[Previous entry: "Naga rebels head for talks as tensions rise"] [Next entry: "UNPO Confident on a Positive Outcome for the Naga Issue"]

01/27/2006: "Crucial Naga talks at Bangkok on January 28"

Crucial Naga talks at Bangkok on January 28 , IANS Times of India

NEW DELHI: A crucial round of talks between powerful Naga separatist group National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and the Indian government will take place in Bangkok on Saturday to extend the current term of ceasefire that expires on January 31.

Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Oscar Fernandes and interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah will meet with a four-member delegation of the NSCN(IM) that has threatened to pull out of the ongoing peace talks and dump the ceasefire if a solution is not worked out.

Despite several rounds of talks that even brought frontline leaders of the NSCN(IM), Thuingaleng Muivah and Isaak Chishi Swu to Delhi, there has been little progress over the rebels' central demand - unification of Naga-dominated areas in northeast India.

The Naga leadership is insistent in their demand for unification of all Naga inhabited areas, many of which are in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam - a demand that has been rejected outright by all these state governments.

The leaders will seek to mount pressure for their key demand and are expected to lay their cards on the table during the talks with the Indian leadership. "The dialogue process seems to have hit an impasse as there is no movement forward on the touchy issue of a 'Greater Nagaland'," NSCN(IM) sources said.

This is the first time the Naga rebels have kept the government on the tenterhooks, keeping the government's emissaries guessing on whether it was willing to extend the six-month ceasefire that ends January 31. "Everything will depend on what the government of India offers in the next round of talks," said an NSCN member.
Fernandes, on the other hand, was hopeful that the ceasefire would be extended despite the air of ambiguity.
Last week, the rival Khaplang faction of the NSCN asked New Delhi to stop talking to NSCN(IM), accusing the group of gunning down at least 13 tribal villagers in Nagaland's remote Mon district in December.
The Isaak-Muivah faction denied the charge.
Nagaland Governor hopeful of extension of ceasefireKOHIMA, JAN 27 (PTI Outlook India
With the crucial peace talks between Naga militant outfit NSCM(M) and the Centre beginning in Bangkok tomorrow, Nagaland Governor Shyamal Datta has expressed confidence that the ceasefire between the two sides, which expires on January 31, would be extended.
"Let us hope that the overwhelming desire of the Naga people for a lasting peace, will facilitate extension of the current ceasefire beyond January 31 and lead to an amicable settlement of the Naga political issue," the governor told a public gathering on the occasion of the 57th Republic Day here yesterday.
The Nagaland government has already recommended to the Centre for extension of the truce and urged New Delhi to expedite the peace talks process.
Meanwhile, the United Naga Council (UNC), Manipur, which has been demanding unification of Naga inhabited areas, has urged both the Centre and the NSCN(IM) leadership to ensure that avenues were kept open for a peaceful and lasting solution to the Naga problem.
Calling upon the collective leadership of NSCN(IM) to agree for extension of the ceasefire, the UNC in a statement recieved here said, "the Nagas want peace, and that to end, the Government of India must exhibit genuine political will to resolve the Naga issue." "We are aware that eight years of political talks without any substantial agreement (between the two sides) is fast becoming an indefensible situation," it said.
felicitates vero for receiving Padmashree New Kerala
Kohima: Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has felicitated former Naga Hoho President Melhupra Vero on being conferred with the Padmashree Award on occasion of the 57th Republic Day.

In his congratulatory message, Mr Rio said conferring of the award to Mr Vero not only made the people of Nagaland proud but also recognised his contribution towards the society.

He was always concerned with welfare of the people and his contribution in political and social field had been enormous, especially when he led the people in the parliament, he said.

The chief minister further acknowledged his effort to unite all nagas and bring them under one umbrella by maintaining cordial relationship was laudable.
UCM demands intact Manipur while peace talks with NSCN
Imphal: The United Committee Manipur (UCM), a powerful mass organisation, has made it clear that the territorial integrity of Mmanipur would not be compromised during peace talks between the Centre and the NSCN(IM).

The UCM in a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that no part of Manipur should be Bargained to appease the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (IM).

It said the demand of the NSCN (IM) the parts of Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and neighbouring Myanmar to form a greater Nagaland was irrational. The outfit's demands were neither rational nor has any historical basis, it added.

The UCM also demanded that the criminal activities of the NSCN particularly the looting and extortion on national highways should be stopped.

" The Nagas were not living in exclusive ethnic space of their own but rather in an extricably woven multi-ethnic society. The people will not tolerate any move to bargain any move to appease the NSCN(IM) leadership", it added. The indian constitution, Art 3 should be amended so that the north eastern states may not be disturbed, the memorandum demadned.

The UCM urged the prime minister to pursue the NSCN to frame policies within the perspective of democracy and secularism. The extortion on the national highways has traumatised the people, it added. While extending cease fire with the NSCN(IM), it should be made mandatory for the outift not to loot money on the highways. It further demanded that an inquiry should be instituted to the ethnic cleansings allegedly done by NSCN(IM).
NSCN to mount pressure for unification of Naga areas Press Trust of India

New Delhi, January 23: As the government prepares for talks on extension of the ceasefire with NSCN(IM) this week, the Naga militant outfit has indicated it will seek to mount pressure for their key demand of unification of Naga-dominated areas during the parleys.
"I cannot say anything now. Everything will depend on what the government of India offers in the next round of talks," convenor of NSCN(IM) ceasefire monitoring cell Pungthing Simrang told PTI over phone from Nagaland when asked what would be the group's stand in the proposed talks.
The next round of talks between the government and Naga groups will take place between January 27 and January 31 when the six-month ceasefire ends.
"Let's see something comes out from the talks. We hope for the best," Simrang, the top leader of the Naga group in the state, said.
Fernandes, part of a three-member ministerial group involved in dialogue with Naga insurgents, last week had said that he was hopeful that the ceasefire would be extended as "everyone wants peace".
The minister said the government was ready to discuss development with the Naga groups but their focus was mainly on territorial issues.
"The bone of contention is the demand for a Nagalim (Greater Nagaland)," Fernandes said, referring to the insurgents' demand to unify the all Naga-dominated areas in the northeast.
Fernandes, however, had said he believed the insurgent groups too did not want violence.
"It's the Naga people who will be affected by violence, which no one wants," he remarked.
Last month, Fernandes and K Padmanabhiah had visited Bangkok for talks with the NSCN(IM) leaders but returned without any assurance from the insurgents over ceasefire extension.
HOME AFFAIRS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE TOURING NORTH EAST Imphal | January 27, 2006 2:42:35 PM IST Webindia

A 31-member parliamentary standing committee of the Home Affairs led by Sushma Swaraj will be touring the north eastern states between February 1 and 7, official sources here said.
Officials of the Rajya Sabha secretariat and an officer of the ministry of home affairs will be accompanying the team.
Ten Rajya Sabha mps including RK Dhawan, Sitaram Yechury, Rishang Keishing, 21 lok sabha mps including LK Advani, Rahul Gandhi, Ajit Jogi will be part of the team officials added.
The team will arrive at Guwahati on February 1, reach Arunachal Pradesh on February 2, Nagaland on February 3. They will stay at Manipur on February 4 and 5, Meghalaya on February 5 and 6 and return to Guwahati, they said.
The Manipur government has started preparing for the visit of the high profile team. A special MI 17 helicopter will take them to Moreh the border town which had witnessed some tense situation recently.
They will discuss issues related to border trade specially with Myanmar and hold interactions with senior government officials. They will also visit Manipur university which was recently upgraded to a Central university, Khuman Lampak sports complex, regional institute of medical sciences, Imphal. They will call on Manipur governor SS Sidhu and meet with state government officials, the sources said.
The representatives of various organisations will also interact with them. UNI NS PC SKM1355
Last round of Indo-Naga political dialogues from 27 to 31 Jan. 2006: Negotiating a different “Federal Political Engagement” -Yaronsho Ngalung

The people all over the world are eagerly waiting to see what sort of outcome will at last be negotiated in the last round of Indo-Naga political dialogues slated to be held between 27 and 31 January 2006 in Bangkok in Thailand. The Nagas will be led by the Collective Leadership while the Indian Representatives will be led by the Head of the Group of Ministers (GoMs). This round of talk to be held in Bangkok is crucial as this is the last sitting of the 8 and ½ years ceasefire agreement which ends on 31st January 2006. Every politically conscious man and woman is keeping his/her fingers crossed whether or not the hard-earned ceasefire agreement would be extended beyond 31st January. Many people are consciously or unconsciously putting pressures to both the NSCN and the Indian Government for an extension of the ceasefire tenure. The coming talk will decide the future course of relationship between the Indian Government and the Nagas in the Indian sub-continent. This is the reason why the coming talk has gained it’s importance. The coming talk opens a new chapter in the history of Indian foreign policy as for the first time the Indian Government has ever accepted mediation by an International Third Party on political issue like the Indo-Naga issue as reported in the Medias. The International civil society, Kreddha, an Indo-European word, meaning “to place trust” would act as an official Third Party Mediator in the coming talk. Kreddha’s Executive President, Michael C van Walt van Praag will lead the mediation. Kreddha has actively participated in resolving conflict in the East Timor as well as in Tibet. The Third Party Mediator is necessary at this juncture because of the nature of conflict. The 1964 ceasefire failed because there was no mediator when the Indian Government tried hard to impose their talks of within the Union of India which the Naga National Council (NNC) rejected out rightly. It is hope that Kreddha would help overcome the present political deadlock due to the Indian Government’s unclear position over the integration of all Naga areas as a first step towards a final political solution and other substantive issues. We could perceive two possible results from the talk- one positive and the other negative. On the positive side, the talk may salvage for an extension of the ceasefire for some period. However, this is possible only when the Indian Government is in a position to assure the Nagas of their commitment for integrating all the Naga areas and other substantive issues. The negative outcome could be that of ending the ceasefire without reaching any understanding in principle which opens a way for another era of conflict in Nagalim.

The Second Indo-Naga political negotiations since 1997 is in a way different in nature as it is about establishing a “Special Federal Relationship” between the Nagas and the Indian Government. It is not a normal federal arrangement within the Indian Constitution. Rather, it is about a federation between the two entities. Had the present talks been forming a new state under the Indian Constitution then there would have been a solution today without stretching this long. Article 1 of the Indian Constitution talks of India, that is Bharat, which shall be a union of states. However, this Article cannot apply to the present political talks because as soon as it is applied then, the first principle of talk which is unconditional would be violated. Besides, the Naga National Movement does not have a vision for creating such a state within the Indian Union. The Naga National Movement’s principle objective has been and is the rights of the Nagas to self-determination. This was the reason why the NNC declared Nagas’ Independence on 14th August 1947. This declaration was further reaffirmed by the Nagas Voluntary Plebiscite held on 16th May 1951 where 99.9% of the Nagas had voted for Independent Sovereign Naga State. This was the same reason why the Nagas rejected the creation of Indian state of Nagaland in 1963. It was also in refutation of the Indian Constitution and surrendering of the Nagas’ rights that National Socialist Council of Nagalim was formed on 30th January 1980. The above historical rejections of the Indian Constitution by the Nagas speak volumes about why the present political talks are not taking place for a solution within the Indian Constitution. And it is definitely obvious that the Nagas would not surrender their rights now or in the future. It would be a serious misconception if people misinterpret the ongoing dialogues for their vested interests and whims. The purpose of this article is an effort to understand and explicate the nature of the context and the issues in which the talks has been leading up until now. Such approach of understanding and explanation of the nature of the context and issues in which the talks has so far taking place has a direct link to any future course of outcome and relationship from the talks in Bangkok this week.

The question then is not of creating a larger state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution but one that has to do with fostering a different federal political engagement between Indian Government and the Nagas in the Indian sub-continent. The reasons are simple and pure. Of course, what the political commentators, analysts and observers have been saying is that integration of all Naga areas is possible even through Article 3 of the Indian Constitution. However, this does not necessarily mean that the NSCN has been trying to solve the Indo-Naga political issue within the Indian Constitution. What the NSCN has been continuously maintaining is that integration of all Naga areas is the first political step towards resolving Indo-Naga political issue. It is very clearly stated by Mr. Th. Muivah, the General Secretary, NSCN, during interview by Karan Thapar in the BBC World: Hard Talk India on 29th April 2005. What was clearly stated was not a solution within Indian Union or within the framework of the Indian Constitution but the Nagas establishing a “Special Federal Relationship” with India. This relationship is called a federation between India and Nagalim. This is the crux of the present political talks. This federation is unlike a state within a State. Rather, this federation is being proposed for the future political engagements. Such a federation is envisioned based on the “Unique History and Situation of the Nagas” which was officially recognized by the Indian Government on 11th July 2002. It is on the part of Indian Government to respect the official recognition of the same. In so far as the Indian Government is concern, they have completely failed to come out with a clear policy statement on the issues. This is the main problem why the peace talks had been at a snail pace. Who is to be blamed for the present political impasse? No doubt the Indian Government is to be blamed. Now, the last round of talks is in the corner.

The ensuing talk is a deciding factor for any form of future relationship between the Indian Government and the Nagas. Many are of the opinion that both the parties should not lost the opportunity of finding an honourable and lasting political solution to the 59 years of conflict. In this respect the former US President Jimmy Carter’s Letter written to the Prime Minister of India, Dr.Manmohan Singh and the NSCN leaders encouraging for bringing “an acceptable solution that will assure the rights of the Naga people and the security of India” should not be taken for granted. Jimmy Carter’s Letter correctly correspond the geopolitical scenario in the Indian sub-continent. He knew to himself very well that without assuring the rights of the Nagas and the security of India, any future relationship would be a far cry for justice.

In conclusion it is pertinent to point out the importance of a sincere approach to the problem by both the parties in the coming talk. The issue here is of concern not only with the leaders of both the Government of India and the Government of the People’s Republic if Nagalim (GPRN). The vital issue, however, is concerning the Naga people and the rest of the people in the Indian sub-continent. It has become imperative that the rights of the Nagas be respected by the Indian Government which will at the same time enhance the security of India. It has been increasingly felt that without respecting the rights of the Nagas would not in anyway help the security of India. This is because the Nagas could in many ways strengthen the security be it political or economic. Politically, it would not be wrong to say that the Nagas could take care of the aspirations of the Northeastern people. Taking good care of the region would considerably strengthen the economic security of India in terms of its “Look East Policy”. In a way Jay Prakash Narayan was right when he said in the past that “it is far more important to have friendly Nagas on our frontier closely associated with us in some new constitutional manner rather than unfriendly and discontented Nagas kept forcibly within the Indian Union.” He was arrested because he spoke the rights of the Nagas. A point to be noted is that without respecting the rights of the Nagas neither the there will be a solution to the Indo-Naga political issue nor the security of India is strengthened. Like the title of A.S. Atai Shimray’s book “Let Freedom Ring”, shall we hope of a positive outcome from the talk by concluding in a more or less similar tone, let the aspirations of the people ring in the coming talk.

People want 'Work culture', not 'Gun culture': Shyamal Datta Kuknalim.com
KOHIMA, Jan 26: Nagaland Governor Shyamal Datta, while addressing a gathering on the Republic Day, said 'gun culture' needs to be replaced by the 'work culture' for the allround development and prosperity of the state.

Unfurling the Tri-colour at the Nagaland Civil Secretariat on the 57th Republic Day, Mr Datta said the Nagas were standing at the crossroad of history with great opportunity to mobilise the natural and human resources for fast economic growth and development.

He said the state has adopted a slogan ''Peace for development and development for peace ''.

The Governor hoped that the overwhelming desire of the Naga people for lasting peace will facilitate extension of the current ceasefire beyond January 31, 2006 and lead to an amicable settlement of the Naga political issue. (UNI)

Let us be integral The Morung Express Rev. L. Souhie Mhasi
As a people and as followers of Christ, our people should be integral instead of being fractional. Being a Christian, I do not regard any man as my enemy and I have no enemy in the world except Satan. It is because the gospel of Christ is in me. Id you regard some Nagas as your enemies, you are still far away from being a true Christian and you can never be regarded as a true leader of the people. You are not a real leader of the people if you regard some ones as your enemies. Only true love makes one great.
Do I hate the NSCN (K) for threatening my life for my freedom of speech? It made me no difference. They said that I have buried them and asked me to explain my statement on their cease-fire agreement. So I replied, “In term of the State, the GoI has every right to maintain law and order situation. But your cease-fire agreement is for sovereignty and in term of sovereignty, the question of reserving and retaining right by the GoI for operation does not rise”. They said that the ceasefire agreement did not make the problem as a law and order problem because it can be pulled out any time. The discussion was concluded with a compromise. According to my observation, their press statements are more and more addressing Naga National Issues above personal and tribal matters. They have been for peace and unity if not they are influenced by the concept of removal of obstacles. Personally speaking, I am not politics or for any politics status but my main concern is to do any thing in the perspective of the word of God in any aspect of life. My conviction is that Christian leaders stand in place of the Old Testament prophets who stood for the truth as prophets of God.
In the context of Naga politics, the aspiration of the people is freedom which is meant freedom of each and every one of the Nagas. If sovereignty could be attained, it should be a freedom for every Naga but sovereignty without equality and peaceful life for all is not freedom. The real need of the hour is freedom of life for all and it should be started by now.
Empty slogans should be given up. Sovereignty cannot be achieved by chanting or through press statements. It cannot be arrived at by flying up over to it but by building it. Instead of blaming one another among the national organizations, among the NGOs, among government leaders and among the general public, sincere difficulties of one another should be appreciated and the right step should be taken for the best of all and the future of the people. In view of this, the process of meet, talk and understanding should be started which is the only way of bringing about real freedom.
I wish that all of the Naga leaders cold be real leaders of the Naga people instead of being fractional leaders.
Hmar students' stands agains UNLF By:T.Siamchinthang

Lamka/Aizawl, 27 January, (Asiantribune.com): On the same day that the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) denied atrocities against Hmars causing them to flee to Mizoram, the Hmar Students Association joint headquarters based in Aizawl and pointed finger at the UNLF for all the troubles that Hmar people are facing.

While the UNLF had accused the Hmar insurgent group HPC (D) of causing the Hmar exodus to Mizoram through their imposition of taxes, the HSA said the UNLF had been the cause of all troubles for Hmars living in southern Manipur what with UNLF cadres shooting at Mizoram police from Manipur and then taking shelter in Hmar villages inside Manipur.

"It is the same people who shot at the Mizoram police outposts at Vaitin and New Vervek who are presently causing hardships for the Hmar people living inside Manipur. Terrorizing women and children as well as beating up a pastor, they have derogatorily asked the villagers to call down their Christian God to help them. They have also told Hmar villagers to go to Mizoram since they call themselves Hmar Zo sub-tribes. It is high time that ethnic Zomi/Mizo groups unite as unity is strength," a statement issued by the HSA exhorted.

The statement also said since Hmars have had trouble with Dimasas in Assam in 2003, which had also caused an exodus towards Mizoram, and with the present trouble inside Manipur for Hmars, Hmars should understand fully that they are part and parcel of the Zom/Mizo umbrella under which they can gather strength.

"'Zohnahthlak' (ethnic Zo Sub-tribes) should unite as it appears that Mizo tribes living outside Mizoram will face persecution in times to come. We should remember we have our main House (Inpui) in Mizoram," the statement said in an apparent exhortation to the other main Zo sub- tribe living outside Mizoram, the Zomis.

The HSA statement also mentioned that it was the UNLF that had killed Manipur police IGP P. Thangthuam on December 31, 2005. The IGP was from the Paite tribe.

Manipur is distinctly divided into three demographic zones of which the central zone, or the plains, is occupied by the original Manipuris, the Meiteis. The northern zone is mainly occupied by Nagas, which has become part of the claim for a Greater Nagaland. Ethnic Zo sub-tribes occupy the southern zone, such as Churachandpur district and Tipaimukh area.
- Asian Tribune –

Is this democracy? The Morung Express Columnists Commentary Prem Prakash
The adoption of the Indian Constitution ushered on January 26, 1950, the world’s largest democracy. The founding fathers of the Constitution, among whom were eminent intellectuals of that period in world history, drafted a document which could be the pride of any nation.
Besides putting together a document which has stood the test of time, our founding fathers established sound traditions which enabled the people of India effectively participate in the democratic process.
Much of the credit for strengthening the roots of democracy in India should go to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, who led the country for seventeen years.
Institutions were built and precedents were set, bringing in large participation of the mass of Indian people in the process of governance. This gave a sense of belonging to the people of India - that the country and its government is ‘ours’-a feeling that ensures patriotism and loyalty to the nation. Jawaharlal Nehru himself faced three general elections.
The Constitution of India has stood the test of time. India has been able to function as a parliamentary democracy for over five and a half decades. People of India are proud of their Constitution as it has been able to protect their rights. The checks and balances inherent in any democratic system are seen at their best in the Constitution of India. The legislature, the executive and the judiciary have functioned in a manner which has ensured the stability of the country. The process has also been helped by constitutional authorities like the Election Commission of India.
The country has had elections at regular intervals, and governments have been defeated at the polls and changes have occurred peacefully following elections. People have the confidence that they can make and unmake governments. But, of late, they have serious doubts as to whether they have a real say in the working of the governments. Why?
The strength of India’s Parliamentary democracy is rooted in its multi-party system and the manner in which the political parties work. It is here that we seem have gone wrong. Indian political parties have not been functioning in a democratic manner - at least since the departure of the giant figures of our founding fathers.
Inner party democracy prevailed all through the era of Jawaharlal Nehru. This author had watched Nehru being heckled at the meetings of the All India Congress Committee and at the plenary session of the Indian National Congress. Panditji enjoyed the criticism and the banter at these conclaves. . He took great pains to reply to the criticism and never found it necessary to throw out his critics from the meetings. Both he and his critics emerged stronger and better friends after the exchanges.
Where have we gone wrong? For any political party to function in a democratic manner, it has to have a broad base. Today there is hardly any political party which has primary membership. In the early days the Congress had - what used to be called -’ four-anna’ membership. The Congress Party had elections at the district, state and national levels.
Today, most of our political parties are controlled by some families or individuals. Seats for fighting elections are given on the basis of their loyalty to the leader or the economic strength of the candidate to fight elections. A competent new leader will never be allowed to emerge unless such a person is part of the coterie or promotes himself by being at the beck and call of the individuals or the family controlling the party.
It will not be out of place to ask the reader to watch the British Parliamentay system which has been adopted by us. In Britain, the political parties are able to challenge their leader and throw up an alternative by mobilizing the basic members.
Notice the pressure under which Tony Blair is functioning at the moment, having been defeated by his own backbenchers in the Parliament. All this pressure comes, in the first instance, from the grass-root members of the Party who expect their representative in Parliament to reflect their views. Notice also the manner in which Conservatives have just elected David Cameron to lead them during the next elections. Tony Blair has had to announce his retirement. .
In all fairness, Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani should have retired after the 2004 general elections. But L.K. Advani is still hopeful of becoming Prime Minister of India and has asked his partymen not count him out for the 2009 elections.
In Britain the aspiration for leadership is a process that starts from the base. The political parties throw up a leader after he places his or her plans before the party. Not so in India. Here leaders are anointed.
This has not been the practice in early days. In the bygone era, it was the Congress Working Committee that worked as the so-called Congress High Command. The decisions of the High Command were endorsed by the party, after detailed discussions. Inner party democracy was the foundation on which the strength of the Congress rested. The other political parties adopted, and later adapted the Congress system.
The emergence of the ‘syndicate’ in the Indian National Congress, which tried to impose itself on the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, started the downward trend. This led to the division of the Indian National Congress in 1969. From then on India’s democracy took a new shape. Primary members were ignored and later, such membership existed only on paper. Individuals and groups began to control political parties.
To start with there were bogus lists of party members, which enabled party polls to be manipulated. The original primary members were ignored. Money power prevailed. Other parties too followed the Congress. If the Gandhi-Nehru family controlled the Congress, the Bhartiya Janata Party became the handmaiden of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, better known as the RSS. Individual families started controlling other parties -- Bal Thackrey controlled the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, MG Ramchandran and later Jayalalithaa the AIADMK and Karunanidhi the DMK in Tamil Nadu, Mulayam Singh Yadav the Samajvadi Party in UP, and Laloo Prasad Yadav, the RJD in Bihar.
The exception to the rule have been the Communist Parties - CPI and the CPI(M)-- but they have their own brand of inner party democracy and control!
The net result of the failure of the political parties to follow the democratic process has been their inability to throw up a leader like Lal Bahadur Shastri to head the party and lead the nation. Potential national leaders like Chandrashekar, Sharad Pawar. Ramakrishna Hegde or Narayan Dutt Tewari were felled before they could grow. They had to fall by the wayside, or remain satisfied to be at the beck and call of the individuals or the family controlling the party.
We have to accept that the inability of the political parties to follow inner-party democracy has made the country drift back to the feudal era. The manner in which Laloo Prasad Yadav was able to impose his wife on the State of Bihar as Chief Minister for over a decade speaks volumes for the prevailing conditions in the State.
We have also learnt very little from the communal holocaust that enveloped large parts of the country causing its partition. Divisions on caste and communal basis have deepened, corrupting democratic traditions. Mass agitations can be mounted and emotions could be roused on any pretext. Remember the manner in which Uma Bharti and Sushma Swaraj opposed Sonia Gandhi’s emergence as the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party that gave her the right to become the Prime Minister of India, after being democratically elected as the leader of the Congress Party. Could their threatened agitation be called ‘democratic’.
There are large sections of the people of India, who have not had any role to play in the working of our democracy except electing the MPs or MLAs once in five years. The fruits of development have not trickled down to the people. In the initial years, India tried to create a welfare State and distribute wealth before creating wealth. Now the country has forgotten the welfare of its people.
The upper and middle classes have the control on national income. The media too is pampering the middle class. The consequence is that the poorer classes have become an easy prey to movements like Naxalism . And the Government still thinks that it can fight Naxalism by treating it as a law and order problem.
To ensure that India becomes a genuine democracy as visualized by the founding fathers, it is imperative that the political parties become mass based parties and that inner party democracy is restored. The political system of India is in a crisis. There is a terrible lack of talent in the political parties. Few individuals, families or coteries control the political parties and they will not allow new talent to emerge.
Noted Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew, on a recent visit to India, called upon India’s businessmen, technocrats and the middle classes to take interest in politics and use their expertise in management to better the lot of the average citizen. There is complete silence from these groups, for they know they cannot penetrate the present political party system. And they do not wish to be at the beck and call of individuals controlling the political system.
Can the Election Commission of India ensure that there are elections in each political party. The Election Commission does not have that authority. However, can it use the power to receive annual accounts of the parties to seek details of membership. As of now, the Election Commission has been able to restore faith of the people in the electoral system. Can it rise to the occasion and bring about inner party democracy in India’s political parties?
The Constitution of India has provided us the framework for a democratic form of Government. To have real democracy, we need political parties who function democratically. It is time our our professionals, our generation next take more interest in politics. Indian democracy is at the crossroads. It is time we looked inwards instead of looking away.