Author: Swapan Dasgupta
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 15, 2007
The Constituent Assembly witnessed some interesting
debates on the reservation of seats in legislatures for minorities. The demand
for the retention of communal quotas in independent India had been championed
by those Muslim League MPs who either chose to remain in India or, like Choudhury
Khaliquzzaman, delayed their departure to Pakistan.
In his reply on August 28, 1947, the then
Home Minister Sardar Vallabbhai Patel responded to the Muslim proponents of
communal quotas. "I once more appeal to you to forget the past",
he said. "You have got what you wanted. You have got a separate state
and remember, you are the people who were responsible for it, and not those
who remain in Pakistan... What is it that you want now? I don't understand.
In the majority Hindu provinces you, the minorities, you led the agitation.
You got the Partition and now again you tell me and ask me to say for the
purpose of securing the affection of the younger brother that I must agree
to the same thing again, to divide the country again in the divided part.
For God's sake understand that we have also got some sense... There will be
generosity towards you, but there must be reciprocity. If it is absent then
you take it from me that no soft words can conceal what is behind your words...
(L)et us be one nation."
It is fortunate that Sardar Patel made his
remarks in Parliament 60 years ago. Had he, for example, repeated his remarks
at an election rally in Uttar Pradesh this week, it is more than likely that
he would have faced prosecution on the sinister charge of promoting sectarian
conflict. Had he, by some remarkable oversight, continued to be a Congressman,
there may well have been demands by the likes of VP Singh and the editor of
The Hindu for the Congress to be derecognised. In matters of political correctness,
truth is not a defence.
Just as in life, Indian politics is riddled
with sectarian conflicts and awkward assertions of identity. The political
process involves setting out prescriptive remedies to cope with the many faultlines.
Many in the Congress, for example, feel that socio-economic entitlements must
be packaged along religious lines and Muslims conferred special privileges.
The BJP thinks the suggestion is preposterous. The Congress feels that every
resident of India must be a voter; the BJP feels that illegal migrants from
Bangladesh shouldn't be conferred the privilege.
Elections are the time when these issues are
taken to the people for a possible resolution. That's the way a democracy
works. Naturally, the articulation of issues varies enormously. Sardar Patel's
intervention in the Constituent Assembly was passionate but decorous; a street
corner orator making the same points about Muslim separatism is almost certain
to use more colourful imagery. Yet, in a country where living standards are
uneven and cultural norms so different, both expressions of political sentiment
have a place. To try and define the parameters of taste and correctness means
conferring discretionary powers on an Election Commission whose primary job
is to ensure accurate voter lists, free elections and correct tabulation of
votes. It will be a sad day if an infamous upholder of the Emergency is asked
to determine political content.
This argument should not be construed as an
endorsement of the infamous CD released by some BJP leaders or even the party's
controversial advertisement which has raised secular hackles. One is tasteless,
the other lacks sophistication. Indeed, I am appalled that a national party
should descend to such base levels. For a party that conducted a hard-hitting
but dignified campaign in Delhi, the lowering of standards in Uttar Pradesh
warrant an internal debate.
At the same time, the underlying concerns
of this crude propaganda are real. It is for voters and not the ombudsmen
to say what are "real" issues and what are emotive distractions.
It is patently undemocratic to hope for elections where the electorate is
not presented with a full range of options because some of them offend cosmopolitan
sensibilities.
