TRANSPARENCY, DISSENT and HOLY COWS

The government at New Delhi is always touchy about things. No in fighting, no dissent and certainly no communication with the media regarding criticism of government policies. This is a spin-off on the reprimands given to OUTSPOKEN congress leaders, Dig Vijay Singh, Shashi Tharoor and now Jairam Ramesh. A voice criticising the powers that be is not merely dissent but in the larger context of things represents an alternate viewpoint to policy decisions that could have been taken. 15 years later we should be in a situation to honestly and fairly examine the paths taken by ministers and leaders on various issues and whether these alternate viewpoints had any bearing or if they warranted a debate and not a reprimand by the higher authorities. There is a tendency of secrecy or rather a law of non disclosure when it comes to policy making and decisions in this country.

This is not limited to congress alone. Jaswant singh and all the IN FIGHTING reports at the BJP camp were met with even more intensity. Sure internal disputes should remain internal but how is it that the public will ever come to know about the prevailing thoughts and situations when policies are being formulated.

Sample this, as of today you know exactly what Nixon and Reagan thought about Indira Gandhi, Bhutto, Zia Ul Haq or Fidel Castro or the world at large. You know all the voices of dissent against their policies by way of official documents expressing opinions of people who mattered in the military and administrative machinery. This simply ensures that the public gets to know why certain decisions were carried out in a specific manner by the government in charge on the day and how exactly should it be judged or weighed in history. In India there continues to remain an absolute disregard for this right. People will never know fully what Narsima Rao was going through during the Babri Masjid demolition, or why Vajpayee never got around to sending paramilitary forces in Gujarat or the various voices of dissent amongst various cabinet ministers regarding the Sharam-al-sheikh statement draft. In order to evaluate decisions made by governments we are forced to rely on leaks from various politicians in newspapers or news channels or memoirs written by bureaucrats who have retired from their positions decades ago. At least all the facts should be made available to the public. The prime minister said as much and has hinted at a 30 year or 50 year policy. Hope that this intention of the Prime minister is carried out legislatively, so that we do not remain a country which writes its history books on here say and not official documents and correspondences.