Respected Shri Anna Hazare, Shri Arvind Kejriwal and members of Team
Anna,
A large section of
the nation is supporting your criticism of the present state of
affairs in the country and share your concern about the rot in our
political system. Corruption in the form of scams is one thing, there
is also the serious issue of a corrupted and unethical mind-set among the
entire elite, whom the rest of the nation imitate and aspire to be.
You have said that
the present democratic system is flawed and needs to be set right.
May I ask, sir, most respectfully, if we can do this without also
looking at the very basis of the democratic system, which is modern,
western civilization? It has economic, social and political
objectives based upon its own history and thinking - these are
completely at odds with Indian civilizational worldview, and the
nation has suffered due to this experiment.
Is it possible, sir,
to see and recognise this foundational fault and then re-shape the
democratic system - after all, even the modern, western democratic
system is its own, it is not at all the way Greek democracy was
defined, as the 'power of the people'.
More than a hundred
years ago, Mahatma Gandhi wrote 'Hind Swaraj', where he foresaw and
addressed this issue. May I quote a brief section from it which is
uncanny in its resemblance to today's state of affairs (it is in the
form of a dialogue betweeen Gandhiji and a reader):
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Reader: If
the education we have received be of any use... if the English
Parliament be the Mother of Parliaments, I certainly think that we
should copy the English people.
Gandhiji: You
want English rule without the Englishman. You want the tiger's
nature, but not the tiger; that is to say you would make India
English. And when it becomes English, it will be called not
Hindustan, but Englishtan. This is not the swaraj that I want.
Reader: From
your statement, I deduce that the Government of England is not worth
copying by us.
Gandhiji:
Your deduction is justified. The condition of England at present is
pitiable. I pray to God that India may never be in that plight. That
which you consider to be the mother of parliaments is like a sterile
woman and a prostitute... it has not done, of its own accord, a
single good thing. The best men are supposed to be elected by the
people. But, as a matter of fact, it is generally acknowledged that
the members are hypocritical and selfish. Each thinks of his own
little interest. It is fear that is the guiding motive... Parliament
is simply a costly toy for the nation. These views are by no means
peculiar to me. Some great English thinkers have expressed them.
Reader: You
have set me thinking; you give me entirely novel views. I shall have
to digest them. Will you now explain the epithet 'prostitute'?
Gandhiji:
That you cannot accept my views at once is only right... Parliament
is without a real master. Under the prime minister, its movement is
not steady but it is buffeted about like a prostitute. The prime
minister is more concerned about his power than about the welfare of
Parliament. His energy is concentrated upon securing the success of
his party. His care is not always that Parliament shall do right.
Prime Ministers are known to have made Parliament do things merely
for party advantage. All this is worth thinking over.
Reader: Then
you are really attacking the very men whom we have hitherto
considered to be patriotic and honest?
Gandhiji:
Yes, that is true; I have nothing against Prime Ministers, but what I
have seen leads me to think that they cannot be considered really
patriotic. If they are to be considered honest because they do not
take what are generally known as bribes, let them be so considered,
but they are open to subtler influences. In order to gain their ends,
they certainly bribe people with honours. I do not hesitate to say
that they have neither real honesty nor a living conscience.
Reader: As
you express these views about Parliament, I would like to hear you on
the English people, so that I may have a view of their government.
Gandhiji: To
the English voters, their newspaper is their Bible. They take their
cue from newspapers which are often dishonest. The same fact is
diffferently interpreted by different newspapers, according to the
party in whose interest they are edited. What must be the condition
of people whose newspapers are of this type?
Reader: You
shall describe it.
Gandhiji:
These people change their views frequently... these views are never
steadfast. The people would follow a powerful orator or a man who
gives them parties, reception, etc. As are the people, so is their
Parliament. If India copies England, it is my firm conviction that
she will be ruined.
Reader: To
what do you ascribe this state of England?
Gandhiji: It
is not due to any peculiar fault of the English people, but the
condition is due to modern civilization. It is a civilization only in
name. Under it the nations of Europe are becoming degraded and ruined
day by day.
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One might say this
is roughly the state of demoracies all over the world today. They
have all copied England initially for the elitist political system,
and then the USA for its exploitative commercial system, the result
being that many nations are now in different states of ruin.
Sir, while reshaping
the political system, is it possible for you, and us, to make this
foundational correction and to aim for a socio-economic system which
is based upon strong local communities, self-sufficiency and
sustainability, party-less local self-governance - all of which will
celebrate the Indian civilizational way of living? We may still have
something substantial to give the world.
I write this letter
in earnest. Your movement has shaken up a sleeping nation. You have
my support as of millions of others - may the opportunity come soon
when we can make this fundamental correction.
Sincerely,
Rajan Venkatesh