OPPOSITION FOR OPPOSITION SAKE

                                

In democracy, despite a party scoring comfortable majority at the hustings, the opposition closely monitors its functioning and puts it in dock for any acts of commission or omission so that the govt. could not turn autocratic. As a matter of fact, taking a cue from Great Britain and other established democratic systems, the opposition also constitutes their shadow govt. in which they earmark an able leader for each ministry. This criticism as a mark of countercheck is the core of democratic norms and hence the left benches cannot be castigated for that. But what happens when the opposition decides to create problems for the party in power left and right? The just concluded unscheduled Pak visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given us a chance to examine the role of the opposition in India.

To start with, we shall locate the elements all over the world supporting or opposing this token visit which will enable us in identifying them in their true colours. The UNO Secretary General, USA, Russia, Afghanistan, UK, CM/J&K, Hurryat etc have welcomed the initiative which has given them optimism of a thaw in strained Indo-Pak bilateral relations. On the other hand, the most wanted terrorist leader Hafiz Sayeed in Pakistan, Congress and CPM with some other parties in opposition have drawn only a black picture of the visit. The congress at the Centre ruled for 54 years whereas the CPM had its sway in W. Bengal for about thirty years. So, without power they are restless like a fish out of water.Modi’s stewardship is giving them sleepless nights and so they are determined to deny him any space to settle down.

The Congress leaders like Salman Khurshid, Manishankar Ayar, Ranjit  Singh Surjewala, Manish Tiwari and Anand Sharma charge that Modi has no expertise in foreign policy and so he has made a mess of it via his Lahore trip. Moreover, they repeatedly ask what did the country get out of that. We know that already Pt. Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had gone there on well scheduled state visits. What tangible could they bring from there? Was even a single irritant in Indo-Pak relation  sorted out? Then how you expect Modi to move the mountain in an informal talk of just 60 minutes with Nawaz Sharif? Only recently Manishankar and S. Khurshid were in Pakistan when they begged for Pak support to destabilize NDA Govt. Did it enhance Indian prestige?

Before concluding, we must admit that despite the known planks of any opposition party in any country, the opposition for opposition sake is a dangerous trend and should be eschewed because we have seen two parliamentary sessions getting wasted as a result of this bias.