First of all, heartiest congratulations to all my fellow chowkidars! Thanks to their support, Indian democracy scaled a new peak this month. For the first time ever, a terror-accused will contest an election. Secondly, if you have a problem with it, may you fall into the Pond of Despond and be eaten by a Pakistani hippopotamus! I haven’t cursed in a long while, so it may or may not work. But if you’re still outside a hippopotamus, rest assured I’ve started regular practice. The power of my curses will be in Durvasa category before you know it.
Let me tell you: people who don’t want a terrorist in Parliament are simply jealous. They can’t digest the fact that they’ve been denied a party ticket despite longer, and far more distinguished, careers in the criminal sector. I’m not saying their resentment is unjustified. They do have a point. According to Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), just one out of every three MPs we elected in 2014 was facing criminal charges. Obviously 33% is a gross under-representation given the sheer size of the criminal community in our country. But it’s just one subset of a wider challenge.
For way too long, India has struggled to pass a Bill mandating 33% reservation for women in Parliament. Now it’s clear the best way to make our democracy more representative is to directly give tickets to under-represented social groups. So, when a party finally works up the courage to give a Lok Sabha ticket to someone who is not only facing terrorism charges but is also a woman, it should be congratulated, not attacked. When we have no problem allowing people facing murder charges and rape charges and kidnapping charges from contesting elections, why this hypocrisy when it comes to terrorism charges? Isn’t it because the person in question happens to be a woman? Patriarchy, I say!
Golden opportunity
Some Lutyens Congi journalists have argued that allowing a terror-accused to contest is against democratic principles. How? Even Pakistan, which is 56 times inferior to India in terms of democratic credentials, allowed the 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed to start his own party and contest national elections. Why can’t we? In fact, India now has a golden opportunity to stamp its civilisational superiority over Pakistan’s surgically stricken forehead. By failing to elect Saeed, Pakistan failed miserably in giving democratic representation to the terrorist community. But come May, India could be the first to have a terror-accused in Parliament.
There is also another angle here. The Modi government has been the most aggressive in fighting terrorism. National security is the cornerstone of not just its foreign policy, but also its economic policy, agriculture policy, employment generation policy, social welfare policy, sports policy, education policy, Kashmir policy, RTI policy, privacy policy, human rights policy, and take it easy policy. Since they are coming back to power in May, it is natural they would want to have someone on board who has the best domain knowledge of terrorism. Who better than a person with hands-on experience?
Clear signal
Also, as a celebrity half-writer once said, the best way to combat indiscipline — and what is terrorism if not a form of indiscipline? — is to make the bully the class monitor. Do you think terrorists will dare to attack India when they realise that we not only have a terrorist sitting in the Lok Sabha, but also — and this is happening — in charge of the Home Ministry?
The sign of a mature management, Lee Iacocca once told me, is its ability to convert threats into opportunities. India’s ruling party has sent out a clear signal that terror-accused, too, have a life beyond the prison cell. That they not only have human rights such as protection from torture but also the democratic right to represent their victims in Parliament. Highly placed sources in the MEA tell me that already top leaders from IS, Boko Haram, LeT, JeM, Taliban, and the Non-Resident Indian Mujahideen (also known as the NRI-Mujahideen) have applied for Indian citizenship so they can leave their terrorism days behind and embrace democratic politics in a Hindu Rashtra.
And when they do, dear reader, who do you think will get the Nobel Peace Prize for having single-handedly eradicated terrorism from the planet? And this Nobel, by the way, would merely be the icing on a cake of global distinction whose multiple flavours already include, to name just a few, the Seoul Peace Prize, UN Champions of the Earth award, Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, King Abdullaziz Sash Award of Saudi Arabia, Grand Collar of the State of Palestine, Amir Abdulla Khan Award of Afghanistan, and Kotler Award for Excellence in Marketing.
The writer is Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.