Life Beyond EVMs

• Doubts over efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines being used in Indian Elections since 1999, are being raised for some time now. There are quite a few petitions which have been filed across various courts in the country challenging the validity of EVMs in the process and have prayed the courts for direction that the old system of paper ballots be reintroduced. I have read one such petition, filed by among others, one Mr Anil Chawla, post the November 2008 state assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, where he, alongwith a few others make a case quite strong enough to be looked into.
  
  I remember the days before EVMs were introduced. In case of Lok Sabha elections, it would be noon by the time the first trends would start coming in, that too from smaller constituencies like Goa and the entire counting process would get at least two days to get over. One of the reasons for the delay was on account of the mixing of ballot papers from across booths, such that it became difficult to identify the direction of voting at a particular polling booth. With EVMs, things changed of course. Now, instead of agonizing waits, we can see the political spectrum of the country changing colors in a few hours flat.
  
  That said, it is distressing to see that the Congress and a few of the usual suspects in the media have been so dismissive of the concerns expressed by the opposition parties on the safety features of the EVMs. While I cannot comment on the efficacy of the EVMs at all, I’ll certainly want to comment on a few of the points which are raised by the Congress and the media brigade to dismiss the apprehensions of the opposition
  
  That EVMs are faulty is a complaint of the losers – So? Which sane person would expect winners to complaint that they won through unethical means? Has any winner abdicated his seat on this count ever? Or has any party accused of booth capturing accepted that they had indeed intimidated the voters? It is a natural flow of justice that the aggrieved seeks recourse while the beneficiary / accused tries to question the creditability and motive of the appellant? So what is different in this case? Do we really expect Congress to move courts asking for revert to paper ballot or do we expect the CPM to own up booth capturing, something which it has been accused of for ages?
  
  EVMs have bought prestige to the Nation – Bah!! Double Bah!! Will Indians grow up and accept that there is more to life then empty praise. It is a self fulfilling delusion that something ‘brings’ prestige to the Nation and that the Nation’s ‘prestige’ is so fragile that questioning anything will ruin it forever. When countries much more advanced then us technologically had no qualms in discarding a system which they felt they couldn’t trust, what is so special about us? Why do we need to build holy cows all around when we don’t care for the actual cow?
  
  EVMs declare the results faster – So? Answer a simple question. What is the purpose behind conduct of elections? To gauge the people’s mandate or to declare the mandate faster? If it is the second, then I rest my case but owing to the beliefs which have been inculcated all along, i.e., that democracy means rule by the people and for the people I have all along believed that the elections are a tool to gauge people’s will. If people’s will is being subverted, are they elections in the true sense? Why is then there a history of masses agitating against ‘rigged’ election results across the world, on a country wide scale in Bangladesh or Iran or on a smaller scale in West Bengal and Bihar? Let the result declaration process take a week. Only let it be what people have willed and not otherwise.
  
  EVMs have helped prevent rigging – Huh! This is indeed hilarious. It is like saying that Bofors Guns helped Indian soldiers evict Kargil intruders so the scam associated with Bofors should not be investigated. Besides that, rigging has come down more on account of greater security and better booth management by the EC. EC must certainly be commended for better and cleaner elections but to credit the EVMs for that is indeed too much.
  
  EVMs cannot be tampered with – Well, cannot comment on this in particular but would seek refuge in my knowledge that there is nothing such as perfect security. Even the most secure defense systems are routinely hacked across the world and here we are talking of a small, simple machine which is used in thousands. To turn a blind eye to the possibility that some, if not all, machines can be tampered with, either at the time of production, voting or counting is foolhardy. Moreover, this does not explain that how Maneka Gandhi and P Chidambaram won their respective seats on recount when they had initially been declared losers? If the system is electronically foolproof, it would not have allowed accretion of a single vote to either of these candidates. Further, there have been quite a few instances of particular candidates winning 100% of votes polled at an EVM. In an election, which was not driven by a strong sentiment or a wave, such happenings are certainly not normal and defy the rules of probability.
  
  
  This is not to say that the General Elections 2009 were rigged. This is only to point out that when a large part of the political space in the country has developed doubts regarding a tool of election, it is proper that the cause of concern be investigated and doubts set at rest. The opposition has as much a stake in the running of the country as the ruling party and the simple fact of their defeat cannot dismiss their concerns as unfounded. We are a democracy and people’s will needs to be respected. Let us not get into a state where the credibility of our system becomes so suspect that the losers start taking to streets disputing the results. Let us remain a successful democracy and not a wannabe Iran.

Delhi High Court Judgment on Sec 377 - Those opposing the opposers

Ever since the issue of decriminalization of homosexuality has gained more prominence in public imagination and more importantly, ever since the Delhi High Court judgment has been delivered, there is a sort of avalanche of posts in various foras denouncing opponents of the judgment.

While it is understandable that any person feeling threatened by someone would resort to such denouncements, what escapes notice is the cause behind the striking absence of objectivity in the readers' denouncement of critics.

Almost all supporters of judgment have heaped scorn and vitriol on saffron backsides, knickerwallahs, hindutvavadis etc. Have these people venting their spleen on the abovementioned even paused to think if their frothing is justified?

Since the judgment has been delivered, the most vehement reactions have been from the clergy of Abrahmic religions, precisely those religions which have their holy books denouncing homosexuality and precisely those which ignite and fan a strong anti homosexual sentiment across the western and Middle Eastern world. Coming to Indic religions, the Sikh clergy has officially condemned homosexuality while refusing to tar it as criminal behavior. Regarding others, I have not come across any Buddhist monk coming out against the judgment though there has been one Jain muni who has been speaking out against it from available foras. That leaves Hindu clergy to deal with. The strongest opposition has come from Baba Ramdev, who is neither a part of the clergy, i.e. math or monastery nor is he a Godman in the sense of the Sathya Sai Babas or even Asaram Bapus of the world. In fact, no Hindu religious leader of any standing has come out against the judgment even remotely as strong as the reaction of the Abrahmic clergy. Nor have there been petitions by Hindu religious leaders to the PM or any minister asking that the Parliament overturn the judgment or appeal it in any fora. It might have escaped notice of these critics, either by design or default, but even the much maligned RSS, VHP or Bajrang Dal have had nothing much to say about the judgment

Coming to the political parties, it was the Samajwadi Party, the RJD and the LJP (the last in Rajya Sabha) which have been most vehement in their protest against the judgment. The BJP has remained silent and even the Shiv Sena hasn't reacted the way as it did against Fire. (By the way, people forget that the ostensible reason for Sena's protest against Fire was the usage of the names Radha and Sita for the protagonist and not the film itself)

Some may point out that BP Singhal, one of the parties to the Naz petition and an outspoken critic of homosexuality is a BJP member. But then, he never joined the case on behalf of the party. If we apply that logic, then Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is a much more senior member of the Congress party, having occupied ministerial and senior party position, is against the judgment. The ex Home Minister, Shivraj Patil was a strong opponent of the call to decriminalize homosexuality. Does all that mean that the Congress is opposing the judgment?

People ignore the fact that previously, NHRC, then headed by JS Verma, one of the most respected judges in the history of the country had refused to support the movement. He was not a Hindu right sympathizer by any extent. Ashok will concur that the strongest opposition to a seminar on gay rights, many years ago, had come from Vimla Farooqui, the then Head of National Commission of Women, and a card carrying member of the communist party

Even now, the NWC has given a guarded reaction to the judgment without supporting even the concept and has only said that it will need to study its impact on the family life in the country. Likewise, there is no squeak of support from either the NHRC or the Minorities commission. None of these are headed by anyone who is remotely associated with the Hindu Right.

It stretches credulity to the extremes to believe that the Hindu right must be condemned for opposing homosexuality. Even if we give more than required weightage to the Hindu organizations opposing the judgment, we would still find their reaction muted as compared to the opposition coming from the Abrahmic clergy, something more noticeable when you realize that their population is only between one-sixth and one-fifth share of the entire population of the country

Why can’t people criticize where it is due and just? Why do they forget that criticism just because of one’s ideological blinkers or because one is scared to protest against those who protest the loudest, is an act of cheating on oneself. If one is so convinced of his / her correctness, why this display of spinelessness in taking all the opposers headlong?

Let us not forget that the Indian society has never denounced homosexuality. Though not accepted it was never persecuted and only ignored. For most Indians, while decriminalizing it may be welcome, they may not be equally comfortable in legalizing it. We are in a country where public displays of affection among heterosexuals can invite obscenity laws and sexual liberation hasn't yet prevailed.

The struggle for equal rights in any arena is a long journey and always has potent foes. It can do well without imagining foes and ignoring perils where they actually exist.