It was not an assault on one individual. It is an assault on the institution of democracy. It is an assault on the idea that defines the Republic in the opening lines of the Constitution of India… It is an open challenge to “We the people…” from “They, the Netas”.
Would the system have allowed a John, Jaani or Janardhan to walk away from the aircraft and out of the airport after the assault? Yet that is what the system allowed. The Member of Parliament walked away to brag. In theory, the rule of law applies equally to all. In practice, the cliché of “some are more equal than others” rules.
This was validated by the brazenness of the attack and the commentary that followed. Ravindra Gaikwad, alias “Ravi Sir”, did not just boast about assaulting the Air India officer. He narrated for camera how he hit him with slippers and even revealed the score… “that he hit him 25 times.” He puffed up and said he was from Shiv Sena, not a BJP MP—as if this was expected of the Shiv Sena MPs and that the BJP MPs were less. That parting shot was to lampoon the collective might of 336 MPs (Lok Sabha plus Rajya Sabha).
Theoretically, MPs are governed by rules of conduct. In 2002, the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha authored a code of conduct for MPs—a set of six general ethical commandments. Urging the members to use their position to “advance the well-being of the people”, the Ethics Committee advised them to “Maintain high standards of morality, dignity, decency and values in public life.” Gaikwad has mocked the house he owes his “privileges” to. There is no word yet from the Lok Sabha Speaker or from L K Advani who heads the Ethics Committee in the Lok Sabha. Must there be a complaint and a complainant?
There is much applause, deservedly, for Air India for standing up to the MP, for filing two complaints with the police and for other airlines which stood with Air India and denied the MP a seat on their flights. What has been the response of the party, the Shiv Sena? It has asked Air India to “introspect” and consider implications of a “public boycott” of the airline! And what did the government do—beyond pious platitudes, that is?
Apparently, the Civil Aviation Ministry is examining the “legality” of the “no fly ban” imposed by the airlines. The fact is that the “no fly ban” action stems from a policy codified by the ministry on what airlines can and must do to ensure safety as early as in November 2014.
Gaikwad is simply the symptom, he symbolises a larger affliction. The Osmanabad MP is only one of the many who believe, and ironically, that being lawmakers entitles them to be above the law. There have been others. A BJP MP from Karnataka punched a doctor for not attending to his mother. An MP from YSR Congress slapped an Air India station manager. And it is not just Members of Parliament. MLAs, too, believe and enforce the entitlement to write their own laws. Google MP or MLA booked for assault.
On Thursday, the day Gaikwad put Osmanabad on the prime time TRP map, V Hanumantha Rao, a former MP, hurled abuses at a police officer for doing his job. In Punjab, cricketer-turned-BJP MP-turned-Congress MLA and Culture Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has insisted on being the judge at a comedy show despite convention and regardless of propriety. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has not stepped in and neither has the Indian National Congress.
It is important to note that the exercise of might as a right is not limited by party affiliation, nor is being elected to a position a necessary pre-condition. The delusion of being above the law is a national malaise. The attack and the strike by doctors in Maharashtra is a case in point. Obviously, the attackers were either affiliated to or owed allegiance to a political outfit. Why not name and shame the parties?
Critically, it is not just publicly-owned enterprises or public officials who are targets of abuse and assault. Staffers at private entities, too, face abuse and assault at the hands of elected representatives—this is evidenced by statements of Ajay Singh of Spice Jet, the need for security at hospitals when a prominent leader is being treated, and the unending stream of news on assaults.
The persistence of the attacks is explained by two factors. One is the fawn culture that abounds across India. This emboldens the brazen to invest in the belief of “expect more” or else! The other factor is the systemic—it takes forever for the criminal justice system to move and deliver. There are over 31 million cases pending in the courts. There is also the clout factor. Unsurprisingly, the MP who assaulted an airline staffer in November 2015 was eventually arrested only in January this year.
Above all factors is public choice, who the people elect—the onus is on the electorate. One in three Members of Parliament is facing criminal cases. Gaikwad, for instance, is facing cases for “causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal intimidation”. Between 2004 and 2014, the number of candidates with serious criminal charges shot up from 266 to 908 and those elected as MPs from 60 to 120. Parties in their hunt for “winning candidates” have enabled the vertical integration of money and muscle power in the electoral market.
It is, therefore, not enough for the people to simply expect the best. Frequent outrage has very short attention span—people fume and forget. There is the tyranny of geography—events elsewhere do not impact as forcefully. Then there is the chasm of anonymity that distances the people from the victims. Remember that the next victim could be anybody’s brother, sister, husband or wife. It is critical that people while choosing candidates to represent them assess what they represent. The ideas that sustain democracy—liberty, equality and justice—demand eternal vigilance.
shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com