Letter to CEC & ECs dated 29th may, 2024 – DEMOCRACY IS DEAD IF YOUR IMPARTIALITY IS DEAD

(SAMAJ WEEKLY)-

Ref: ARMY/HO/TN/ECI/105/2024                                   29th May, 2024

BY SPEED POST WITH AD & EMAIL
DEMOCRACY IS DEAD IF YOUR IMPARTIALITY IS DEAD

To

1. Hon’ble Mr. Rajiv Kumar,
   Chief Election Commissioner
   Election Commission of India,
   Nirvachan Sadan,
   Ashoka Road,
   NEW DELHI-110 001
   Email: [email protected]

2) Hon’ble Mr. Gyanesh Kumar,
Election Commissioner,
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan,
Ashoka Road,
NEW DELHI-110 001
Email: [email protected]

3) Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu
Election Commissioner,
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan,
Ashoka Road,
NEW DELHI-110 001
Email: [email protected]

Honourable Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, Greetings and respects to you.

Being a citizen of India and a social activist keeping the interest of our country above everything,  I have chosen to pen this letter to you. This letter is addressed to your good selves keeping in mind/ understanding your status  that you are not the servants of the Government of India but the Constitutional Dignitaries, the creatures of the Constitution which envisages your independent functioning detached from any political party, although you too can vote for any party/ candidate of your choice but your functional responsibilities are expected to be above any political partisan.  In other words, the fate of the world’s largest democracy is put in your hands and as such not only our country but the whole world is keenly watching the functioning of the ECI!  In a nutshell, people should not doubt that the fate of Indian Democracy is in the unsafe hands.

It is a well known fact that your appointments are purely political although under the guise of constitutionality.  However, the CEC and subsequently CEC along with ECs had been non-controversial or less controversial while a minuscule few were above controversy.  However, the 17^th Lok Sabha Elections in 2019 and the 18^th Lok Sabha Elections set in motion now are totally different.  The Election Commission of India could not save itself from the ignominy of showing partiality to the opposition party and favouritism to the ruling party and none could assert like Mr. T. N. Seshan,  and stand with spine before the Government in power, although he must have had  a few human shortcomings.

Lord Acton has said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Although the ruling party can alienate itself from the essence of this quote by blowing its own hollowed trumpet, it is evidently and absolutely true that no political party in India has embraced this quote in totality as much as the  BJP has done, that too, under the WATCH OF THE ECI, the supposed to be Defender and Upholder of Democracy in India. The words of Lord Acton are not only applicable to the Politicians but also to the remaining Pillars of Democracy, namely, Executive, Judiciary and Press/ Media.   The people of India have been believing and are still believing that those who are the creatures of the Constitution will act like the Constitutional Authorities but  we do rarely come across such men of competence, caliber and mental stamina.

The following questions are submitted before you for your soul-search:

• When the Lok Sabha Elections in 2004, despite availability of low level technology and difficulty in mobility /deployment of paramilitary forces to different parts of the country,   could be completed in a record of 20 days, why should the ECI under your stewardship should take almost 3 months to complete and declare the results on 4^th of June, 2024?
• The present Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers have assumed charge on 30.5.2019 and as such they are deemed to be in power/ position only till 29.5.2024. Then, how could you schedule the 18^th Lok Sabha Elections till 2^nd June, 2024?  Which Constitutional Provision has given power to the ECI to extend the tenure of the current Cabinet  according to its whims and fancies?
• When countries like the USA, Germany, Japan and other countries which are undoubtedly having more technological superiority than our country, have been resorting to manual voting instead of the so called dubious and maneuverable Electronic Voting Machines, and when almost all the opposition political parties have been making demands to do away with the EVM, why does the Hon’ble ECI maintain stony silence on this matter? Caesar divorced Pompeia saying that “my wife ought not even to be under suspicion” and this has become a proverb for the whole world: “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion” and the people of India, particularly the electors expect the ECI to be above suspicion.  Unfortunately, things have happened differently in the previous LS Elections and thereafter.  We believe such a favoured  treatment to the ruling party in the Centre and its allies and hostile approach towards the opposition parties would be absent during the current elections under your superintendence and your actions are disappointing.  No efforts are visible from your side at least to show that you seem to be transparent and unbiased in your thoughts, speech and acts.
• As SBI was frantically trying to lie before the Supreme Court in the matter of Electoral Bonds Scheme data, the ECI is too trying to suppress the truth and mislead the Supreme Court on the Form 17C which has hitherto been uploaded in the website of ECI and only now the ECI has been adamant not to upload the data of votes polled on the same day or at least the next day.  Why do you take about a week or more to give the data?
• How could there be an addition of about 1.07 crore votes to the votes actually polled on the polling dates? People are of full doubt about the integrity of the ECI and particularly the CEC and ECs and you have to strive to prove that you are conducting free and fair elections and not favouring the ruling party and not showing your loyalty to your political masters. How could the initially reported percentage of 65.4 voter turnout suddenly jump to 66.9% taking the voter turnout to a sweeping addition of 1.07 crore?   People are shocked over this and suspect that there is a deep-rooted conspiracy to bail out the ruling BJP by sacrificing Indian Democracy at the altar of fascist autocracy.

 Fooling the people cannot go on forever:

“You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time” – Abraham Lincoln

 There is a tendency among the rulers, particularly those who are undemocratic, that the people at large are idiots and that they could be easily duped with lies and false promises.  George Denis Patrick Carlin, the American Social Critic has rightly said, “Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups”   In fact, the Indian voters are wiser enough but they are carried away by the bombastic and flamboyant speech of some devilish politicians and once they realize that they have been fooled and duped,  no force can stop their retaliation.  Hitler and Goebbles were the unparalleled star-liars and ultimately their last days ended in utter shame.

You are at liberty for Personal Loyalty but not at the cost of your Constitutional positions:

There is nothing wrong in your showing personal loyalty to your political masters but not at the cost of your Constitutional Positions.  Like any voter, you can vote for a party of your choice or a candidate of your choice.  It is your constitutional right.  But when you discharge your Constitutional obligations, your personal loyalty should necessarily take a back-seat and the following quote will be apt to reproduce:

“No man can be grateful at the cost of his honour; no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty” said the famous Irish Poet Daniel O’Connell and this famous quote was echoed by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly while emphasizing and fixing the limits of personal loyalty to anyone.

Intellectuals alone lead a country and hence intellectuals should not become perverts.

There is a general tendency among the people all over the world that all the educated are intellectuals whereas it is not so.  But one thing has to be admitted, that is, the world has suffered worse- politically, economically and in all important fields- at the hands of the so called intellectuals than the ordinary masses.  The top perverted intellectuals are the brains behind the world’s biggest scams, you must be aware of these.

“The world suffers a lot not because of the violence of bad people but because of the silence of the good people”, said Napoleon Bonaparte. In line with the above, I would like to add that if the Democracy of India is in peril during these General Elections and is a lame duck, the Honourable CEC and ECs, and none else, are to be squarely blamed.

 There is a general perception among the people, and it is true also that the country’s democracy has got severely crippled during the last 10 years and the so called intellectuals who have become perverts for the sake of position and power are the root-causes of this malady, although there are a good number of people who had strong spine to withstand the undue, unethical, immoral and unconstitutional pressures and they are duly reverred by the people for their mental stamina.    It is not that this charge of the intellectuals inflicting irreparable damage to the country is levelled without any basis but with the universally acceptable strong view of none other than the Architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar:

“Whether you accept the theory of great man as the maker of history or whether you do not, this much you will have to concede that in every country the intellectual class is the most influential class, if not the governing class.  The intellectual class is the class which can foresee, it is the class which can advise and give lead.  In no country the mass of the people live the life of intelligent thought and action.  It is largely imitative and follows the intellectual class.  There is no exaggeration in saying that the entire destiny of a country depends upon the intellectual class.  If the intellectual class is honest, independent and disinterested, it can be trusted to take the initiative and give a proper lead when a crisis arises.  It is only a means and use of means depends upon the ends which an intellectual person pursues.  An intellectual man can be a good man, be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate the erring humanity or it may be easily be a band of crooks of a body of advocates of narrow clique from which it draws its support.”

“One Man, One Vote and One Vote, One Value” as propounded by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar has been getting denerated over the years and it has become the worst and become a mockery during  your Constitutional tenure, more than any tenure of CEC & ECs, and hence it is painfully submitted for corrective action, before it becomes too late.

“One who wins without problem, it is just  “VICTORY” But, one who wins with a lot of troubles , that is “HISTORY”    – Adolf Hitler

Whether you want the VICTORY for the chosen lots or you want the HISTORY for our Motherland rests in your wisdom and hands and we still hope you will emerge impartial at least during the last phase of elections and on the D-Day, the counting of votes and declaring of  results in a manner of upholding democracy- like saving the DYING DEMOCRACY from the Electoral ICU and to live up to the Constitutional morality pressured by your conscience, as you have exhibited finally the votes polled on the date of election as declared by the Presiding Officers/ Returning Officer will remain in tact.

“You may never know what results come of your action but if you do nothing there will be no result” – Gandhiji

 If you do good, good results will come; if you do bad, bad results will come; if you don’t do good also, bad results will come and if you remain silent spectators, the chaos created by the political hooligans will engulf the nation, to which, it is earnestly believed, you will not be parties under any circumstances.

History records the events and actions of men – both heroes and villains and it records and compliments the heroes and retorts and rebukes the villains and the people of  India don’t want the CEC and ECs to find their names in the ignominious pages of history.  There are people who think that the history can be erased but with the advent of technology, it is not so easy to erase the history and somewhere and someone in some parts of the world have been chronicling the events unfolding in the current disasters of any kind along with the noble deeds.

“Freedom of mind is the real freedom. A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man. One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man. One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead.  Freedom of mind is the proof of one’s existence.” said Dr. Ambedkar in his famous treatise “Annihilation of Castes”.  The people of India are very much sure that the wisdom will at last  dawn on you to have a free and fearless mind for ensuring free and fair elections without any compromise, even in the eleventh hour with exercise of  your Constitutional powers for corrective action.

In conclusion, the people of India want you to live in the history of ECI like Mr. T. N. Seshan, Mr. T. S. Krishnamoorthy, Dr. S. Y Quraishi, Mr. N. Gopalaswami and  and such other CECs; like Mr. Ashok Lavasa and Mr. Arun Goel who resigned their posts of Election Commissioners listening to the dictates of their conscience and for being on the side of impartiality! May we expect you to be in the galaxy of these eminent personalities?  We do hope as we believe that the quote “It is better late than never” will dawn on you to dawn for the rise of India!

With warm regards,

Yours faithfully,

A. JAISON
General Secretary,
Bharat Ratna Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Rationalist Youth Movement (ARMY)
Chennai-600 011
Email: [email protected]