Those of you who have grown up in the Hindi speaking states would have read Munshi Premchand’s iconic story Panch Parmeshwar. Briefly it goes like this:
T.R. Andhyarujina has pointed out correctly in the Hindustan Times today that M/s Karat & Co, need to understand the above and leave the Hon. Speaker Somnath Chatterji out of the trust vote politics. I just wish that Mr. Andhyarujina had quoted Munshi Premchand’s story than some convention of the British parliament in his Op-ed.
Anyway – British convention or Panchayat tradition – Mr. Karat definitely needs to learn a lot about being ‘principled’ in his political stance for the nation.
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Algu Chaudhary and Jumman Sheikh are two close friends in the village. One day a dispute between Jumman and his neighbours comes to be arbitrated by the village Panchayat, (village council cum judicial body) of which Algu Chaudhary is nominated as the Sarpanch (head). While everyone expects Algu to rule in favour of Jumman, with responsibility of being righteous upon him, Algu finds himself in tricky situation to see that Jumman actually is on the wrong side. Finally, Algu rules against Jumman leading to a major drift in their friendship.Just like the Sarpanch, the position of the speaker of the Lok Sabha is a position of righteousness. The speaker is above all partisan politics and is never expected to take sides for or against anyone – neither the opposition nor the treasury benches.
A few months later, Algu is similarly involved in a dispute. Realising that Jumman would be eager to take revenge, Algu’s adversary requests appointment of Jumman as the Sarpanch. However, as soon as Jumman assumes the post, he realizes the immense responsibility that the position comes with and is able to appreciate Algu’s situation when he had ruled against Jumman. Finally, he gives up the thought of any revenge or prejudice against Algu and rules in his favour on finding Algu to be in the righteous position.
T.R. Andhyarujina has pointed out correctly in the Hindustan Times today that M/s Karat & Co, need to understand the above and leave the Hon. Speaker Somnath Chatterji out of the trust vote politics. I just wish that Mr. Andhyarujina had quoted Munshi Premchand’s story than some convention of the British parliament in his Op-ed.
Anyway – British convention or Panchayat tradition – Mr. Karat definitely needs to learn a lot about being ‘principled’ in his political stance for the nation.
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Expecting Indian politicians to put country and constitution above personal and party interest is like expecting Charles Sobhraj becoming Asha Ram Bapu.
ReplyDeleteIf Mr. Somnath Chatterjee indeed resists Mr. Karat's overtures and discharges his duties without bias, he will prove himself to be an exceptional exception in India's history, which is littered with instances of politicians in constitutional positions like President, Governor and Speaker shamelessly aiding their parties without being concerned about the dignity of their position.