Social and Moral Freedoms of India…..

 ‘Guruji, I am eager to learn the four pillars of ENP…’ Atma Prakash told the Baba next time they sat together for the Guruvar Satsangh.. 

‘Let me again begin again with Mahatma Gandhi’, said the Baba:

‘The Roots of Violence according to Mahatma Gandhi were, ‘wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, politics without principles’. We will accept them as absolutely true, not because Mahatma Gandhi said so, but because the truth of these statements can be tested and seen by all of us…

‘Any great nation-building political mission will need a shared goal ahead of it, and an enlightened political ideology behind it. It will also need a comprehensive action plan to realize its vision and ideology through a series of SMART goals based on that enlightened ideology. As we have seen, ‘SMART goals’ are those goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound….

‘A dedicated and courageous group of enlightened political leaders who can give practical expressions to the goal, ideology and action plan will be another important requirement….

‘The shared basic goal of ENP, as we have already seen, is ‘hunger-free, caste-free and corruption-free India’. The final goal is economic, social and moral freedoms of India…..

‘The ideology of ENP is termed ‘Democratic Federalism’. It is a political ideology that integrates within itself the Gandhian concept of India as a confederation of autonomous ‘Village Republics’ and the Constitutional concept of India as a ‘Union of States’. It promotes the vision of a great new India as a confederation of autonomous smaller states bound with a common vision, mission and ideology….

‘Under ‘Democratic Federalism’, the states will be as small as economically viable in order to make them better administered and more citizen-friendly. The State Governments will surrender to the Union Government only those aspects of effective governance, national development and national security that they cannot handle themselves. ….

‘True decentralization of authority and resources will be the most important feature of ‘Democratic Federalism’. Large states will have to be made smaller. Smaller states are often found to be better administered and more citizen-friendly. The tendency to cling on to the ideas of centralized power and larger states comes from a ‘sense of insecurity’ that is being suffered by many of us, and from the greed of our political leaders for more power…..

‘The unbridled greed of the privileged few for amassing more wealth also lies hidden behind our efforts not to allow any ‘division’ of a larger state. These efforts with the hidden agenda of ‘more power and wealth’ for a few are also given a patriotic garb by those leaders and parties with vested interests…..

‘Many of the economic problems and political agitations in India today are created by our tendency to cling on to centralized power and authority. Maharashtra in India now is a living example. Vidarbha is a region where the largest number of farmers have been committing suicide in India. The reason is economic poverty, underdevelopment and governmental corruption. If Vidarbha can be made a state, its economic development can be accelerated much faster. Though Vidarbha can be made a state without any additional expenses to build its capital at Nagpur, the ambitious political parties have been opposing it in the name of ‘unity’ of the state. But their hidden agenda is nothing but more power and privileges for themselves…… 

‘It is interesting to note that there is not a single agitation by the people of any state in India for uniting themselves to a neighboring state!..... All agitations are for decentralization, and for more power for the local people for their faster development….

‘The evolution of democracy is from the larger to the smaller, from control to sharing and caring ….Sharing and caring can be done effectively only in smaller states with smaller groups of people…. 

‘True democracy demands decentralization of authority and resources, both in letter and spirit, so that the citizens will enjoy the real power and authority for self-governance. Good governance cannot be a substitute for self-governance. Efficiency cannot substitute effectiveness…

‘Decision-making under ‘Democratic Federalism’ will be based

on ‘consensus’ or ‘consent’ which is the true democratic process of effective decision-making. Decision-making by ‘consensus’ is the best option in a democracy. The second best option will be decision-making by ‘consent’. It means that the ‘opponent’ also becomes a ‘supporter’ by willingly and consciously agreeing to accept the leadership of the other in the larger interest of the society/nation. This will mean that there will be no more ‘Oppositions’ in the Parliament and Assembly but only ‘Corrective Forces’….

‘The mockery of democracy and waste of national resources that are going on in India today in our Parliament and Assemblies in the name of democracy are shameful and destructive for the nation….

‘Centralized political parties that do not allow inner party democracy and refuse to be transparent and accountable to the public have been trying to capture power by hook or by crook in Independent India….

‘Centralized political parties cannot build a decentralized democracy. Centralized econimc enterprises and business establishements cannot build a decentralized economy. Liberating India from the clutches of centralized political parties and centralized economic enterprises and business establishements is very essential for the economic, social and moral freedoms of India…. 

‘Building a hunger-free, caste-free and corruption-free India, and gaining economic, social and moral freedoms for our country are goals in which all Indian citizens have to work and struggle together. ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together’ is an old dictum with great wisdom. India should always strive to ‘go together’ because we have to go very far…. 

‘Under the enlightened political ideology of ‘Democratic Federalism’, the Panchayati Raj Institutions will enjoy greater authority and autonomy. They will play important roles in socio-economic development, women and youth empowerment, education, vocational training, prohibition, enforcement of criminal laws, agricultural and ecological development, and in all such other areas that influence the social and economic life of the local population directly.’ 

Excerpts from ‘Integral Revolution