It is redeeming to note that the
world spent a few precious moments to salute the philosophy of the Magna Carta.
800 and more years ago the world woke up to a theory that has stood it in good
stead. “First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury to make peace
between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised the
protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal
imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to
the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25 barons. Neither side stood
behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled…” is how you
would be introduced to this great charter by the most popular pedia available
for general use.
The Magna Carta thus became the guiding factor for civilised societies that
were willing to their detriment too stand by a set of laws. A universal appeal
to law that saluted some things as fundamental and some negotiable. History is
replete with examples, in fact flooded with tales of its violation. Regime
after regime has seen it as a needless bottleneck for the demands of the day
and how social orders and political regimes have violated the principles of
human civilization. The initial parameters ideally related to illegal
imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on power.
The nation recently observed the “emergency experience”. Leaders like LK Advani
who suffered imprisonment took a memory recall and a walk back to arguably the
darkest days of free India. It is not a tad paradoxical that the emergency was
the doing of Indira Gandhi who somewhere failed to inherit the passion of her
father for a liber democratic polity. Today politics is about banding and those
with lotus bias are willing to all in one basket.
It is contextually redeeming that the Prime Minister in the midst of his
challenging schedule and tiring times chose to address the phenomenon of the
Emergency. He rightly cautioned the nation. LK Advani read some writing on the
wall and cautioned that it is possible that we could blunder to repeat the
nasty experience. Did he read the warning signals of the day? Did he predict the
propensity of men to take liberties with the law? Never mind why. It is
redeeming that the Prime Minster has taken a public stance against what the
emergency has come to mean. This clearly shows a leadership which has voiced
disapproval of a form of governance which believes in personalities and not the
law. This is thus a clear signal by the new ‘rulers’ of their commitment to a
democratic form of government.
The return to the Magna Carta. The principles enshrined somewhere seem to be
losing their punch. It is not as if mankind has hit poon a much better working
alternative. On the other hand it has displayed a marked tendency to choose
convenience over what is right. Societal anarchy has reached dizzy heights and
men in power have gone theatric with virtues and hypocritical with practice.
People who can argue (however illogically) or flex muscle seem to believe that
the Magna Carta has outlived its utility or that they are too smart to the
limitations of the Rule of Law. The illusions will continue till we suffer the
delusion that we are indispensable and powerful or till we eat the dust. There
is tremendous wisdom in the statement that columnist political analyst and
novelist Karri Sriram who says: “ You were the ones who were given a free
India, a value you perhaps did not deserve, from a generation that was noble,
fierce and picture worthy. You were the ones who chose to pass on to us a
devalued rot because you have looted for decades, a mother you chose to bring
down to the level of a whore”. Strong language but truth can be acidic.
Let us guard. This could well be the final chance.
L. Ravichander.