Opposition counts...very much in a democracy

Journalist Walter Lippmann, known for pioneering the phrase cold war,’ once wrote that ‘In a democracy, the opposition is not only tolerated as constitutional, but must be maintained because it is indispensable.’

Wise words which matter a lot in the current standoff between the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the Opposition parties, which has led to the suspension of as many as 141 MPs of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

All that the Opposition has been asking for is a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament breach incident of December 13, when two men jumped into parliament hall from the visitor’s gallery and spread coloured smoke using well-hidden canisters triggering panic all around.

They were overpowered swiftly and along with their accomplices, are now being interrogated to unravel the plot to intrude into the hallowed precincts of democracy - the Lok Sabha.

While there is no denying the fact that these men have committed an unpardonable crime, what is unfathomable is the reluctance of the government to accede to the demand of the opposition for a full-fledged statement from Shah on the subject.

Some Opposition leaders had earlier taken the home minster to task for voicing his opinion on the parliament breach on a TV channel instead of making clear his views in Parliament.

The suspended members have also expressed surprise that while the Lok Sabha member from Mysuru-Kodagu Pratap Simha who had issued the pass to the intruders, has not faced any action, they are being suspended for voicing a demand which is reasonable and just.

They are many in the opposition who suspect that with the diminished presence on the Opposition benches, the government would find it easy to get contentious bills passed which would otherwise have elicited heated debates before being voted upon.

The suspension of so many MPs is unprecedented and points to a dark phase in Indian democracy, they contend while describing the action as a means to suppress dissent with the huge majority the ruling front enjoys in Parliament.

With the Lok Sabha polls due in just four months from now, one would have expected the ruling and opposition fronts to part amicably before fighting it out at the hustings.

What seems to have left the opposition miffed is the approach adopted by those in power to ignore voices opposed to them and deny them their due role in a parliamentary democracy.

Instead, the government seems to be intent on having its way making the best of the huge numbers on its side, the Opposition claims.

Amid this crisis which has hit the functioning of the world’s largest democracy hard, it would be worth recalling the stance adopted by India’s first prime minister Pandit Nehru vis-à-vis the Opposition.

Nehru always gave his rivals their due space and even went out of the way to give the post of Deputy Speaker to a leader of the Opposition, Sardar Hukam Singh, a much respected Akali Dal MP, who ironically had been severely critical of the then prime minister.

And yet Nehru acknowledged that he was fit for the role and backed Hukam Singh to the hilt.

Nor did he have any qualms in acknowledging the brilliance of someone like Atal Behari Vajpayee, whom he introduced to a foreign dignitary in 1957 with the remark: This young man one day will become the country’s prime minister.”

And the words did come true about forty years later. Such great acts call for magnanimity, a willingness to look beyond the narrow confines of petty politics and a big heart, all of which are sadly lacking in present-day politics when the greed for power and the tendency to steamroll the Opposition, eclipse everything else.