Moving Together

There is an element of honesty, seriousness and sincerity when Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasizes the importance of an active Opposition in a democracy, especially when it is as diverse as ours and has still miles to tread towards it being a truly functioning system of governance and administration at the service of the people. On Monday, the first day of the 17th Lok Sabha, he told the members not to bother about their numbers in the House and instead actively take part in its proceedings. “The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they speak actively and participate in House proceedings,” he said, drawing the line between a weak Opposition and an active one without the members being unduly worried about their strength. He added: “When we come to Parliament, we should forget paksh (allies) and vipaksh (Opposition). We should think about issues with a nispaksh (unbiased) spirit and work in the larger interests of the nation.”

What the Prime Minister has laid stress on is the spirit of moving together when it comes to the core issues the country is confronted with. There are several of these that need the attention of both the Treasury and the Opposition benches informed by the intent to indulge in meaningful, cool-headed and sensible deliberations. After all, both the Houses of Parliament are places where democracy assumes a solid shape when their members make it a point to debate on issues after a great deal of homework and join hands to take the nation forward. Take issues such as national security (both internal and external), illiteracy, poverty and backwardness, hunger and malnutrition, infant and maternal mortality, agrarian distress, food security, water crisis, unemployment, higher education imperatives, health woes, and many others that act as impediments to the country’s growth story and a developed-economy aspiration. These are domains that need a pragmatic take. Mere mud-slinging and trying to pull the one on the other side of the fence by way of malice and vitriol will not do now if we are to metamorphose into a vibrant democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Take the tragedy Bihar has faced over the past one week. At the time of writing this, the death toll of kids due to encephalitis – all from downtrodden families and suffering from acute malnutrition – has crossed 120, while on Sunday Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was seen sharing a very good time with the President of the country. His smiling face at the time of such huge human tragedy has been rightly flayed right and left by the media. Thankfully, this time, it is the metropolitan electronic media that has risen to the occasion and put the ministers concerned, mainly the Union Health Minister and the Bihar Health Minister (who was more concerned about the cricket score in the India-Pakistan World Cup match that day than about the loss of innocent young lives), on the defensive. On such occasions, both the Houses of Parliament should rise to a higher occasion in a spirit of understanding and by displaying honesty, sincerity and seriousness while moving together despite their political differences. It is high time all the members of Parliament paid heed to what the Prime Minister has just told them. When they do this, democracy will be served far better. This, of course, they know. But, then, it is a matter of will to commit to that agenda.