Another example of missed opportunity

The election of Draupadi Murmu to the highest post can only be celebrated for its symbolism. In a country of such huge diversity as we are, it is really great to see that someone from a tribal community is heading the nation. It is also true that this is not the first time that the ruling party has taken recourse to this kind of politics and installed a person from a marginal community as the President of India. However, we do need to go deeper into it and discover the darker side of this political sphere.

The history of identity politics can be traced to colonialism. The colonial masters always promoted it and used it to destroy the unity of the freedom struggle. Our leaders have often found it difficult to counter it. However, they tried to meet the aspirations of the people who had been victims of the social and economic inequality of the country, which had been in existence since ages and became more and more depriving during the colonial period.

There has been a tendency among the deprived communities to get united as pressure groups and articulate their demands. This has also given desired results. We have seen how the Backward Class movement and Dalit assertion have brought far-reaching changes in the Indian polity. However, we must question whether this type of politics can bring about the changes our polity needs.

During the Presidential election, many of us may argue that people with a high education should only be assigned the top job because they would be capable of discharging the high responsibility that it entails. Is this fair? In a country where the majority of the people have limited access to formal education and fewer chances of entering better schools and colleges; where almost a quarter of the population is illiterate, how can we give a level playing field to all the communities to participate in the polity? Such a condition will only cripple democracy and hamper the road to a real democracy.

Then, what should be the criterion for being elected to a post of high responsibility? The answer is not easy. Establishing a genuinely participatory democracy is really difficult in a country such as ours, which has huge feudal vestiges. In this case, we can opt for shortcuts. This is an arduous task that requires vision.

One more question arises here. Is current tokenism similar to what has been practised during earlier regimes of non-BJP parties? The question is not difficult to answer. We must take into consideration the present state of our democracy. Our institutions are fast losing their credibility, and democratic dialogues have become rare. Meaningful conversations have given way to hate-speech. There is hardly any space for an ideological debate where new ideas could be discussed. This is a huge loss for those who sincerely wish to make Indian democracy responsive to the questions of the deprived and exploited.

We have seen how agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act, farm laws, and the Agnipath Scheme were handled by the Modi government. This is the story of every single protest that has been organized in the recent past. In these circumstances, the presidential election was important in more than one way.

However, the opposition parties completely failed to put up a united front. Though, they were able to raise some relevant questions, such as that coming from the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejasvi Yadav, they failed to mobilise their own parties to vote against the ruling NDA's candidate. Yadav rightly asked why Murmu is not speaking about what she is going to do as the President. Others also raised doubts about whether Murmu's ascending to the throne would help the tribal cause.

Several opposition parties, including the Shiv Sena and the Jahrkhand Mukti Morcha, deserted the opposition camp and voted against opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, demonstrating a lack of unity. Not only this, 126 opposition MLAs across states and as many as 17 MPs voted for Draupadi Murmu. It is not difficult to understand why the opposition failed to show a strong sense of unity. Faced with an unprecedented rebellion led by the BJP, the Shiv Sena had no choice but to allow its MPs to vote in favour of Murmu.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is in a similar situation. Its logic does not hold water that it has supported a candidate who belongs to the Santhal community. Other pressures too were working. The JMM had all the opportunities to question the policies of the Modi government's policies towards the tribals. It could have raised the issue of dilution in the Forest Conservation Act and exposed the ruling party. However, the JMM found it convenient to join the ruling party in electing a President who could be hardly expected to exercise her power against the wishes of the ruling party.

However, as always, the media has failed to use the occasion to highlight the failure of the polity to address the increasing marginalisation of the Scheduled Tribes of India in the wake of deteriorating conditions of nature and forest. The election passed on like an insignificant event. Has India's media been alive to its responsibility? It would have discussed challenges to the survival of tribals in India.

There are few facts which are being ignored and deliberately. India is ranking 101 among 116 countries that have adequate data to calculate hunger there. Most of the states which have substantial populations of scheduled tribes have alarming situations of hunger and malnutrition. It includes Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

The tribals, Dalits and people from other backward classes are the worst affected. Programs against hunger and malnutrition are getting diluted due to general apathy towards welfare programmes.

All these questions could be raised. However, we missed the opportunity.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)