Hyderabad: Though there are many sports in the world, cricket is the only sport that has earned the reputation as a Gentlemen's Sport. In India, where cricket is a religion and cricketers are worshipped as gods, everyone knows how much gossip erupted when the stain of match-fixing came out!
There was a lot of unrest and turmoil in the cricket fans' hearts until the reputation of the sport was restored by the litigation in the Supreme Court, the appointment of the Justice Lodha committee and the cleansing of the BCCI took place in quick succession.
No talks about criminal politics?
Sane thinkers are puzzled as to why even the slightest concern is not being shown anywhere across the country when the political arena is rocked with leaders with criminal backgrounds. When the parties decide for themselves that even the sporting etiquette is not necessary for the great Indian democracy and turn politics into a haven for criminals - the voters will keep mum as though they have no role to play. Who can say when the country will be freed from the iron fists of criminals?
'Criminal' Gentlemen!
The results of the elections to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly along with four states were declared this week. A background check of those who won in the legislatures revealed that 71 per cent in Kerala, 60 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 49 per cent in West Bengal, 43 per cent in Puducherry and 27 per cent in Assam were facing criminal charges.
Statistics reveal that compared to the 'winners of the 2016 Assembly elections', 11 per cent more criminals in West Bengal, 16.2 per cent in Assam, 27 per cent in Tamil Nadu and 5.4 per cent in Kerala have won in the recent elections.
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MPs are also not behind!
While Ram Vilas Paswan had innocently revealed that his party has been able to survive due to criminals, by indiscriminately distributing tickets to people with a criminal record, all parties across the country have as though confessed that how important criminals are for their survival.
After all, the number of MPs facing criminal charges in parliament rose by 109 per cent in 2019, compared to 2009. Every citizen should be proud (?) that the current Parliament, which is sanctified with 43 per cent members with criminal records, has proudly broken the records of 30 per cent in 2009 and 34 per cent in 2014.
The decades-long commitment of the parties should also be applauded for their contribution to the systematic criminalization of democracy.
The proverb that "if not corrected as a sapling, impossible to mend as a tree" fits well into the present state of criminal politics. In utter disregard to the orders of the judiciary from time to time to crack down on criminal politics, with all parties deploying more and more criminals in the parliament, the ideal of clean politics in Indian democracy has always been alluding.
An attempt was made during Vajpayee's tenure to water down the Supreme Court's order that citizens should know the criminal history of all candidates contesting elections. The law was amended to nullify the judiciary's ruling that a jailed person should be disqualified from voting and those who do not have the right to vote are disqualified from contesting elections.
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In 2018, the Constitutional Tribunal recommended that Parliament legislate on the issue of whether those facing criminal charges should be expelled from the election or whether disqualification should apply to those convicted. The Parliament never had time to consider such valuable suggestions!
In the last Bihar Assembly elections, 68 per cent of candidates with criminal background were elected. It was as though all political parties have decided that tickets should not be given to anyone except criminals. The apex court dismissed a petition that the report submitted by the Vora Committee on the relationship between criminals and political leaders should be investigated under the supervision of the Lokpal, saying that it was impracticable.
With the ease with which criminals can rule the roost, Indian democracy is becoming a laughing stock. In the past, the famous poet Rayaprolu Subbarao wrote with all pride to “praise the glory of the motherland, whichever part of the world you tread in." What's there to feel proud of our democratic system now?
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