We the people ...

 

 

Justice K.P. Radhakrishna Menon

Former Ombudsman, Local Bodies, Kerala The Nuclear Deal is an agreement between India and the United States: an agreement between a developing country and a developed country and therefore an agreement between two unequals.

The debate in the Parliament and media discussions about the Deal suggest that the minority Government, which is hanging in the balance, is to a great extent compromising sovereign power without getting the peoples’ sanction to do so. Several patriots therefore, are of the view that the Deal should be put on hold.

However, the UPA Government, which is on a razor’s edge, thanks mainly to the unceremonious swing of the Left parties towards the opposition, seem to be anxious to drag the nation into the Deal. Why should the UPA Government adopt this attitude?

The Constitution of India gives us sovereign power, which at all times rests with the people. What follows, therefore, is that the people of India are the real and sole authorities of the country and her policies. Fears that this deal may pave the way for the surrender of our interests to a foreign power, are not unfounded. Under normal circumstances, the maximum voting percentage in any parliamentary election is around 65. In other words, a government that rules the country enjoys the mandate of around or less than 33% of the total population. In other words, coalition government is a phenomenon which the architects of Indian Constitution had hardly envisaged.

Political parties with different ideologies - who form coalition Governments - forget or avoid the constitutional mandate encompassed in the phrase “We The People of India adumbrated in the Preamble”. This phrase categorically declares that The People, and not any of the institutions created by the Constitution, are sovereign. Hence no wing of the Government, not even the Parliament, can claim to represent the sovereign power of the People. It applies even more to coalition Governments, for which there is no basic constitutional foundation. It is merely an adjustment and arrangement to share power and position. That the UPA Government is continuing the same policy as its predecessor, the National Democratic Alliance Government, of compromising foreign policy independence and aligning with the US in the name of a strategic partnership, is no surprise. The inference irresistible from the information available from parliamentary debate and media discussions, is that the Deal provides the US Government with a “new leverage to pull India deeper into the US strategic embrace,” as stated by ‘The Hindu’. It may be noted that many clauses in the Deal bristle with uncertainties: for instance, it is not possible to discern how the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) will respond to New Delhi’s request to change procedures to satisfy India. Clauses like this would compel India to recognise the suzerainty of the powerful United States in future. For some professional politicians, who have pulled the country into a cesspool of degeneration, the Deal reflects an honourable and pious agreement. It is worthwhile remembering that the Constitution prohibits such a Deal.

Our main concern is the chance of the US dictating their terms to us. That is quite possible since US and India are not equals in several aspects. Therefore, it can lead to the erosion of our sovereignty.

In a country like India, it is desirable to hold a referendum whenever a controversial issue like Indo-US Deal comes up. The Deal is being opposed by not only the principal opposition party, the BJP, but also the Left Front, allies of the ruling UPA.

Unfortunately what we are witnessing is nothing but rhetorics of protests from political parties. There is nothing genuine about their protests, which appears to be more of a formality. Only time will tell whether any of them are sincere in their postures. One of the downsides of our democracy is that political parties may choose to follow their whims and fancies to sponsor, support or oppose any policy. In conclusion, it shall be said that no such Deal can be made without the issue being put to a referendum.

Tail piece:

“Restore the moral majesty of The Constitution”