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Messrs Obama, Schumer,
Punjab needs you!
Kalam Nishan Singh
 On
January 31, when Punjab was peaking up to witness a dirty
vituperative election campaign, two Democratic senators were
presenting a bill in the House which was an example of how a mature
democracy acts when it sees aberrations in a polling process.
Two
Democratic senators, Barack Obama of Illinois and Charles Schumer of
New York, introduced a bill that would make deceiving or
intimidating voters a federal crime with substantial penalties.
As
the New York Times mentioned in an editorial on the morning of the
day the two were to present the bill, dirty tricks do turn up every
election season, "in large part because they are so rarely
punished."
The
NYT detailed that on Election Day last fall in Maryland, fliers were
handed out in black neighborhoods with the heading “Democratic
Sample Ballot” and photos of black Democratic leaders — and boxes
checked off beside the names of the Republican candidates for
senator and governor. They were a blatant attempt to fool black
voters into thinking the Republican candidates were endorsed by
black Democrats. In Orange County, Calif., 14,000 Latino voters got
letters in Spanish saying it was a crime for immigrants to vote in a
federal election. It didn’t say that immigrants who are citizens
have the right to vote.
There have been other forms of election related crimes also, and the
bill addresses such issues. For example, it would also criminalize
making false claims to voters about who has endorsed a candidate, or
wrongly telling people — like immigrants who are registered voters
in Orange County — that they cannot vote.
Strange that such an evolved step at using the law to plug a
loophole was being experimented at the same time when Punjab
politicos were trying to either get a cult-style demi-religious dera
head to endorse the candidature of one particular political party
while the opposition party was clearly perceived to be behind
un-credited advertisements purported to be issued by the same dera
head asking voters that he hasn't endorsed anyone. This left the
gullible voters confused, and the educated voters disgusted with the
exercise termed as a dance of democracy.
The
US polls have often seen deceptive political tactics like knowingly
telling voters the wrong day for an election. "There have been
numerous reports of organized efforts to use telephones, leaflets or
posters to tell voters, especially in minority areas, not to vote on
Election Day because voting has been postponed," the NYT said. While
such tactics aren't feasible in a state the size of Punjab, the
voters certainly were fooled into reading seemingly regular
newspaper pages which were actually paid for by one or the other
political party.
India currently has an Election Commission which has earned for
itself a reputation for being a tough one to deal with when election
process is on. But it is also widely perceived that the EC isn't as
logical sometimes as it is tough.
For
example, in Nawanshahr district of Punjab, the Deputy Commissioner
was hell bent on implementing the law in letter and spirit. As a
result, liquor flow was stopped, everyone needed an identity proof
to buy more than two bottles of liquor ("The provision is part of
the excise Act," the DC said), no was allowed to splash the town
with posters, buntings, flags and pennons of political parties were
missing, and candidates got a taste of what the law means if someone
means business. Now, either the DCs of the rest of the districts
were lax in implementation, or the Nawanshahr man, Krishan Kumar,
was acting bossy.
But
then it is easiest to get a revenue land report (fard) in
Nawanshahr, it is easiest to get a driving licence made, the
district is making waves for its queue system, and the ultra sound
boy-or-girl business has ended there.
That brings us back to the question: Do we need better laws, or more
laws, or are we just helplessly watching our politicos and the
babudom not implementing the law?
The
truth lies somewhere in-between. We need more laws also: We need our
own Barack Obamas and Charles Schumers who should push for
legislation to punish the officers who do not act as they should
have under the law. And we must not act as the helpless bystanders:
We must question why proprietors, editors and the editor-proprietors
were selling regular-look news pages to political parties,
encouraging proxy advertisements and allowed vituperative content to
go to print even if it was paid for.
Having had the experience of the kind of electioneering we witnessed
this time in Punjab, it would be better if the NRI contribution to
the electioneering were in forms better than joining in the fun and
funding or issuing more proxy advertisements. The Punjabi diaspora
can send delegations to study the election process flaws, pat the
good practices, raise its voice against issueless campaigning,
remind politicians of real issues of the people and the state and
shame the recalcitrant into line. The maxim is that when you can’t
hang the guilty, at least embarrass him.
One
of the much appreciated clauses of the bill brought forward by the
two Democrat Senators is the requirement by the Justice Department
to counteract deceptive election information that has been put out,
and to report to Congress after each election on what deceptive
practices occurred and what the Justice Department did about them.
Such a legislative measure is certainly visible on the Punjab
horizon, but what the NRI Punjabi brethren can do is to take the
task upon themselves and list and publicise the deceptive practices
employed in Punjab. With wide sections of the media joining in,
there is little hope that the initiative will come from the
mainstream penpushers, though the niche media or the alternative
media scribes are sure raising their voice. However, the diaspora
turning its attention to the rot within will act as a force
multiplier. Punjab today looks upon you for helping it raise the
voice of sanity above the din of deceptive electioneering.
One
of the worst dirty tricks of last fall’s election in the US was a
particular kind of deceptive “robocall” that was used against
Democratic Congressional candidates. These calls, paid for by the
Republicans, sounded as if they had come from the Democrat; when a
recipient hung up, the call was repeated over and over. The intent
was clearly to annoy the recipients so they would not vote for the
Democrat.
Thankfully, the Punjab politicians do not read the United States
newspapers much. Or thousands of voters would have been woken up to
the gruffy voice of Prakash Singh Badal or the aggressive tone of
Captain Amarinder Singh, of course each paid for by the other. Even
Obama-Schumer bill does not address this robocall menace. So, please
don’t underestimate Mr Politician. Neither in Mansa, nor in
Maryland!
21 February 2007
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