Memories of India - The Politics

I asked the director to describe India's politics yesterday and this morning he came loaded with information. To make sure I got this right I looked up more information online so here's my take on it based on what I've been told here and my own research.

India is a group of 28 states and 7 union territories ruled democratically. The Indian people are justifiably proud of their democratic heritage, the director referred to it as pure democracy. Given the long history of institutional privilege that was turned back when the government was created this is an amazing accomplishment. The government is designed to be sovereign (not subject to foreign powers), socialist (devoted to equality), secular (permitting free exercise of all religions equally), democratic (universal adult franchise for everyone over 18) and a republic (elected head of state rather than a monarchy).

The legislative branch of government is the Sansad, a bicameral parliment similar to the British model. It consists of a Council of States, or Rajya Sabha, and the House of the People, or Lok Sabha. The Council of Ministers in the executive branch of government is responsible to the Lok Sabha providing some strong checks and balances. The States directly elect the 543 members of the Lok Sabha on the basis of proportional representation.

The executive branch of government consists of a President, Vice President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The Council is democratically elected by the people of India. The President is elected by a special electoral college comprised of representatives from Parliament and the State legislatures. He is a largely symbolic figurehead but has the responsibility of formerly appointing the Prime Minister who must be an elected official of Parliament and is normally the head of the leading party in the Lok Sabha. If there is no leading party the head of the ruling coalition is normally chosen. In either case it is invariably someone deeply revered by the people. The current Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh, a former economist who is widely respected. The current President is Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a former nuclear scientist. He is running for reelection in 2007. Dr. Kalam is deeply revered due to his contributions to India's nuclear capabilities which are paradoxically believed to be the strongest contribution to peace between India and Pakistan, at least that's how it was explained to me.

The judicial system is based to a large extent on British Common Law. During the 1960's India began to move away from the jury system because in practice there was a high level of corruption. Today most trials are conducted by judges. The legal system needs a post of its own, hopefully one I won't ever be in a position to write, so we'll move on.

Since India considers itself a "pure democracy" the party system here is not limited to two parties. There are numerous parties and none of them has a governing majority so they have to work in coalitions to get anything done. This leads to a lot of political participation but also a lot of local political intrigue since there are so many layers of governance in the country. The media play an important role here and frequently expose corruption on the part of various officials. Inevitably this also leads to a certain amount of hush money which seems tolerated here, albeit with some disgust, at least to hear my colleagues talk about it. They describe it as normal but are relieved when the corrupt officials fall from power or are outmanuvered by local councils with different priorities. I asked about political interference in the police and the situation is similar. There is no uniform civil code in India and that's a big platform proposal of the BJP, commonly referred to in the Western media as the Hindu Nationalist Party. Police leadership is a coveted position and obtaining key jobs requires political connections and loyalty. This can lead to unfortunate incidents like happened a few days ago on the boundry of Andhra Pradesh, where Hyderabad is located, and Maharashtra to the North of here. Labor demonstrators were lathicharged by police while trying to enter a work site. In a lathicharge people are attacked by police with long sticks, or lathi, and beaten. I have the front page of the paper with photos and extensive coverage over several days. The central government became very concerned and took action to shut down the work site pending resolution of the issue. Maharashtra ignored the order and the situation is unfolding day by day. This type of thing is not particularly unusual but often prompts demonstrations in various parts of the country. Sometimes political events prompt a Bandh, a general strike usually lasting a day. Protesters will attempt a partial shutdown of a city or important market. India has a long history of organized civil disobedience and these events can become violent if someone is caught ignoring the strike.

The Indian people put a very high values on unity of the state and speaking against it can earn you jail time. Their stated values as a nation are aimed at the creation of a welfare state where wealth is shared among all the people, not just a few. In political discourse here there are major differences between the parties at to what that means and the best way to achieve it but the tenor of the discussion on both sides would generally be considered progressive in the West.

So to end this on a personal note last night my colleague and I were taken to Twister, a local hangout just down the street from Cyber Towers which was the first tech building in Hyderabad. Along for the evening were five of our Indian colleagues who shall remain nameless. What happens in India stays in India. We had a great time eating too much food (for a fraction of the cost in the hotel), drinking rum and beer, and watching cricket while listening to 80's music. I discovered a use for my memories of 80's bands as I could stump them on most of the tunes. They tried to teach us the rules of the native sport but either we were too tired to get it or they were too tired to complete the mission. Smoking is still allowed inside here and that was kind of a drag but it fit into the ambiance and everyone had a good time. Once again we were not permitted to pay for anything and were ferried back to the hotel afterwards. When we offered to take a cab someone begged us not to, that would have set off an international incident.

More tomorrow