Sunday, July 31, 2022

निमंत्रण : स्वराज ज्ञान पंचायत

 

निमंत्रण                                                                                                         स्थापना : 1 अगस्त 2004

विद्या आश्रम के स्थापना दिवस के अवसर पर

स्वराज ज्ञान पंचायत का आयोजन 

दिन :     मंगलवार, 2 अगस्त 2022

समय :   सुबह 11.00 बजे

स्थान :   विद्या आश्रम, सा 10/82,

             अशोक मार्ग, सारनाथ, वाराणसी

विचार

वाराणसी ज्ञान पंचायत और विद्या आश्रम की पहल पर 2 अगस्त 2022 को विद्या आश्रम पर एक स्वराज ज्ञान पंचायत का आयोजन है.

लगभग हर युग में भारत भूमि के कोने-कोने में ऐसे संत, विचारक और दार्शनिक हुए हैं, जिन्होंने अपने समय के राज और समाज के बीच सत्य, न्याय और परस्पर ज़िम्मेदारी और कर्तव्यों को प्राथमिकता देने वाले संबंधों को बनाने में प्रभावी भूमिका अदा की है. यहाँ की देसी  शासन व्यवस्थाओं में संवाद और सभी की भागीदारी हो पाने के लिए पंचायतों की भूमिका को सबसे अधिक महत्पूर्ण बनाया. इन पंचायतों में समाज संगठन का एक सुगठित और तर्कनिष्ठ विचार रहा है. हर युग में इसे नवीन और संवर्धित किया गया. स्वराज का विचार इसी प्रक्रिया का नतीजा है.

आज जब दुनिया भर में राजसत्तायें लोकविरोधी, प्रकृति विरोधी हो गयी हैं और कुछ ही लोगों के लालच को संतुष्ट करने में जुट गई हैं ऐसे में समाज संगठन के सत्य आधारित और न्यायपूर्ण विचारों की खोज तेज़ हो गई है. हमारी अपनी भूमि पर निश्चित ही ऐसे विचारों का विशाल भण्डार है. हाल ही में हुए ऐतिहासिक किसान आन्दोलन ने इसके लिए रास्ता भी खोल दिया है. एक व्यापक समझ यह हो सकती है कि रोज़गार के लिए खड़ा नौजवानों का आन्दोलन और किसान आन्दोलन आपस में दोस्ती के मार्फ़त नई राह खोजें. किसान आन्दोलन ने नौजवान आन्दोलन को समर्थन देकर अपनी ओर से हामी भर दी है.

यह स्वराज ज्ञान पंचायत उन प्रस्थान बिन्दुओं की खोज करेगी, जो न्याय, त्याग और भाईचारे को समाज पुनर्निर्माण के लिए आवश्यक बुनियादी मूल्यों की प्रतिष्ठा दें.   

कार्यक्रम 

   प्रथम सत्र : पुस्तक का विमोचन,  सुबह 11.00 बजे

·         भारतीय किसान यूनियन, उत्तर प्रदेश के अध्यक्ष श्री राजपाल शर्मा के हाथों विद्या आश्रम से प्रकाशित पुस्तक न्याय, त्याग और भाईचारा : किसान आन्दोलन और भावी समाज दृष्टि’  का विमोचन होगा.

पुस्तक का परिचय : -सुनील सहस्रबुद्धे, अध्यक्ष, विद्या आश्रम  

·         किसान आन्दोलन के सन्दर्भ में ‘हर किसान परिवार की आय सरकारी कर्मचारी की आय के बराबर हो’ पर चर्चा  

·         प्रमुख वक्ता :

-लक्ष्मण प्रसाद, अध्यक्ष, भाकियू वाराणसी जिला

-राजेश आज़ाद, संयोजक, संयुक्त किसान मोर्चा आजमगढ़ (उ.प्र.)

-फ़ज़लुर्रहमान अंसारी, संयोजक, बुनकर साझा मंच

3.                           दूसरा सत्र : दोपहर 2.30 बजे

·         चर्चा का विषय : किसान-नौजवान एकता में स्वराज के सूत्र है.

·         विषय प्रवेश : रामजनम

·         प्रमुख वक्ता :

            -हरिश्चंद्र बिन्द,राष्ट्रीय महासचिव, माँ गंगा निषाद सेवा समिति

       - इप्शिता, भगत सिंह छात्र मोर्चा, बीएचयू

  -धनञ्जय, संयोजक, ज्वाइंट एक्शन कमिटी, बीएचयू

·         खुली चर्चा और समापन

 

निवेदक

वाराणसी ज्ञान पंचायत की ओर से

लोकविद्या जन आन्दोलन, भारतीय किसान यूनियन, स्वराज अभियान,

बुनकर साझा मंच, माँ गंगाजी निषादराज सेवा समिति

संपर्क

चित्रा सहस्रबुद्धे (9838944822), लक्ष्मण प्रसाद (9026219913), रामजनम (8765619982),

फ़ज़लुर्रहमान अंसारी (7905245553),  हरिश्चंद्र बिन्द (9555744251)

विद्या आश्रम 

 

 

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

How Democratic is Democratic India: Lalit Kumar Kaul

 

How Democratic is Democratic India?

                                                                      Lalit K Kaul

India is a democratic country because we have Parliamentary Democracy. We are a democratic Nation because Parliament embodies “the Will of the People" that manifests through their elected representatives who are supposed to carry their aspirations- social, economical, religious and political- to the “Temple of Democracy" for finding their resolution through debates, laced with logical reasoning, among the people's representatives from all political parties. As logic would have it, at the end of electioneering, voting and declaration of election results, those elected to the Parliament are Indian people's representatives and not of their individual political outfits, but that's not how it works out in the Parliament.

The Whip and Freedom of Expression/Speech:

It's one thing to get a Bill passed in both the houses of Parliament and another to have a democratic content in its proceedings leading to enactment of the Bill. Passage of a Bill introduced by the ruling party is a number game, and becomes void of any democratic content, once a whip is issued to all its MPs to vote in favour of the Bill.

One can get away with anything that one may speak within the walls of a Parliament because that level of immunity from law of the land is provided to every parliamentarian; in most of the cases such speeches/comments would attract some clause of IPC, outside the Parliament and Assembly. That's unlimited freedom of expression. Yet, this freedom to state a point of view in context of the introduced Bill is taken away from each and every MP by issuing a party Whip that MPs should vote on party lines.

Freedom of Speech/Expression is meaningless in absence of this Freedom to have an Opinion; because only when one has an opinion on an matter- social, economical, religious and political- this freedom to express can/may be utilized to express that opinion uninhibitedly. Therefore, the very act of issuing a Whip is to strangle a very natural human instinct/attribute – opinion making.

It's nigh impossible to believe/accept a thesis that all the MPs of a political outfit have one & only one opinion on the introduced Bill that's going to become a law, if passed; but if indeed the difference of opinion is truly non- existent among the MPs of a political outfit, then it doesn't portend well for Indian democracy because Parliament is not supposed to house herds of sheep obeying the command of herdsman.

And, if, indeed, they are like herd of sheep then the Parliament need not house them because herdsman can directly take decisions unilaterally and make laws without legislating on them. That makes the Parliament infructuous which indeed it remains in view of the party Whip.

Lot of noise is made about freedom of expression and people (outside Parliament/Assemblies) make full use of it as do the highly polarized Media. Such exercises can be termed as one’s ‘past time' for, it doesn't matter what people think about enactment of a certain Law in the Parliament while their representatives’ opinion was stifled by virtue of a Whip.

Do MPs truly represent people?

No, not really. The electorate doesn't vote for a MP or MLA candidate of a political outfit. They vote for the party's leader.

During Smt. Indira Gandhi years, the Congress party won majority in Parliament and State Assemblies not because the contestants were popular among the electorate (exceptions are always there), but that Indira ji was leading them. People voted for Mrs. Gandhi and in 1977 they voted against her for Congress to experience humiliating defeat in the general elections.

Similarly, the NDA was born because Sri A B Vajpayee had a political stature and standing that made leaders of other political outfits to join BJP. People voted for Sri A B Vajpayee and not for BJP and, like during Indira ji days, it never mattered who were contestants in various constituencies from where BJP fought elections. Replace Sri Vajpayee with Sri L K Advani, NDA wouldn't have been born. Sri Advani led NDA election campaign twice, 2004 and 2009, but people didn't vote for him and NDA lost the general elections.

Then in 2014, came “Maut Ka Saudagar" on to the central stage to lead NDA and people voted for Sri Narendra D Modi as PM candidate and BJP for first time won majority in the Parliament, on its own. Rest is the history. Political commentators/analysts, economists of different shades and others may agree or disagree with his government's policies; may even question the Indian military on their missions; people voted him back to power with much bigger numbers in favour of BJP. So, it is Modi ji at the helm and whoever contests, a majority of them are bound to win; the unknown faces.

Had Indira ji shifted to CPM, CPM would have swept the polls; today, if Modi ji joins Congress, it will sweep the polls; BJP will disappear into an oblivion like Congress got on to the crutches post assassination of Indira ji; Rajiv Gandhi having won on the dead body of his mother and his government and governance turned out to be a huge scandal in that for the first time in the history of independent India, a PM had been directly charged with corrupt ways.

Popular saying is: let a 4-legged donkey contest under Modi ji's leadership, the chances of donkey winning may not be slim!

Is Parliament a non-representative body?

Obviously Yes. The “people's representatives” from the ruling party side are disallowed to vote for or against the Bill based on their opinion; not allowed to question certain points related to it; and the Opposition is always pre-determined to oppose everything and anything that the ruling party may introduce for legislation. In such a scenario how do people get represented in the whole process of passing/ blocking the proposed Bill.

The passage of 3 Agri Bills in the Parliament followed by their unilateral withdrawal by an address to the people of India; without going back to the Parliament and follow due process for their withdrawal, not only undermined the stature of the Parliament, but also rendered a fatal blow to the democratic content within the Parliament. It also exemplified undemocratic way of functioning.

No Democracy Within Parliament! How would it be Outside?

In a system where democracy begins and ends with casting of vote in elections, is by no definition of the term a Democratic Set-up.

People are informed through annual budget about, how the economy would grow; increase or decrease in defense budget, if any; investments in health and education sector; transportation and aviation sector, et al. A vast majority from among the MPs, belonging to all political outfits, don't have any clue about the economics or defense preparedness or, for that matter, anything that concerns ordinary citizens- their vote bank.

How much of a feedback/information is collected from “people's representatives” regarding requirements of their constituencies is not known, as it's never made public. What's known though is that the Finance ministry has a meeting or two with FICCI & ASSOCHAM, before finalizing the budget; in such meetings their requirements are noted down because they are supposed to create jobs, but more than that are to do large scale election funding. All political outfits are funded depending upon their chances to be in the future government.

It's an oligarchy at the helm that decides the fate/future of 135 crore people. What kind of an economic model is being pursued since decades now, is poignantly betrayed by the fact that 80 crore people are to be provided basic needs of life free of cost (as per Modi ji's statement). That corona vaccination had to be provided free, is a political gimmick or it's about accepting the harsh reality that people don't have purchasing power. Feeding 80 crores free may be a remarkable act of charity and human compassion, but it's a hard slap on the self respect and dignity of such hapless people whom the entrenched economic model disallows to make sufficient earnings enabling them to take independent decisions at their level and that too democratically in consultation with their family members.

A street dog/ a pet before irrigating a place goes around sniffing before finalizing the same. Same process this dog repeats for adding fertilizer to the soil. So does a bird, which flies from tree to tree and from house to house to fix a suitable place for its nest, before building the same. All this implies that the Mother Nature has ingrained every living being with the instinct of 1) selecting/determining a few options, 2) deciding to choose one from among them and 3) implementing the chosen option.

To select a few samples and then choose one from them to put into use for day-to-day life, is the democratic right of all living beings as ordained. The Indian democratic set up has succeeded in robbing a very large section of the society of that democratic exercise. The government shall decide upon gas connection and number of them in a family; size of the toilets and their numbers in a household; and indeed, the floor area for a house, because all these are to be given free as a display of human compassion and the ones who have been robbed of their enterprise have no say in such acquisitions that are going to be an inseparable part of their day-to-day life. This is not only undemocratic, but more than that it's about making a human life as undignified as it can, perhaps, get.

Distributing free, robs this individual of the happiness/satisfaction that one draws from buying it on one's own strength and at one's own discretion.

To deprive humans of such freedoms and democratic functioning which even animals and birds enjoy, is the greatest scar on Indian democratic set-up. How that scar can be healed is a Question that needs to be answered, perhaps, by designing a democratic set-up which affords every individual opportunities to contribute to the development and growth of Indian society by employing their knowledge base without being discriminated against by labeling them as backward, superstitious and unscientific.