For weeks now, furore over the Atiq Ahmed killing incident in Uttar Pradesh dominated headlines and pushed choicest narratives across the political parties and their ranks. Apart from the drama of his murder and the events leading up to it, the case highlights the criminalization of politics in India. The pertinent question is how those running the crime mafias acquire the political space and centre-stage among the people. There have been many flaws in our dysfunctional democracy. The top among these is the criminalisation of politics in India that needs earliest elimination.
Many people with serious criminal records hold important positions in our society. Atiq Ahmed's political career is impressive; he was elected five times to the UP Assembly and once to the Lok Sabha. Even more remarkable, he was elected to the UP Assembly as an independent three times, in a context where independent candidates rarely emerge as serious contenders for elective office. The current system for disclosing candidate information makes no distinction between serious criminal charges and relatively minor cases such as violating law in political agitations. In a democracy with political freedoms and the right to vote, destructive and obstructive forms of protest are unacceptable. Protests that are loud, obstructive, and sometimes violent have become a staple of our democracy. Including all such cases registered in political protests in analysing political criminality serves no purpose. According to data retrieved from ADR reports, more than half (more than 2500) of our elected legislators have a criminal record; if former legislators are included, the number exceeds 4400. If agitation-related cases are excluded, it is likely that 10% of our legislators have a criminal record; this is a serious problem that must be addressed.
Criminalization is not the cause of our democracy's decline; it is a result of our flaws. We must punish criminals and remove them from electoral politics. The real solutions, however, lie in reforming our justice system to make it work for ordinary people, reforming crime investigation and prosecution, and reforming our electoral system to make honest, competent, public-spirited citizens electable. Everything else is just shadow-boxing.
The first question is, why are people with serious criminal records treated with respect and dignity in society? People have lost faith in the formal justice system, with over 40 million cases pending in courts, the majority of them for years or decades. Our legal system has become dormant and ineffective, incapable of resolving disputes or punishing criminals in a credible and timely manner.
As a result, going to court makes no sense except in extreme cases, when the litigant is wealthy, or when the litigant is attempting to delay a case. Most criminals in politics began their careers as enforcers of harsh justice and prospered by settling disputes for a fee. The second question is why successful criminals seek political office at the risk of public scrutiny. The solution is political control of police and influence over crime investigation.
Our electoral system and political culture hold the key to the solution. Candidates who can spend large sums of money to distribute money and gifts to voters have a significant advantage in our elections. In a society where people are frequently mobilised to vote along caste and community lines, the candidate's caste identity is critical. Furthermore, candidates who have a loyal team of political workers or henchmen have a significant advantage in elections. Till this prevalent culture does not end, the democratic system in most parts of India will never be called as a genuine one.
