Seoul, May 18 – ‘Let the politicians (both in power and opposition) learn diplomacy and leave hypocrisy for strengthening democracy which calls for treating voting right as a currency of citizenship with value (more than price) with availability, accessibility and acceptability of political education with intra party democracy’, opined Professor (Dr.) M.M. Goel, Graduate School of International & Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS. He was speaking in 2011 International conference on ‘ Political Apathy and Civic Education’ organized by Freie Universitat Berlin, Korean- German Civic Education Association at Institute of EU Studies, HUFS here today. His topic was “Political Education in India: Rationale and Issues”.“Politicians need to understand, analyze, interpret and adopt the frame work of Dr. B .R. Ambedkar of the canons of public expenditure in terms of the faithfulness to the intentions of the will of the people, wisdom as provided by the professionals in the field, coupled with well-considered and honest judgment, and economy in execution,” believes Professor Goel who is the first Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) Chair Professor of Indian Economy in Korea.
‘Unique Identification Number (UID) on the UID Card , an initiative of Unique Identification Authority of India of the Indian government to create a national ID for every Indian citizen has taken off and the stage is now set for realizing the potential for improving service delivery, accountability and transparency in governance of various schemes including eliminating chances of bogus votes’ told Professor Goel.
In terms of political education, there is a disparity between the politicians and the people. The urban voters do not turn up in good numbers (more than 50 percent) because of mental setup. They criticize politics, elections for the sake of criticizing without understanding the importance of the voting right. The voting rate in rural belts is certainly higher which appears to confirm a hypothesis that urban people lack political education. In terms of political education, there is a disparity between the people of urban and rural area also, told Professor Goel.
In a normative framework, the need for political education is a learning and comprehension process concerning the rights, duties and responsibilities of every citizen in my beloved India. There is a strong case for political education to be acknowledged in the manifesto of each political party essential for empowerment of the people in a democracy, believes Professor Goel
Professor Chanwahn Kim, Chairman, Dept. of Indian &ASEAN Studies, HUFS was the discussant on the presentation of Professor Goel and raised pertinent questions on the emerging economy of India with democracy which can further be strengthened with political and civic education for which Non –Government Organizations (NGOs) can play a definite role.
THE ONLY AMAZING FACTOR IN INDIAN POLITICS IS THAT ONE SHOULD BE MOB PULLER, MAY BE A PERSON WITH CRIMINAL BACKGROUND WITH DOZENS OF CASES PENDING FOR JUDGEMENT, WHICH NORMALLY NEVER COMES SINE DIE IN CASES OF SHARKS.
WE; HEREBY; THROW AN OPEN CHALLENGE THAT NONE OF THE POLITICIANS OF THIS COUNTRY CALLED BHARAT-HINDUSTAN-INDIA CAN GIVE CORRECT ANSWERS TO ALL THE FOLLOWING 11-ELEVEN QUESTIONS, THOUGH THESE ARE ENTIRELY RELATED TO THE BASIC POLICIES OF THE COUNTRY;
1. WHAT IS THAT WHICH RULES A NATION?
2. WHAT IS THE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF INDIA?
3. WHAT IS SECULARISM IN ITS RIGHT PERSPECTIVE & HOW FAR IT HAS SUCCEEDED TO KEEP PEACE & HARMONY IN THE COUNTRY?
4. WHAT IS SOCIALISM IN ITS RIGHT PERSPECTIVE & WHY IT IS BEING IMPOSED ON DEMOCRACY WHEN THESE ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PATTERNS??
5. WHAT IS THE UNIFIED CIVIL CODE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE NATION & OR COUNTRY?
6. WHAT IS THE SPINAL CORD OF THE STRUCTURE OF THIS COUNTRY?
7. WHY DEMOCRACY IS DERAILING TOWARDS DEMONCRACY & POLLS OR BALLOTING ARE BEING CALLED BATTLES AND PERFORMED UNDER THE SHADOW OF GUNS, INVOLVING TONS OF FUNDS AS EXPENDITURE ??
8. IS THE INSTINCT OF MILITANCY AMONGST THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY IS A BOON OR BANE?
9. WHAT IS POLITICS IN ITSELF?
10. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOK TANTAR & PRAJA TANTAR, WHY PRAJA TANTAR HAS NOT BEEN INDUCTED INTO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COUNTRY FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE??
11.WHY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INDEPENDENCE & LIBERTY HAS NOT BEEN DONE WITH AS THE LATTER IS YET TO COME IN THIS COUNTRY?
WE HUMBLY SOLICIT ANSWERS FROM THE POLITICIANS OF THIS COUNTRY, THROUGH THE COLUMNS OF *THE INDIA POST*, SO THAT REMEDIAL MEASURES CAN BE DEVISED TO BETTER THE LIFE OF THE POPULACE OF THIS NATION, MOST OF WHICH HAVE BEEN LABELED AS DISGRACE OF BPLs- BELOW POVERTY LINE, BECAUSE OF ERRONEOUS POLICIES & WORKINGS THEREOF–dr.amritgaur