EDITORIAL

 President’s Address Endorses

Sangh’s Diabolical Agenda

The President of India has delivered his maiden address to the joint session of the Parliament. Such an address is, by law, a statement of policy prepared by the union government which the president reads out. It was, therefore, a long and monotonous compilation of departmental reports. Whether the president ever sought to break this monotony by introducing some flowery grammatical changes is not known. In the event, he finally read out the government's prepared text justifying and endorsing its performance and policies. 

In line with the present government's policy, the address has called upon the judiciary to "expedite its work and give early verdict" on the pending Ayodhya dispute.  This is, indeed, unprecedented.  The executive arm of our democracy appears to pressurise the other arm of our democracy -- the judiciary.  The apex court had decreed in March 2002 that the acquired land in Ayodhya can, under no event, be handed over to anybody or any religious activity on it be permitted. There was, absolutely, no ambiguity.  Any government of the day is duty bound to implement the law of the land and, thus, ensure the adherence to the judicial order.  Instead, the Vajpayee government has recently moved the Supreme Court to vacate its earlier order.   Thus, this government has blatantly positioned itself in favour of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and others who want to take control of this acquired land in order to start the construction of the temple without waiting for the final verdict on the Ayodhya dispute. 

Though the president later states that the verdict of the judiciary must be accepted by all concerned, he justifies the move by the Vajpayee government to challenge the interim verdict of 2002. In the interests of the country, it would have been better for the president to caution the government that its partisanship should be with the law of the land and the Indian Constitution and not with the VHP and those who openly advocate the flouting of the Constitution.

Similarly, the presidential address also echoes the Vajpayee government's endorsement of the State-sponsored genocide in Gujarat by declaring that the assembly elections have strengthened democracy and ended a sad chapter in the state's history.  No word on punishing the culprits of the carnage!  No word on any step to prevent the recurrence of any such ghastly ethnic cleansing!  Naturally, therefore, no word on the continuous rousing of communal passions engaged in by the other RSS tentacles on a myriad of issues! These include the latest campaign being mounted on the Gaushalas, religious conversions etc etc. 

On the economic front, the address is an exercise in whitewashing the ground realities.  Displaying complete ignorance of the revised estimates of economic growth put out by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), the address parrots the earlier illusions created by the prime minister of an eight per cent rate of growth of the economy.  The CSO has estimated that the economy is slated to grow at not more than 4.4 per cent.  The address virtually endorses the proposals made by the Kelkar Committee on tax reforms which even some sections of the ruling alliance have been critical of. His advice for fiscal prudence to both the central and state governments constitutes an approval of the tendency to curtail expenditures meant for people's welfare. His enthusiastic support of the privatisation process, calling it irreversible, endorses the private loot of public assets. In the process, it also gives the stamp of approval to the enormous sleaze, that is being reported regularly, accompanying all such privatisation deals.

Strangely, the president does not see any contradiction between this reality and the vision of a self-reliant modern India that he so fondly advances on this occasion as well.  There is little to suggest that any serious efforts are being made by this government to comprehend the actual economic ground realities, leave alone taking any measures to correct them.  The misery of the people and the indebtedness of the country appears destined to deteriorate further. 

As expected, the address comes down heavily on Pakistan and its support to cross-border terrorism. The biggest threat to internal security, it is reiterated, comes from external sources. However, there is little in the address to suggest how we propose to tackle this menace. There is, naturally, no reference to any required political process that would be needed to tackle the menace of terrorism domestically. 

While such pre-occupation with a Pakistan centric foreign policy was to be expected, the address also comes down heavily against Bangladesh. The address reasserts the government's position of taking all measures to check illegal immigration, which "has assumed serious proportions and affects many states".  The country is left in the dark as to what such steps would be. 

While there would be no objection to firmly dealing with the problem of illegal immigration, it is reprehensible that the government is trying to derive narrow political mileage out of this problem. It is ironic that the president's address should endorse the strategy of this government of expressing concern against terrorism not so much to eradicate this menace but to utilise it for political gains.

Finally, the address ominously fails to take a forthright opposition to the unilateral US threats of unleashing war against Iraq.   Apart from formally restating India's interest in peace, stability and security, there is no reflection of the worldwide public anger against such US aggressive moves.  The president delivered his address on a day after the news appeared that in over 600 cities across the globe, millions of people marched on the streets against US designs.

In sum, the president's address reflects the trajectory adopted by this Vajpayee government in all areas. This is a trajectory that is bound to compound the miseries of the people and the dangers to our secular democratic polity.