Where is Delhi headed?

Yesterday was the first day of the three-day long Bandh (strike) declared by most of the traders in Delhi/New Delhi. As a result, several main markets in the city remained closed during the day, inconveniencing not only Delhi's citizens but also the tourists.

And the big reason for the strike? The traders are protesting against the orders issued by the Supreme Court of India directing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to seal a large number of commercial properties illegally and unauthorizedly built by many of them in residential colonies over the past several years!!

It is interesting that all political parties, without any exception, are openly and vigorously supporting the affected traders numbering about 45,000. None of them has shown the least concern about the problems and sufferings caused by the offending traders to the ever-silent majority that is anywhere from hundreds to thousands of times more in number. In other words, they are de facto for the law-breaking minority and against the much larger number of relatively more law-abiding majority of citizens!!

The question that naturally arises is, just why is it so? The answer, however unpalatable it may seem, lies in the fact that in today's India, democracy is not about people per se, but rather about powerful people. Since the law-defying and law-breaking minority of traders has an enormous clout of money power and muscle power, they naturally matter far more to our politicians than the millions of 'ordinary' law-abiding citizens. So what if it turns the concept of democracy as a representative form of government on its head?

Our totally self-centered, irresponsible and corrupted politicians are bothered neither by the ugly and misfitting commercial structures in residential areas, nor by the huge inconvenience caused by them to men, women and children, to students preparing for their examinations, to the elderly and the sick.

They are equally deaf and blind to the air pollution, noise pollution, security problems, and disturbances to traffic caused by the mushrooming growth of such illegal shops in residential areas. Their sole concern has been, is and will most likely be with their petty power games and sources of funds. Unless....? Unless their constituents make them realize that this will not be acceptable any longer.

Right now, it's only a handful of proactive citizens and Residents' Welfare Associations, who are fighting the onerous battle against the powerful law-breakers. In this they are relying on the so-far largely reliable third pillar of Indian democracy -- the Judiciary. Court procedures are however painfully slow, cumbersome, costly (in terms of time, effort and money) and also quite uncertain.

Will the judiciary be able to stem the fast spreading rot in this "world's largest democracy"? Well, I sincerely hope so. If not, India may fast degenerate into a state of much greater anarchy, the Law of the Jungle in place of the already scarce Rule of Law.

I believe is that even as legal fights are both necessary and useful, a more lasting solution demands that the public take on the rot in the political and bureaucratic systems directly. The sooner the contours of such a resistance take shape, the better will it be for the immediate as well as long-term future of our society and the country.

The system of Public Interest Litigation evolved by Indian Judiciary, coupled with the Right to Information (RTI) Act framed by Indian Parliament has already given our citizens a pretty useful armoury to fight their battles against various evil propensities well entrenched in our social, political and bureaucratic structures. One hopes a significantly large number of us will rise to the occasion and make the most of these tools together with the increasing power modern technology is placing in our hands as days go by. [Good news: From 1.10.2006 you can file cases online in the Supreme Court.]

The battle for good governance cannot be won adequately without empowerment of the average voter. For this, our electoral system must undergo some crucial reforms. One of them is the right of recall of elected representatives in any constituency under certain foreseeable situations. The second is the right to cast a 'no vote' in case a voter finds none of the candidates suitable. Finally, on select issues of national importance, including changes in key features of the Constitution, national referendum must be made mandatory.

The bottomline? Our spoilt politicians and egoist bureaucrats must get a clear message that enough is enough. It is high time they learnt, and real fast at that, how to behave like true representatives and servants of Indian citizens.