Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao has survived the combined opposition’s motion of no confidence against him. Does that mean that India has escaped “destabilization”? This question will naturally arise in the minds of U.S. administration officers and businessmen who intend investing in that country Rao’s many apologists in India think that his government will now have a majority support in India’s parliament and that the government will run its full five-year term. Keen observers of India’s political scene do not subscribe to these optimistic notes. A few facts of the anti-Rao motion need to be kept in mind, It was sponsored by a Communist (Marxist) member but was supported by BJP, among others, What made the BJP and the Communists join hands? What brought them together on one side of the fence was the issue of corruption, This pernicious practice is widespread in that country’s administration and business. Nothing moves in that country without bribery. The evil reached its zenith during the socialist regimes of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao, all belonging to the present ruling Congress(I). It was during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister that India was rocked by the Bofors pay offs controversy which still lingers. Bombay broker Harshad Mehta came out with a sensational allegation that Prime Minister Rao himself received a sum of Rs 1 crore from him as a bribe for “patronage” which his administration duly extended to him later, The charge rattled the prime minister as circumstantial evidence tended to prove it. This compelled the entire opposition to join hands against the prime minister. Rao somehow won over a few members of the opposition not on the basis of argument or appeal to their political convictions but, according to opposition leaders, by money power and survived the no trust motion. The country’s media commentators are one on the fact that while Rao has technically won, actually morally he has been defeated. The last week’s episode in India has certain lessons for the U.S. authorities and businessmen to |earn. They should think twice before lending blind support to the Rao regime or its so-called liberal policies, The prime minister stands fairly condemned in the eyes of most Indians and any support to him or his policies will discredit the U.S, administration and the U.S. nation as a whole as unscrupulous supporters of corrupt regimes. Although India’s share markets have welcomed the Rao “victory,” that should not mislead this country’s business community about the future economic and political prospects in India. As pointed out in these columns earlier, there is a link between the rulers’ corruption in India and the country’s militarization and consequently the increasing violations of Human Rights. When a ruler in India is cornered on account of corruption as in the case of Mrs. Gandhi in 1975, his or her tendency is to come out in his or her true colors and resort to most dictatorial measures against political opponents. That is how India ran through the 1975-77 emergency mules. Later, the Gandhi dynasty tried to enlist Hindu community’s backing by attacking non-Hindu communities such as Sikhs in Punjab and elsewhere and Muslims in Kashmir. Rao is trying the same sort of strategy after he has been isolated on the corruption issue. His game plan is to introduce a Legislation to delink religion from politics. One must not rely on the stated objectives to assess the true nature of the legislation. It simply empowers officers to disqualify any candidate even in the midst of his election campaign on ground of linking religion and politics; This is electoral emergency by other means. No wonder, public opinion leaders in India have generally condemned the Legislation as undemocratic and highhanded. Tendency of the ruling elite in the wake of exposure of its corrupt practices is to seek to muzzle dissent. That is why the Indian government is trying to gag Indian Express, a consistent critic of the Congress (I) administration. The government early this week introduced in Indian parliament to new laws that seek to “regulate” cable television networks. The regulation is nothing but control of freedom of television companies to freely relay their programs. In line with its thinking, India despite all talk of liberalization has not done anything to loosen its iron grip on the country’s State-owned electronics media: It appears many more measures are in the offing to crush dissent in India notwithstanding talk of that country being the “largest democracy” in the world. The U.S, administration in its own interests should keep a watchful eye on the developments in India, It should certainly refrain from lending undue support to the Rao government which, in any case, cannot hope to last long considering its shady track record. The government’s record on the human rights front leaves much to be desired. Whatever is being done in Kashmir these days ts simply shameful for any democracy. It is a mistake to regard India as a democracy and its leaders worthy of support.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 6, 1993
