A red letter day for Indian democracy

Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, terming the T.Nadu bandh called by the DMK and its allies as illegal, is a huge, huge step forward for Indian democracy!! This is likely to send shivers down the spines of the various state governments, particularly the communist-ruled ones, who call for a bandh, hartal etc., at the drop of a hat.

What is commendable is the determination and willingness shown by the honourable judges to convene on a Sunday to pass this landmark judgement! As many people have indicated earlier, I too feel that the judiciary is what prevents India from slipping to the levels of a banana republic, similar to the ones we see in the third world.

This morning (I decided to announce today a working day after I heard the news about Supreme Court ban yesterday afternoon), I went to office only to find that the buses were not plying, most shops closed and generally less crowd on the streets of Chennai. I guess many private organisations, having declared a holiday couldn't react in time to revert the decision and stayed closed. But the rest of what I saw seemed to go against the very ruling and observations of the Supreme Court, that all essential services should not be affected or incovenience the general public! Needless to say, the DMK party goons must have issued a covert threat to most shopkeepers and businesses. But it was sad to see the general public capitulate to this pressure in the most spineless manner. In my office complex in T.Nagar, we were the only company that was functioning apart from a local neighbourhood newspaper's office!!

I think, this time though, the wily old man of T.Nadu politics got it wrong and strayed too far from the limits of constitutional authority. It was great to see him call of his fast in a hurry and scurry back to work at the Secretariat , with his tail between his legs, after being rapped on the knuckles by the Supreme Court this morning!

I know this is going to (looks like it already has with some members of the DPA questioning the Court's judgement and "interference") intensify the tussle between the legislature and the judiciary. Which politician wants to be held accountable or kept in check? But in the meantime, let's rejoice! For these are the kind of days that prove democracy in this vibrant, but definitely flawed, nation is alive and kicking!