Honorable Members of the House and the NDTV Civics Quiz

On Independence Day evening, after all the official festivities were over, I switched on the television at night to get my daily news fix on NDTV. The news consisted, amongst other things, a quiz conducted by an NDTV correspondent. Questions were asked of the members of parliament right in the Parliament House complex. It was obviously conducted recently when the house was in session and was scheduled for telecast on Independence Day evening.

The quiz was not any thing complicated. It asked questions pertaining to national identity. Who composed the National Anthem, who wrote the lyrics of the National Song, what was the name of Mahatma Gandhi and things like that. It was surprising to see that most of the parliamentarians who were quizzed fumbled and didn’t know the answers to those questions. Some mixed up the national anthem and the national song; another said that he didn’t care about Gandhiji’s name because he was always called Bapuji anyway. Another worthy didn’t have a clue regarding the chakra on the National Flag - where it actually came from. Another uncertainly remarked that it was the saffron color that came on top in the National Flag even though of course he was right.

Now of course we do not elect parliamentarians for their ability to win general knowledge quizzes. It matters little if they know when the congress party was founded or who was the first general secretary of the communist party of India or the name of the last British viceroy in India. So why the fuss? I guess it is the irony of it all that the politicians, those who enter the houses of parliament and become rulers and law makers, are considered more than others to be the inheritors of the national heritage.

Also while ability to remember the composer of the National Anthem may have nothing to do with governance, it is a good enough proxy of one’s grip over events, history, national priorities and how things are done in this country, decisions arevmade and precedents set. As they say, those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to make them again. And these basic questions serve to enlighten the viewers of this one question - are our law makers, who will make and debate and pass legislation that will govern a billion plus people, able to grasp issues of national importance and their various nuances?

Consider this for instance. The union minister of state for Home and a nine term MP from Nandurbar in Maharashtra, Manik Rao Gavit when accused of having links with under world don form U.P - Sunder Singh Bhatt blandly claimed that he was "not knowing about Bulandshahr district" as quoted in the Indian Express of August 14th. Any where else would it be a mater of embarrassment if a senior functionary in the Ministry of Home says that he does not know the political contours of his own charge and still continues in his job? But here it can be said as a mater of course and no one raises their eyebrows or frowns in the least.

In these matters, perhaps one can learn a lesson from the communist party. As products of mass movements, the party throws up leaders of different hues and gifts. But those set apart from the rest for governance and legislative functions are carefully groomed. Though they may be faulted on count of their ideology and many other things, governance in communist run states is still orderly at the top, their ministers and legislators are amongst the most educated and well informed and their parliamentarians among the most erudite and articulate. Although there can be only few prescriptions in a democracy, there are always some norms and precedents that one abides by and the kind of people who are put up for membership of our legislatures and parliament is an area where some healthy precedents are waiting to be set