Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan, 30 January 2011
It appears as if we are currently drowning in a flood of corruption. Not a day passes without exposure of some scam or the other, without the major political parties trading charges of corruption against one-another.
Whether it is the case of palmolein imports or organising of Commonwealth games; whether it is allocation of the 2-G spectrum or flat allotment in cities, whether it is influencing judicial pronouncements through payoffs or "findings" of commissions of enquiry; whether it is the question of purchase of military hardware or of commercial airplanes; whether it is the question of prices of vegetables and dals or of foreign direct investments, what is becoming clear to the people is that, every action of the government is taken from a very narrow angle and is against the interest of the aam admi. It appears that the government either serves the interest of a particular monopoly group or the general interest of industrialist houses.
Brothers and sisters, what can we conclude from this? Should we think that there are a few greedy people but this democratic system is basically okay? If the same type of parties and officials keep on coming into positions of power, and those who adopt decisions and policies against the interest of the people are never punished, then we are forced to conclude that it is the system itself that serves the narrow interests of a handful of elite at the expense of the majority of the people. It is also clear that with just a little tinkering or by fixing some of the most grotesque features of this system, its basic character will not change. If we want democracy to serve the majority of the people, then we have no choice but to reconstitute the system. People are increasingly hating the present system and are angry that the toil and resources of the country are looted so that a handful can live in luxury while ordinary people cannot even ensure a basic human existence in spite of their hard work.
People are questioning, how come the policies affecting the whole society are taken in the interest of a handful of super-rich capitalists. They want that the sovereign right to decide policies be vested in the whole of society, the bulk of which is constituted by the toiling masses. People are not ready to tolerate the present situation any more and ready to come out on the streets. Friends, time is ripe for us Indians to unite and take on the task of navnirman of our country.
What is necessary for the navnirman of our country?
First of all we will have to free ourselves of all illusions about the present system. If we review our history, we will see that the foundations of the Indian state (and those of the other countries in the subcontinent) were laid in the aftermath of crushing the great rebellion of 1857. In the beginning, all powers were firmly in the hands of the colonialists but over the span of a century, step by step the English educated propertied sections of Indians were gradually included. Initially they were given only the right to raise queries to the administration but later they were trusted with making decisions too. Due to the escalating anti-colonial struggles of our people, finally in 1947, the British had to transfer power. However, this transfer of power was done with such cunning that the colonial state apparatus was not altered significantly. The state power, developed for the purpose of exploiting the land and labour and for crushing Indian people, was handed over to the Indian rulers. Friends, is it at all possible that a system that was designed for suppressing the people, becomes useful for serving the interest of the people with only some superficial changes? No, it is not possible; just as it is not possible to transform a car into an airplane with just some minor alterations! Therefore, it is necessary to reconstitute our political system on a new foundation. The sooner illusions about the existing system are shattered, the sooner the work of navnirman can become effective.
What kind of Navnirman are we talking about?
The aim of navnirman has to be to increase the role of the people in the state power. We will have to develop a new political process. People will have to establish control over their representatives (i.e., corporators, members of state legislation and Parliament, etc.) by getting organised in committees in their places of work and residence. For this our first requirement is that we, and not political parties, should have the right to select candidates from amongst our midst. Secondly, the elected representative will have to directly render account of their work to the people. Thirdly, people have to have the right to recall any representative who does not work in their interest. We will also have to eliminate the domination of money from the electoral process, which is used by monopoly capitalists to get their agents elected in the elections. On the contrary, there should be level playing field for all candidates. Everyone should get equal media time and other means of propaganda such as banners, etc. It should not depend on someone’s personal wealth and neither should it depend on the "generosity" of some moneybags. The government has to bear the expense without any discrimination.
Right to decide on policies and laws in the hands of the people
No policy matter should be decided behind the backs of the people, without consulting them and without getting their agreement. People need to have the right to propose legislation. They also need to have the right and the power to award fitting punishments to those who work against the interest of people and society and to those who plunder our country. By taking all these steps we can establish a new political process in our country, which will serve the interest of the masses of people instead of the interests of a handful of monopoly capitalists and plunderers.
Priority for the fulfilling the needs of the people
The direction of the economy can be changed once we have this type of a political system. Today, the economy is run to maximize the profits of a handful of monopoly capitalists through intensifying exploitation and oppression of the people, prices are allowed to rise without limit, and education, health care, nutrition and other basic needs of the people are not ensured. Contrary to this, in the new political process, people will exercise political power to restrict the profits of monopoly companies and secure stability and prosperity for the toiling people, as through the establishment of a universal public distribution system.
Today, people have a lot of ideas and initiatives to deal with corruption and scams but those who control the existing system create all kinds of obstructions to implementing these. Therefore only by eliminating the domination of a handful of people from the affairs of the society and by establishing a direct democracy can society rid itself of the curse of corruption and scams forever.
Lok Raj – only remedy for corruption!
Existing democracy is capitalist democracy; real democracy is Lok Raj!
Let us get rid of capitalism to usher in Lok Raj!
Eliminate the domination and control of parties from the political process!
Selection of candidates by people’s committees and not by parties!
People to have the right to initiate legislation!
People to have the right to recall their representatives!
Executive and judiciary to be answerable to the people!
People to have sovereign control over policy making!
Punish the guilty sitting at the highest positions!
Published by Lok Raj Sangathan.
Contact: 9818575435, email: lokrajsangathan@yahoo.com, web: www.lokraj.org.in