Editorial...

The system bruised

BJP National President, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, always lays stress on virtuosity and honesty. In virtue, in his opinion, lies the strength of morality. That is why for quite some time he had been advocating the need for comprehensive electoral reforms including State funding of elections. Black money, as everybody knows, is the mother of all corruption and it plays a major role in elections. It deprives the electoral process of the element of morality and virtue. Advaniji’s views have, in the political situation that has erupted recently, become more topical and relevant and need to be given serious thought. It is not the function of an individual alone; every political party, the whole nation and Government at the Centre must come forward. If we ignore what Shri Advani is suggesting, the kind of sting operations because of which the Parliament has come under attack, will continue to be repeated again and again making the highest panchayat of the country a laughing stock of the nation.

The sting operations have put the country in crisis. The nation is worried. It has great hopes from its representatives in State and Central legislatures in which they wish to have a glimpse of honesty, virtue and morality. What has happened is, therefore, certainly a cause for worry for all.

Journalists do not have the function and the right to motivate anybody to lead him astray from the path of morality. Yet, the moral fibre of our public representatives too should not be so delicate that it should crack under the slightest strain of allurement and false promises. In the process it is not the public representatives alone but, to some extent, the profession of journalism that too has gone down in the eyes of the people.

The speed with which the moral standing of our parliamentarians has been eroded is beyond comprehension. Nobody thought of it; nobody expected it. If what has been revealed through the sting operation is true, the parliamentarians certainly have not done the right thing. Yet, at the same time, there is a feeling that what has come out in the open is also not in keeping with the highest principles and traditions of journalism. It looks like a pre-planned plot to implicate somebody. It is a matter of debate how far could the action to first gain the confidence of a person and then trap him by playing with the faith so earned or to exploit somebody’s poverty or helplessness be called innocent and honest. The operation involves less of journalism and more of politics. It ventures to shake faith in the individual and the institution. To make a mockery of the greatest institution of parliament in the country is an affront to the nation. When we say so, it is not our intention to justify or put a lid on the wrong actions of those involved. In fact, we feel proud that the moment the matter came to light the BJP leadership took no time in suspending the concerned persons from the Parliamentary Party and requested the presiding officers of the two houses of Parliament to institute an inquiry into the whole affair and take strict action against those found guilty. Not for a second did the leadership think of trying to shield the persons accused or display any leniency.

It was also in keeping with the great traditions the party had set for itself. It is pertinent to recall that when Shri Lal Krishna Advani was framed in the Hawala case, instantly did he resign from the membership of the Lok Sabha and declared in no uncertain terms that he will not fight any election and not enter the Lok Sabha till his name was cleared in the courts. The nation widely hailed his bold moral stand which hardly had any precedent. He had set a noble example. Everybody bowed in appreciation of his action. In the situation that has developed today people need to display the courage shown and example set by Advaniji be followed by one and all.

When people recall the noble example of Shri Advani, they also do not fail to recollect the high standards of journalism set by Shri Arun Shourie. He too had blasted the corruption scandal of the then Maharashtra Chief Minister Shri A. R. Antulay. The disclosures were based on facts. Every word of Shri Shourie was the fiery arrow of truth fired from his pen. Despite his making every effort to save his gaddi, as Congress leaders are used to, Antulay ultimately had to quit in the face of unchallengeable facts and documents. What Shri Shourie had written was not as a part of conspiracy to implicate Shri Antulay in the corruption scandal. He only brought to light the facts and documents government had so far been trying to hide from people’s eyes. He had only exposed the acts of corruption the latter had indulged in. He had no role in the generation of those documents. He had faithfully and honestly followed only the principles of journalism dharma. He had no axe to grind. He had no money to make by making these disclosures. He did not sell his story to the highest bidder. That was why his action was highly appreciated in the country and set highest traditions of healthy journalism in the country.

Print and visual electronic journalism differ in nature. In visual journalism what is shown is what is happening or what has happened. The journalist hardly has any role, except reporting the facts. But a perusal of the Operation Duryodhan tapes shows that the concerned journalists have actually tried to play their role to make something happen, to create a sensational news story. It is not the function and duty of a journalist to make something happen, but to report and bring before the public what actually has happened. A journalist is a reporter of men, matters and events. He is not an actor himself. His role is confined to being a silent spectator reporting things as they happen and not to make or inspire them happen the way he likes. Yet, it appears in the Operation Duryodhan journalists appear to have failed to follow the highest principles of the noble profession of journalism.

It cannot be denied that some of the parliamentarians did falter to heed to the call of their conscience. They fell into the trap laid for them by those who first succeeded in winning their faith. It also amounts to an act of betrayal of faith. Their friends, PAs and confidants too fell into the trap laid for them by the greedy middlemen. Our public representatives too were found to be standing not on the strong legs of morality, but on feet of clay. They fell easy prey to the machinations of others. They had with them the mandate of the people which is the very foundation of a democracy. This mandate should never have been put to shame.

The unbecoming behaviour by a minisule number of MPs cannot shake the foundation of our democracy which has taken very deep roots in the country. This has been proved a number of times in the past. Late Smt. Indira Gandhi did make a determined bid to bulldoze the edifice of democracy in 1975 but just after 19 months the people humbled the once most popular and powerful prime minister. She was defeated herself and so was her party thrown out of power with the power of people’s mandate.

No person, neither a parliamentarian nor a journalist, can dare play with the power and prestige of parliament. The society and the Constitution has defined the contours of each and every one. Every Indian must honour the traditions. The corrupt conduct of a few MPs may have bruised the high traditions and integrity of our Parliament, but these pose no danger to our parliamentary system. In the process mutual faith and respect do have become a casualty. From the bitter experience of Operation Duryodhan it will become increasingly difficult for the people to be informal, open, cooperative and have faith in each other. People will look at the other with an eye of suspicion, however sincere or genuine the other person may be. Public representatives receive and meet hundreds of people every day. How will they discern who is a genuine person and who a plotter? Lack of faith in the other will now be more prominent than having confidence in the person who has come to meet. The injection of element of suspicion between a public representative and the people who come to meet him will be very injurious for having an unhindered flow of information and feedback. Yet, the sole concern of an overwhelming majority of our public representatives has been and will always continue to be to serve the people and the nation.

People may soon forget both the Operation Duryodhan and Operation Chakravyuh but a few of our public representatives will continue to feel ashamed. None else than the person guilty knows what is the actual truth.

A small incident can inflict an unexpected harm to a party, to an organization and to a country. If on the one hand some journalists forgot their own dharma so did some public representatives digress from their own dharma. An individual may get away because of the weakness or laxity in law but the damage done to him individually or to the institution because of this faltering can never be repaired. A fallen person who loses his reputation cannot get it back the same way as a bullet once fired cannot come back.

It is now becoming increasingly difficult to lead a public life. In the present times it is not only necessary to be honest, but also appear to be so. We have to be very vigilant. Bharatmata, the national flag and our nationalism should always be the beacons of our conduct. If we succeed in doing that every operation however deftly conspired will meet its own death. Otherwise these operations will continue to cause such occasional turmoils and ultimately land us all in a social holocaust which will be in the interest of none.