‘These are immoral practices for ordinary people like you and me but kosher for our rulers.’
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The electoral bond, like yoga and nil, is likely one of the nice improvements of Indic genius — it’s our present to human civilisation. Sadly, the judiciary and the media have turned it right into a joke.
The different day, as an example, we had been driving by means of Lutyens’ Delhi on our method to dropping a visiting good friend at his lodge. As we changed into a tree-lined avenue with lovely mansions on both aspect, Kattabomman piped up. “Papa, who lives in these houses?”
“Rich people with tonnes of money,” I stated.
“You mean, people who buy electoral bonds?”
“What?” I used to be zapped. “Who told you about electoral bonds?”
He wouldn’t reply. I checked out his mom, and located her diligently avoiding my eyes. My suspicion was confirmed quickly sufficient.
Spreading disaffection
As we approached Janpath, we noticed barricades. I slowed down and requested one of many constables why that they had blocked the highway.
“Koi foreign prime minister aa raha hai,” he stated.
“You are going to catch him?” our good friend needed to know.
As the cop gaped at him, Wife quipped from the backseat, “Don’t let him leave India until he buys electoral bonds.”
“Both of you, stop it!” I stated. “If this was America, the cop would have asked you to step out of the vehicle and lie flat on the ground before arresting you and putting you in cuffs.”
“Really?” Wife stated. “On what charges?”
“Spreading disaffection by mocking electoral bonds,” I stated.
Seriously, it’s appalling to seek out all types of busybodies — folks with no thought of India’s historic traditions of extortion and bribery — pontificating on electoral bonds. What’s galling is that none of them might even inform you the distinction between bribery and extortion.
Subject of Vedic debates
In truth, who has a proper to bribe and extort, and who doesn’t, was one of many hottest debates amongst Vedic jurists. According to Jaitleyashastra, the canonical authorized treatise relationship again to 2017 BCE, it’s prohibited for commoners to supply or obtain bribes, and the punishments prescribed embody freezing of their financial institution accounts to -27 levels. But the king, nonetheless, has the precise to hunt bribes in addition to extort donations. The Chanda Purana states categorically that it’s a part of a businessman’s dharma to donate usually to the king. Any businessman or dealer who fails to voluntarily make beneficiant donations is topic to raids by the ED wing of the King’s Guard.
This column is a satirical tackle life and society.
It is, nonetheless, the 6,000-year-old Hafta Samhita that first distinguished between bribery and extortion — a distinction that’s nonetheless adopted in trendy jurisprudence. Bribery, in line with the Hafta Samhita, is when somebody pays a king’s official for preferential or “better than fair” remedy. The giver and the taker are equal individuals. Extortion is when a king’s official seeks a donation utilizing the specter of hurt or unfair remedy. Here, the king’s official is the lively agent whereas the payer is a coerced respondent — categorized as ‘victim’ in at the moment’s jurisprudence. Significantly, all of the three — Jaitleyashastra, Chanda Purana and Hafta Samhita — are clear that bribery and extortion are authorized as long as they fall inside the dharmic morality of the events concerned. That’s why they’re immoral practices for extraordinary folks such as you and me however kosher for our rulers — be they politicians or businessmen.
As the good Indic textual content on good governance, The Bond Sutra, places it, “O Partha, happy are the businessmen for whom purchase of electoral bonds comes naturally, opening the doors to heavenly riches. If, however, thou doth not performeth thine religious duty of donating to the king, then wilt thou incur the wrath of the central agencies and people shall speaketh of thine infamy.” (Vol 2, Chapter 4, verse 27, translated by Monika).
Given the burden of historic and textual proof that factors to extortion and bribery being part of our parampara, it’s astonishing how deeply — and uncritically — we have now imbibed western prejudices about them. I nonetheless have fond recollections of my faculty days in Kolkata when, round Durga Puja, gangs of hooligans from The Party would aggressively knock on our doorways and demand chanda for Durga Ma. We would fortunately donate — who wouldn’t, for his or her beloved deity?
Electoral bonds are nothing however an avenue — duly anonymised for the shy ones — to precise one’s love for the king, who’s however an instrument of god on earth. Those who’ve cash purchase electoral bonds; those that don’t, vote. Sure, this implies the king may pay attention extra to the money-givers than the vote-givers, however who stated the world is truthful?
The creator of this satire, is Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.
sampath.g@thehindu.co.in