There is an email forward that keeps doing the rounds every now and then. It starts off with listing the qualifications of 542 people - of which many are accused for various offences ranging from corruption, rape, murder and other such activities. And finally the punch line - these are our representatives in Parliament.
There is yet another version of this is in circulation about the educational qualifications of the representatives elected by the electorate of the most literate state in India aka Kerala. Many have just primary education to their credit, some have gone till secondary school and a few have been to college.
If this were in some cow-belt state like UttarPradesh or Bihar, it won't be a big deal given the sorry state of education there. But here we are talking Kerala - a state where you can easily chance upon auto-rickshaw drivers having a college degree or two in their kitty. And where you have post-graduates applying in hordes for vacancies in Govt. sector that require the candidate to be only a Class Xth pass.
But then, for things to change, law has to be enacted. And who has to enact such an act ? The same representatives. And while you can accuse them of rape/murder/corruption, you can't accuse them of being idiots enough to enact a law that puts their job in jeopardy.
Leaving apart educational qualifications, is it too much for the electorate ie. you and me, to expect that the person we elect to a state or national body be atleast able to speak ? Especially when the main thing they are going to do in Assembly / Parliament is to speak and put across their opinion for the welfare of the people. What if your representative is toungue-tied due to not knowing the main languages spoken in the country ?
We are discussing Mr.M.K. Azhagiri, who was elected M.P. from Madurai parliamentary constituency and currently a Cabinet minister (Fertilizers). He can speak neither English nor Hindi and these are the only 2 languages spoken in the Indian Parliament. Ofcourse he would like to speak in Tamil, which is the only language he knows - his mother-tongue. But given that Parliament has members from various states, most of which have their own language, this practice would lead to Parliament going the Babel tower way, with no one being able to make sense of the other.
OK, he did not study English, so can't speak that. And since his father's party (DMK) was busy opposing Hindi, he did not learn that either. What are the options now ? He is too old to pick up either language unless he really tries hard. This leaves us in a situation where we have a high-ranking minister in Parliament who does not utter anything, whereas he is expected to hold forth on policies pertaining to his ministry and to reply to questions raised by fellow Parliamentarians during Question Hour.
To be fair to him, I am sure the guy did not really want to go to Delhi. But this was his old man's idea of giving him a Cabinet post and keeping him away from home turf so that he does not lock horns with younger brother M.K.Stalin who is all set to take over from Daddy dear as the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu.
Since there is no way his ego would let him work as a minister under his younger brother, not much chance of bringing Azhagiri back to Chennai. I am sure Daddy Karunanidhi is in a tight spot currently. But hey, where there is a will, there is a way. Since, Azhagiri is the strongman in the southern parts of Tamilnadu (TN) & Stalin reigns supreme in the North TN, why not bifurcate TN into 2 states ? After all, with Telengana & other such demands, state-bifurcation is in fashion currently.
This would result in two states (how do Stalinadu & Azhagunadu sound as possible names?) and both brothers can be Chief Ministers. This would help Daddy solve another problem - getting the Cabinet post vacated by Azhagiri for his daughter dearest Kanimozhi, who is currently sans any portfolio. So, sort of like killing many birds with one stone, ain't it ?
Till then we can continue to watch an embarassed minister in Parliament, unable to answer questions posed by his peers. I think we should borrow the US anthem of "God Bless America" and modify it slightly for our use as "God save India". Sigh !
