American civil society is 90% law and 10% politics. Indian civil society is 90% politics and 10% law. India has chosen a political model that makes politics profitable to politicians. Here, politicians in power are among the richest in the category anywhere in the world. That is the reason for India’s anaemic economic performance and huge corruption. In a dynamic society everything is provided for by law and only a few things are left to politicians. The universe is governed by law. The inverse square law keeps the earth in its orbit and the law of atomic fusion keeps the sun shining for the whole earth. Likewise, the law should govern a nation where the judge, the police and the civil servant dispense justice to the citizen.
Indian politics took enormous power in its hands in order to promote economic growth. But as Matt Ridley says, prosperity evolves by the laws of nature. Particularly the entrepreneurial character of the people. As a British colony America became so rich as to attract the greed of the British monarch. But the Americans said, no taxation without representation. This led to the American Revolution, which symbolises 90% law and 10% politics. That legal anchorage stands America in good stead even today. That is why in spite of Donald Trump’s political victory he cannot damage American democracy.
India has no such legal vision, with a million cases pending in courts. Law and franchise are two sides of the same coin called democracy, one representing truth and the other, popular will. Given India’s illiteracy levels, the right of franchise was firmly kept on a leash by law. Also, India chose to maintain political institutions such as the President, the Rajya Sabha, the Governor and Legislative Councils. All these institutions consume the tax-payers’ money without giving anything tangible in return. A government must be small; only then can rule of law be implemented by the judiciary and the police.
Nations have to advance by the principle of challenge and response, according to Arnold Toynbee. The challenge depends on the scientific capabilities of a nation. In England the Industrial Revolution came two hundred years after the setting up of the Royal Society and the writing of the Magna Carta. India is yet to write the equivalent of a Magna Carta to keep the greedy politicians in check. Also, only mass literacy will make the voter cast his vote to the right candidate. Progress is indigenous; it cannot be imported from abroad.
The main reason for India’s pervasive corruption is material greed. Some 15 million Indians have left India to seek monetary gains abroad. This basic moral defect can be kept under leash only by law. Indian politics, instead of standing on the legal high ground, opted for huge state power. No wonder the all-powerful ministers, MPs, MLAs and IAS officers amass wealth without any let or hindrance. Is there a tall leader who will put on the pedestal the majesty of law? Once such a leader arrives on the scene, corruption will disappear from India. Can India take a U-turn from politics to law, from money to moral rectitude? Political change has always been difficult to effect but in an age blinded by mercenary tendencies it is even more arduous. Still the true dimensions of the task of creating an ethical society must be borne in mind. Only when an aircraft’s engines have enough thrust will it fly.
Economic progress must have a firm legal and democratic foundation. The West too is suffering because of the excessive pursuit of wealth. John Kenneth Galbraith gave a wake-up call to the West in his book, Affluent Society . The West ignored his policies and many are predicting even the demise of liberalism. If the West cannot afford immoral affluence, how can India afford it? To seek to pursue growth on a shaky legal foundation is dangerous. The Indian polity is morally weak without any legal restraint. Economic growth in the absence of law has created the present corruption levels. India must strengthen its judiciary. Then, without any fuss and public outcry corruption can be eliminated. The same judiciary and police will put an end to black money without any need for a step such as demonetisation.
In India, the job of a minister is glamorous with power and pomp, whereas a judge and a police officer have to do their jobs in relative obscurity. A minister should realise that her or his job is largely decorative and that the job of the judge is constructive. Realising his true contribution, the politician must be humble, sleep in a hut and ride a bicycle to office. By a political awakening and a legal illumination corruption can be put to an end. But unfortunately Indian civil society has gone in the mercenary direction. Is there a tall moral leader fired by a constitutional vision to take India in the direction of truth and justice? Citizens must become alert and create the right atmosphere for such a lofty political leadership to emerge. In evolution amoeba has become man. Similarly, a highly politicised society has to become a highly legalised society. Politics is partisan, law is unitary. Moving from politics to law is evolutionary progress.
As politics is deep-rooted in the moral character of a society, there cannot be any quick fixes. For India any movement away from a mercenary tendency to a moral anchor is difficult. An MP who is willing to live on bread and water will not need any bribe. His heart and stomach are filled by patriotism. Also, economics is a zero-sum came. When the rich live in palaces the poor have to live on the streets. A voluntary tendency to lead a simple life by all will create the right atmosphere for economic probity.
We must remember that we cannot create a draconian state in order to end corruption. The moral transformation of civil society must be natural and based on persuasive leadership. A clear definition of a sustainable lifestyle must be voluntarily accepted. Only then will the competitive urge to make more and more money end. Money should become meaningful, moral and deeply satisfying. If true wealth is found in a rich heart, no one will want to touch money even with a barge pole.
India should start with legal clarity. Law is the fulcrum of democracy and democracy is what holds the people together without force. Mere proteins, adenine, guanine, thymine and cytocine that are mere chemicals, attain life when they become DNA. Similarly, law and democracy can combine to form the life of politics to cleanse the country of corruption, which is a cancer that will lead to the death of the body politic. Like a brilliant doctor, the great Indian leader should put an end to corruption by means of his scientific brilliance. Cheap politics has done enough damage to India. India needs Newtons and Einsteins in its politics to make it clean, pure and inspiring. Then the best and the brightest will come to politics to make it a haven of virtue and science.
The author is a former scientist at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay. Email: shatavari@hotmail.com
