This week Pakistani Government agreed to allow implementation of Islamic law ((Shariya) in Swat valley (bordering Afghanistan).

Obviously this is a victory for Taliban and pro-Taliban elements. India and US have expressed concern over this development. The government of Pakistan has justified this decision by saying that this was necessary to restore peace in the valley.

Conceding to the demands of fundamentalists and extremists, this development has exposed the weakness of Pakistan government. Pakistani political leadership has always been pre-occupied in destabilizing the regional peace (be it India or Afghanistan): Taliban is a creation of Pakistan as the world knows! Let loose the extremism and it comes back to devour you! That is what has been happening there! As the recent times indicate, Taliban seems to be re-emerging in Afghanistan (hence a troop increase by USA in Afghanistan). Similarly, experts say that this so-called peace-making move in Swat valley will actually allow Taliban forces to regroup and re-strengthen.

The recent decision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on opinion and exit polls is a welcome step.

According to the new guidelines, the Commission has barred dissemination of opinion and exit polls by the print and electronic media 48 hours prior to the date of the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections in case of a single-phase election and a blanket ban on these surveys till the end of polling in the event of multi-phase elections.

Obviously free and fair elections are a pre-condition for a democracy. The exit polls being displayed while the whole election process has not been completed, has the potential to introduce the bias.

It may be noted that in January 1998, the Election Commission had banned the airing of exit polls during elections till the final phase of voting. However, this order was challenged in the Supreme Court and was quashed.

The ECI recently again asked the Supreme Court to decide whether there should be a reasonable restriction on the opinion polls during certain specified periods during the election process. The apex court gave a verdict leaving the issue to its discretion to lay down guidelines till the Union Government frames regulations. Hence ECI jumped on this opportunity to bring in a healthy practice.

Every nation has its own USP (Unique Selling Point). Ours is there too. It is: Corruption in civic life! Winston Churchill- the British Prime-Minister during the 1940s when India was at full peaceful ‘revolt’ (in other words, Satyagraha) to gain independence from British rule- would often mock that India would go dogs if British left them at their mercy! He was fiercely anti -India and there is enough of evidence to point to that mindset. BUT, is his prophecy coming true! Without being pejorative to our country and its citizens, I am afraid that when we look at the civic administration we have set up in last 6 decades somehow conforms to what Churchill said. The sheer indulgence in corruption and lethargic judicial delivery system speak volumes of our commitment of a fair play for common man! The politicians and babus are systematically looting the country and common man finds unable to get a grasp as to where to start to contain this degeneration!

Latest in this story is another high profile bureaucrat who is by the way an Election Commissioner too. He is Navin Chawla. In a country which professes herself to be a democracy, I need not elaborate how important is the role of Election Commission and its officers. Chawla is in another controversy now. A lower court in Jaipur has ordered that the case be investigated about Land-row where Chawla happens to be the accused (click to read the full story). With the patronage of Congress party, as the Indian Law Minsiter Bhardwaj has made it amply clear, Chawla is going to be a Chief EC in weeks to come! It is a bluff to the charges that the current CEC has raised against Chawla.

So much for our liberty and fair rights to vote! Who supervises that: a babu who has not learnt the ethics of beaurocracy!
Never mind! Corruption is our national religion!

The current controversy at the Election Commission of India drew my attention to a fact that the former Chief Election Commissioner M S Gill is now a Rajya Sabha member! I used to perceive Mr. Gill as a righteous person, but his accepting a political nomination has undone whatever he gained as a CEC. Now, before we get into the expectations of individual-based adherence to ethics and morals, let us admit that it is the State that teaches its citizens discipline, and ethics, otherwise man has its own fallibility. In my judegement- and I am sure many will agree with me- an individual who has served as an Election Commissioner or Chief EC- should be barred from accepting any political nomination or post ( if not for life, surely for at least certain period so that he/she is not enticed to behave in a partisan manner).

A democracy without regulations and oversight is a dysfunctional democracy and may actually border the realm of a dictatorship. Our 62 years old democracy needs many more refinements so as to serve our nation in an optimal manner.

With Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of his colleague Navin Chawla, a kind of constitutional crisis has been precipitated. Former Lok Sabha secretary general and a constitutional expert Subash Kashyap said that the letter had put the government in a fix. He further stated that the President had recommended the letter to the PMO. “If Chawla is removed now and with the CEC retiring on April 20 – in the middle of the elections – the government will have to appoint a new election commissioner to supervise the elections,” he said.
Whereas some legal experts have voiced concern that the timing by the CEC is ill-suited and smacks of some motivation.
One thing is for sure: Navin Chawla has been a controversial beaurocrat and has been perceived close to Congress party (remember Romesh Bhandari! An IAS officer who blatantly played to the tunes of Congress party, very vocal to defend his actions and ever eager to throw rules and regulations to the wind; he was later elevated to the gubernatorial post in Uttar Pradesh). Chawla belongs to that genre of self-serving beaurocrats! Election Commission and its image is jeopardized when tainted officers are appointed to its office. It is clear that Chawla would take a combative posture because such beaurocrats do not believe in ethics and morals. In the best interest of our democracy and to spare Election Commission the periods of controversy, the government should swiftly come into action and sack Chawla and appoint a new Election Commission. Will the recuperating Prime Minister pay any attention to Chawla controversy!

Januray 26: India would be celebrating its 60th Republic Day! A moment of pride and a sense of achievement! Yes, for sure! But the occasion also gives us an opportunity to reflect back upon the path traveled so far!
India is the world’s largest democracy. It has survived and has shown the determination to grow despite the obvious obstacles that we as a country have: illiteracy, lop-sided development, sub-optimal delivery in social justice and inability to implement the fundamental right -as enshrined in our constitution- of uniform civil code.
The decades of experience with our democracy has thrown up a few stark realities: Lack of reforms in various branches of democracy, viz. legislative, executive, judiciary has resulted in stymied growth of our nation and has hampered the fruits of a democracy reaching uniformly to all sections of the society.

Since Independence, our political system has somehow become an example of “Revolving Door Democracy” and has been crippled with political sub-versions, maneuvers, and corruption. It may not be an under-statement that over 60 years our nation has failed to bring in regulations, and reforms into our system at a desired pace! Blatant misuse of muscle-power, money power and lung-power has meant that Laloos, Mayawatis , Jayapradas and Mulayams have thrived, whereas right-thinking voices have been systematically marginalized.
Bring in real reforms in all branches of our democracy: electoral reforms, judicial reforms, an eagle-like oversight on the use of money in elections, and rigorous implementation of conflict of interest and ethics are some of the badly needed actions without delay.
I often say that if a commoner like Manmohan Singh (who is not a typical politician) as a Prime Minister can be a mute spectator to the ills of our democratic polity (remember vote of confidence of Manmohan Singh Ministry! The whole nation was looking haplessly while open horse-trading was going on!) and has been unable to initiate reforms, then expect it from no one else! That means that there are flaws in the system that need to be fixed! To expect that our elected politicians would unite to bring in these reforms: would be a day-dreaming! Only solution is: we the people (and voters) must rise above partisan feelings and press for reforms ( in other words, empowerment for the people).
Let me conclude with a word of caution. Looking at American model, many in India have advocated a two-party electoral politics. That model has been working for USA, but I am very cynical about that for India in the current scenario. Give the voters the choice of only 2 parties: both would loot the whole country alternately! Whereas multi-party eletoral system has shown obvious drawbacks, I am afraid unregulated and unaccountable democracy would be further jeopardized if we choose to abbreviate it to a 2-party system!

Immediately after assuming the Presidency, Mr. Obama announced that former Senate majority leader George Mitchell has been named a special envoy to the Middle East peace process, and that former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke will be a special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. Obama has rightly termed Afghanistand and Pakistan as “central front” in terror war. The President has carefully avoided to include India in this equation. This is a welcome development.
Pledging his best to undertake this daunting assignment, Holbrooke noted Afghanistan and Pakistan are “two very distinct countries with extraordinarily different histories, and yet intertwined by geography, ethnicity and the current drama.” That is an apt statement! It is an indirect way of saying that Islamic terrorism is central to the issue that plagues the two countries!

Mr. Holbrook has gained a reputation as a peace-maker and actually has been nominated 7 times for the Noble Peace Prize. If USA could bring some sanity to the this phenomenon of religious terrorism, and that too from the epi-center of Pakistan, the world would be a more peaceful place! What could we expect from India in this direction? Well, the chicken-hearted India has demonstrated very clearly that it is not willing to protect its boundaries and pitch, so expecting some thing tangible from India would be more of an imagination!