Political Morality and Fault Tolerant Society

Political Morality and Fault Tolerant Society

In last decade or so, it has become a trend to protest against artists, painters, film producers or actors in the name of political assertion of morality. The painters or actors have to fall on the feet of the high and the mighty to get their blessings. Theaters or film producers and actors must seek protection to screen a film, or face stone pelting crowds.

The sportsmen are also targeted for being what comes naturally to them… being Indian.

From Sania Mirza to Sachin Tendulkar all leading players had their share of experiences.

From Karan Johar to Amitabh Bachchan, and from Jaya Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan all have been through the baptism by fire! The books & films are banned and then bans are lifted. And while all the high pitch drama unfolds, the target audience as well as the vote bank is not even concerned about what goes on except for hassles and inconveniences if any.

Political parties take on themselves the role of self appointed guardians of morality to address their vote bank. Religious groups with affiliation to political parties have their own agenda and vent out their anger with slightest provocations. In fact participation of common man is seldom there in such protests which are limited to a few hired professionals to create disturbances and fear among the public. It only serves the purpose of keeping news channels busy 24x7. May be a few apologies here and there and the issues are over. So finally it boils down to just egos of a few politicians for which the public has to put up with all the hassles and loss of property etc. If one looks back at such incidences in last 5 years it becomes clear that none has been taken to their logical conclusion. They all have fizzled out or lost relevance.

The net result is trampling on the fundamental rights of the citizens for expression of free speech. The cost of this is reflected in damages caused to the public property, loss of production or economic activities. The court cases against perpetrators of crimes, if any, are dragged till all concerned lose their patience. Though legal provisions exist to make political parties pay for the damages, there are hardly any inspiring land mark judgments to make any difference. One simply does not know if any politicians, demonstrators or unconnected opportunist hoodlums involved in rioting have ever been punished. And yet the show must go on.

The politicians have fundamental right to have their own views and express them freely as much as common man has. But taking shelter of a political banner to impose their own views on whoever they do not agree with is not democracy. Politicians get elected to assemblies or parliament and that is the battle field for them to air their views, debate, pass strictures, and censure anything unpalatable, if they can. Taking to the streets at slightest irritation shows their desperation and ineffectiveness within the house of assembly or parliament where they are ill equipped and unable to sell their views.

This is not to advocate banning of public protests to attract the attention of the authorities or law makers. But there must be civilized norms of how the protests would be conducted by any political party. Today with hundreds of TV channels covering everything live, even one banner of protest along with a press conference is more than adequate to reach out to millions of viewers without need to break glasses, pelt stones, burn tires or damage furniture to attract attention. Technology for mud slinging has improved with sting operations, doctored CDs & websites and so bricks & mortars are not required for damaging private & public properties. All the political parties must evolve a code of conduct for peaceful demonstrations.

At present no one knows if the politicians & people seen indulging in rioting on TV screens have ever been punished. The government and political parties are not interested in taking any actions as quid pro quo. Under these circumstances, the journalists or news channels and NGOs should compile information on follow up of cases against rioters of political parties along with damages incurred and publish information periodically to high light inaction or action taken.

Today the society has by and large become fault tolerant to an extent that there is general cynicism when it comes to political system and general governance. Either there is total indifference or sudden outburst of pent up feelings resulting in unexpected blow ups. We, as members of society, must calibrate our responses based on data and factual information and resist unreasonable diktats & political interpretations of creations of artists, professionals, writers, and leave it to individuals to decide what one should see or read and what one should not. If people do not like a book, the word of mouth would ensure that a book does not sell. If people do not like to watch players from some teams, they would switch off their TV sets or do not go to stadium to watch a match.

The recent amendment to IT Act 2000 has resulted in the government withdrawing executive powers to ban pornographic web sites based on morality alone. Government can ban such a website only if it causes public disturbances creating law & order problems. Perhaps our political parties have their hands full with cricket and film releases and have not yet protested for this abdication of executive powers. In fact anything which is banned invokes more curiosity and enhances salability and becomes counterproductive to the protestors’ objectives.

The political parties would do well to focus on more serious issues like soaring inflation, hoarding of commodities, power shortages, pollution of rivers, garbage management in cities, traffic management etc. instead of trivial issues. The budgets of the states and the centre are round the corner and they could significantly contribute in program formulations and budgetary allocations. We have not seen any significant positive contribution in controlling the inflation effectively. It is unfortunate that serious issues do not have the mindshare of the politicians and common man is left to fend for himself.

Valentine Day has come to stay now, Jinnah sells faster in book stores and all the Khans & the Bachchans are doing well. And the political parties will be looking out for new non­issues while the common man is still struggling. All the best.

Vijay M. Deshpande Corporate Advisor, Strategic Management Initiative, Pune February 12, 2010 Scroll down for my other blogs Or visit www.strami.com