Rahul Gandhi’s expose By Justice Katju

A lady journalist in whose video shows I have often appeared, messaged me a few hours back, asking me whether she could interview me about the very recent Rahul Gandhi’s expose of rigging in elections, in a press conference he held recently. This news has gone viral in the Indian media, and the opposition party leaders and spokespersons, many journalists, and others have raised a big hue and cry over it.

The BJP has slammed Rahul Gandhi’s charges, calling them baseless.

I told the lady journalist that I am quite willing to come on her show provided I am allowed to speak freely on the topic. I told her what I will say in the show is that Rahul Gandhi’s charges are wholly irrelevant to the people of India. 

 Even if the voters list is correctly prepared by the Election Commission, how will it benefit the people of India ?

https://justicekatju.com/bihar-elections-67fa65e31366

As is well known, the vast majority of Indians ( possibly upto 90% ) vote on the basis of caste and religion. They do not see the merits of the candidate, whether he is a good man or bad, educated or uneducated, criminal or not, and they do not consider the rise in unemployment, price rise, healthcare, malnutrition, etc, but only see the candidate’s caste or religion ( or the caste or religion his party claims to represent ).

So how does it matter whether the voters list has been correctly prepared or not ? Even if it has been correctly prepared, most voters will still vote on the basis of caste/religion.

Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them ( because in India it largely runs on that basis). 

No amount of reforms in the electoral process in India will do our people any good, because voting will still largely be on caste/communal lines, and this will not solve our massive problems of poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, price rise, lack of proper healthcare and good education, etc.

The test of every political activity and political system is one, and only one : does it raise the standard of living of the people ? Does it give them better lives ?

From that standpoint, it is really irrelevant what changes are made in the voters election list, and this is really much ado about nothing. Whatever the changes, and even if there is no rigging, the vast majority of Indians will still lead miserable lives, with massive poverty, massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, appalling level of child malnutrition ( see ‘Child Malnutrition in India, Global Hunger Index’ on Google ), almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc
The lady journalist then said that if the voters list is rigged, democracy will be subverted. I replied that democracy is not a holy cow. Democracy can only be a means to an end, it cannot be the end itself. The end must be raising the standard of living of the people, and giving them better lives. If democracy helps achieve that end, it is a good thing, but not otherwise.

As is well known, Indian democracy largely runs on the basis of caste and communal vote banks. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but Indian democracy further entrenches them ( as it largely runs on their basis ). So how can democracy be a good thing for India ? In fact it is a bad thing, as it isused by Indian politicians for polarising society, and spreading caste and communal hatred, to get votes.

The lady journalist then said she has to consult her channel’s owner before interviewing me. After some time she messaged me that the owner has disapproved.

I then messaged this to her :

” I expected to hear as much. You journalists only want ‘mirch masaala’, as that helps you make money ( by increasing your viewership or TRP rating ). Highlighting India’s massive poverty, massive unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second Indian child is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), skyrocketing prices of food and other essential commodities, almost total lack of proper for the masses, etc is not marketable news and does not sell. What sells is irrelevant issues like alleged rigging in the voters list, or trivialities like the lives of film stars, sex scandals, etc. So keep it up ”.

This message seems to have so much peeved her, that she broke off communication with me