Indian politicians rock the house

Muslims activists shout anti-government slogans during a protest near parliament

By Mark Tully

DELHI, India -- In recent years parliamentary proceedings in India have been disfigured by ugly demonstrations in the chamber of the house and defiance of the speaker.

Days of Parliamentary time have been wasted. But now there is hope that the proceedings will be more sober and productive.

Demonstrations have always been a part of Indian politics. Slogans, derogatory, laudatory, sometimes obscene and often absurd are a vital weapon in any political party’s pocket.

When Parliament is in session in Delhi almost every day there is a demonstration which is kept a discreet distance from the circular parliament house by the police.

More by Mark Tully Tully's India archive     COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: India Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

On occasions in the past, demonstrators have driven the police back and forced them to defend parliament from behind its iron gates.

In the sixties, the Home Minister Gulzarilal Nanda lost his job when a massive procession of sadhus, Hindu holy-men, protesting against cow slaughter, broke through the police cordons.

In the seventies the veteran socialist leader Jaya Prakash Narayan, seen in those days by many as the successor of Mahatma Gandhi, led a march on Parliament which was perhaps the largest ever procession seen in Delhi.

Fists and slogans

It was one of the events which led to Indira Gandhi imposing a state of Emergency and putting democracy in cold storage for the one and only time since India gained independence.

In recent years the demonstrations, slogan shouting, and even physical violence have moved into the chamber of Parliament.

The demonstrators are the Members of Parliament themselves.

They have developed the practice of surging into the well of the chamber below the speaker's chair, brandishing their fists and shouting slogans. They ignore all the speaker’s calls for order until he is forced to adjourn the house.

The right wing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP cannot really complain when MP's shout slogans against their Prime Minister because they did the same when they were in opposition.

Anyhow, in the session which has just ended, MPs from the government benches themselves defied the speaker and demonstrated against Tehelka, the dotcom company which had secretly filmed politicians and senior army officers discussing bribes, and in some cases accepting them.

Attendance allowance

The MPs were protesting the revelation that Tehelka had used prostitutes to trap army officers.

After nearly thirty hours of Parliamentary time had been lost in this session, the speaker’s patience was exhausted.

G.M.C Balayogi announced to the house that any MP who defied his orders and tried to interrupt the business of the house would be suspended for seven days.

Judging by the often empty benches in Parliament, that by itself might not seem much of a deterrent, but it would also see MPs losing their attendance allowance.

MPs are experts at nit-picking when it comes to parliamentary procedure so inevitably the speaker’s new rule did not go unchallenged.

Mulayam Singh, the leader of the Socialist Party, himself one of the most vociferous demonstrators, immediately announced that he would defy the rule.

Abuse the lingua franca

But on the whole the speaker's decision has been welcomed. It calmed the house and enabled the government to pass thirty five bills, which according to the Hindu newspaper is a record.

The speaker's proposal has not yet become part of parliamentary procedure and until it is, demonstrators will go unpunished.

But the new rules could well be framed early in the next session if the present sober mood prevails among members.

It is possible that television has brought about a change of heart. When the proceedings of parliament were first televised, it was hoped this would improve parliamentary behaviour.

Conversely, MPs are delighted in being seen to behave like hooligans.

Several MPs told me that constituents liked to see their members representing their interests so vigorously. “After all,” one MP said, “slogan shouting and abuse is the only form of politics they understand.”

It is just possible that MPs have now come to realise their voters are more sophisticated and would like to see representatives taking their jobs seriously instead of behaving like over-excited children.

The next session of Parliament will tell us whether that realisation has dawned on MPs.