A common man’s apolitical views on the suspension of Parliament for 22 days – the roles of PM and the Opposition

The winter session of our Parliament, the shrine of democracy, remained frozen, thanks to the tussle between the PM and the opposition on setting up of JPC on 2G-Spectrum scam. India, it is alleged, has lost 1.7 lakh crores, an astronomical amount, in the Spectrum Scam. But can any one give the estimate of how much has India lost during these 22 days – monetary wise and more importantly eroding democratic values that we, the Indians, feel proud of. India is just one among a handful of nations in the world which has democracy. The ruling party and the opposition have great responsibility to nurture it. The blame game is no answer to irresponsible acts. 

One can not, it is rightly said, clap with one hand. If PM and his party felt that opposition is stalling the proceedings in the Parliament, why did PM, as Head of the state, not yield to opposition demand, however trivial it could be according to his perception, for the sake of democracy and for the sake of millions of his countrymen. By stalling the setting up of JPC the PM has lowered the stature of the august office of Prime Minister, betrayed his countrymen, and shaken the pillars of democracy, more so, since sitting in front of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel in the backdrop (photograph in The Hindu, December 21, 2010) he declared in 83rd session of his party, ‘I have nothing to hide.’ You may be right. But why did you not prove it by boldly setting up JPC? Why did you give others a chance to doubt your intentions? By your stand unfortunately you kept the whole nation guessing and unknowingly you have concealed less and revealed more. 

As a common citizen, I am not fully convinced and feel disturbed, since ‘ego’ has played a major role in the whole episode. Pandit Nehru had once said, as we read during our school days, ‘I am the first servant of the country.’ I am afraid it is not the case these days. 

In a family every member looks up to the father as a role model. India too is a large family. Every citizen wishes and aspires the head of the nation should be above suspicion and be a role model. In the present case, the Treasury as well as the opposition has failed to play their sacred roles.