Thought for the day
“If liberty and
equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they
will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the
utmost.”
-
Aristotle (Greek, 384-322BC)
Word for the day
Knave (n)
An unprincipled,
untrustworthy, or dishonest person.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
The JP began his “total
revolution” from Bihar. As things appear today, his disciples in Bihar will
only end it.
Utopia: The political problem
“For
indeed any city, however small, is in fact divided into two, one the city of
the poor, the other of the rich; these are at war with one another; and in
either there are many smaller divisions, and you would be altogether beside the
mark if you treated them all as a single State.” (Book IV, The Republic, Plato)
At country level the regional socio-economic disparities and
cultural differences are well highlighted. These are indeed popular ingredient of
any political and cultural marketing campaign in India. However, not much
awareness is seen about the differences that exist at the state level.
To a person sitting in Mumbai, Bangaluru, Chennai or Hyderabad,
the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) may not mean much more than – Taj Mahal,
Varanasi, Lucknow, Kebab, taxi drivers and construction labor. Very few
residents of the western and southern states appreciate that UP is as diverse
as India itself. Various regions of the state, i.e., Awadh, Brij, Rohillkhand,
Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, and Doab, have distinctly identifiable history, food,
dialect, customs, deities, and problems.
People from Bundelkhand and Doab regions in particular have been
agitating for a different political identity for themselves since long. The
regions also differ in terms of caste, community, and religions dynamics.
Differences in terms of weather, water and electricity availability, crop
patterns, flood-draught cycle, political influence, urbanization, physical
infrastructure, income disparities and other social indicators are also rather
stark. Same holds true for many other states also.
Unjustifiable socio-economic disparities amongst various states
and regions within states, materially different socio-economic status of
various castes and communities in different states, has frequently led to
demands and agitations for new administrative units (states and districts).
The legislatures have been mostly unsuccessful in developing and
adopting a consensus framework for federal structure of the country (Though
some attempts like Sarkaria Commission have been made). Certainly there has
been a marked improvement in state-center relationship in past 25years, but
this could be more due to political compulsions rather than any structural
change. This has been the period when regional parties have played critical
role in government formation at the center. A single party stable government at
center would only provide evidence of the sustainability of this change.
It would therefore not be unreasonable to say that the post
independence political organization of the country designed primarily on
lingual basis may no longer be relevant in the current context.
The political problem therefore is to develop a political
organization that fully assimilates the aspirations of the people, addresses
specific local problems, promotes mutual trust & harmony, bars incompetence
and knavery from public office, and insures that the best is selected and
prepared to rule for the common good.
For my seemingly Utopian solution to this problem of political
organization - see this space on Friday.
Also see: Utopia: The
state of the Union
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