned. One
would think that the issue is more than settled. The 48th
Article of the Constitution declares it a fundamental
duty of governance that the State shall legislate for
prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves. A
constitution Bench of the Supreme Court declared nearly
40 years ago that the imposition of the ban is in
accordance with the Constitution, and is a reasonable
restriction on the butcher's right to kill cattle. After
examining the Holy Quran, it declared that the ban
involved no interference with the religion of Islam.
It is part of the known history of India that the Mughal
Emperor Babar prohibited slaughtering of cows by way of
religious sacrifice and directed his son Hamayun to
follow his example. Similarly, Emperors Akbar, Jehangir
and Ahmad Shah prohibited cow slaughter. Nawab Hyder Ali
of Mysore made cow slaughter an offence punishable with
the cutting of the hands of the offenders. Three of the
members of the Gosamvardan Enquiry Committee set up by
the Uttar Pradesh Government in 1953, were Muslims and
concurred in unanimous recommendation for total ban on
slaughter of cows.
Back
Top
|
