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Anarchy in Bihar - The Hindustan Times

Yashwant Sinha ()
20 May 1997

Title : Anarchy in Bihar
Author : Yashwant Sinha
Publication : The Hindustan Times
Date : May 20, 1997

Bihar is always in the news for the wrong reasons. The same is true today. There
has been a lot of news about Bihar in the recent days on account of the CBI
investigation in the fodder scam, the alleged involvement of Chief Minister Laloo
Prasad Yadav and his antics in the wake of the CBIs decision to charge-sheet him.
Different views have been expressed about the case but the preponderance of
opinion has been in favour of the Chief Minister resigning. It was amazing,
therefore, to read Mr G. S. Bhargava's article in The Hindustan Times of May 13
that the country was suffering from an "excess" of ethics and there was no need
for Mr Yadav to quit his post. It is essential to put things in the right
perspective.

The Indian freedom movement was marked by an "excess" of ethics and morality even
before Mahatma Gandhi appeared on the scene. The Mahatma injected a surfeit of
ethics in whatever he did. If the Indian freedom movement is unique in the annals
of world history it is so largely because of its ethical content. Many countries
in the world have freed themselves from the yoke of foreign rule, but none can
match the pride of place India occupies. We are inheritors of a great tradition.
Ethics is in our blood.

Accountability is a sacred concept in democracy and cannot be allowed to be
destroyed by buccaneers and adventurers like Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav.
Accountability has both a constitutional and a moral content. In a parliamentary
democracy a minister is accountable to the legislature in a complete and
comprehensive sense. If he stands up before the legislature and takes credit for
all the good work done by his ministry or his government, he must similarly take
all the blame for the omissions and commissions of his ministry and its officers.

It was this concept of constitutional accountability which persuaded Lal Bahadur
Shastri to resign as Railway Minister in the wake of a train accident in Andhra
Pradesh. In the Mundhra case, a commission of enquiry indicted the then Finance
Minister T. T. Krishnamachari. The brilliant Krishnamachari resigned in the wake
of its findings though no criminal charges were brought against him. More
recently, in the aftermath of the hawala case, Mr L. K. Advani resigned his Lok
Sabha scat the moment he came to know of the chargesheet against him. Following
his example the then ministers in the Narasimha Rao government Mr V. C. Shukla, Mr
Madhavrao Scindia and Mr Balram Jakhar resigned without waiting for the President
to sanction their prosecution.

I resigned as Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, indeed my Assembly seat and
Mr Madan Lal Khurana resigned as Chief Minister of Delhi. Even Mr Sharad Yadav,
now working president of Janata Dal, resigned his Lok Sabha seat. It is another
matter that he contested the Lok Sabha election again a few months later and
returned to Parliament. None of us waited for anybody including the courts to
come to the conclusion whether there was a prima-facie case against us or not. A
finger had been pointed at us and it was enough to us to quit our constitutional
posts and seek remedy in the courts of law.

This is indeed what W Advani did and Rot his discharge from the Delhi High Court
after going through the due process of law. Ibis is indeed what the others must
do. It was not that Mr Advani could not have got a movement launched throughout

the country to protest his innocence. It is not that; he could not have lambasted
the CBI for a clearly partisan role. He did nothing of the kind. He submitted
himself to the judicial process. If indeed any parallel is to be drawn between
his cake and Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav's it is that Mr Vadav should quit the Chief
Minister's post and submit himself to the judicial process. It is preposterous to
suggest that because the charge-sheet against Mr Advani has failed the test of
judicial scrutiny, the charge-sheet against Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav need not be
taken seriously.

The rule that a charge-sheeted person cannot be allowed to function as a public
servant and must quit if he is one should be established firmly in our public life
and the time to do so is now. Any dithering at this stage will do incalculable
damage to our democratic fabric. What Mr Laloo Prasad Yaday is trying to do in
Bihar is extremely dangerous for the future of our democracy. Day in and day out,
his supporters gather at his residence, raise slogans against the CBI and in his
favour, and a mistaken message goes out that the people of Bihar are with Mr
Yadav.

His supporters take to the streets carrying placards threatening to plunge the
state in a bloodbath if his resignation is demanded. The active members of the JD
assemble at Patna to be addressed by the Chief Minister and openly display their
arms. A person is cut into pieces in a village in Bihar by a spade for daring to
speak against Mr Yadav. The ruling party with the help of the administration is
determined to create chaos, bloodshed and anarchy throughout the state.

It is not the BJP as Mr Bhargava has alleged, which is breaking the law or
instigating mob violence in Bihar. As far as the Assembly proceedings are
concerned there has not been a single session which has been cut short because of
the action of the BJP legislators. If at all, it is the JD legislators who have
caused mayhem in the House in each session and have even attacked physically the
BJP Leader of Opposition. It is strange that Mr Bhargava is distorting facts to
damn the BJP.

In the present case, it is of least importance what happens to Mr Yadav. More
important, arrogant and powerful potentates have been consigned to the dustbin of
history in the past. The important issue in Bihar, indeed in India today is
whether the rule of law will survive or will be thrown overboard by an overbearing
ruler. The question is whether all of us are equal before law or some are clearly
above the law. The point is whether ethics will govern the actions of our rulers
or not. The problem today is not an "excess" of ethics as Aft Bhargava makes it
out but too little of it in our national life. The problem is the danger posed
even to that little surviving ethics by the likes of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav.


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