Denying Voting Rights to Patriotic NRIs

Commentary

GV CHELVAPILLA

Writing in BJP Today, a party magazine, Lal Krishna Advani, the President of Bharatiya Janata Party said, recently: "January 15 is observed every year as Army Day. On this day, the Chief of Army Staff hosts a reception at his official residence attended not only by the top brass of the Armed Forces but by a number of dignitaries, including the President and the Prime Minister.

"As an invitee to the function, I had the occasion this time to interact with a large number of Army officers, and was surprised to discover that members of the Armed Forces hardly ever exercise their right of franchise.

"The law does make our Army personnel eligible to cast postal ballots; but the procedure laid down is so cumbersome that they are able to procure their postal ballots only after an election is over. The recent reduction of the campaign period from three to two weeks will almost completely eliminate the possibility of our jawans and officers being able to vote. Shri Gill (Chief Election Commissioner) admitted that as things stand today Armed Forces, as also members of the Para Military Forces have virtually been ‘disenfranchised.’ "

If this is the fate of those who are asked to shed their blood and sacrifice their lives for the sake of country, the case of NRI thousands of miles away from the Motherland to get the same privilege of voting is indeed much weaker. Let alone extending the facility of dual citizenship, even the privilege and honor for those citizens of India residing abroad is denied and they too stand disenfranchised. Again, like those in Armed Forces who are remembered when their services to protect and preserve the integrity of the country (which is put in jeopardy by the antics of political rulers in the first place) are needed, the NRI citizens are remembered only when their money-- and sometimes technical expertise-- is needed. But not when their right to vote is to be exercised.

In this, smaller democracies such as South Africa, Israel and now Mexico do much better than the largest democracy-- a much touted word in the world. Both of these smaller nationsd election booths in this country, besides postal ballots facilitating their citizens to exercise their vote.

In this country, postal ballot is replacing voting booths in places like Oregon. The convenience and comfort of one’s own home and mutual trust all play an important part. The postal ballot, when it is made more efficient, now extended only to diplomatic corps of India, can easily be made available to other citizens of India residing abroad who are carrying India’s passports and to the Armed Forces wherever they are posted.

Lack of money and possibility of fraud to deny this privilege are not valid excuses since as is well known, in many instances in places such as Bihar, polling booth capturing practices and other electoral frauds are reported on a massive scale. And if that does not preclude conduct of elections, why should the facility of postal ballot to NRI citizens, where the scale or intensity of possible fraud can never approach that of what happened under unscrupulous political and economic rascals, be denied?

Moreover, the ‘secular’ parties vie with each other to give voting rights, besides ration cards, to any and every infiltrator from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Here again the patriotic NRI who looks to India as Motherland is flatly denied this right. Perhaps, precisely his patriotism is the real reason. After all, who in his right mind who loves India will vote for these outfits who left nothing but a sordid record of corruption and compromise of national security and integrity? So, since the NRI cannot be depended on to constitute a vote bank, he or she cannot be given voting rights either. Hence, not even lip service is paid to the issue and demand of dual citizenship these days.

But if there is to be an imaginative and nationalist administration that is interested in building the country rather than numbered accounts in foreign banks then the matter of dual citizenship must become part of the national agenda.

And all the objections raised against dual citizenship can easily be dismissed. Some said it may compromise national security -- whatever that may mean. If national security is not put in jeopardy by large scale illegal infiltration, now made legal through liberalization of travel from Pakistan, then what makes any one think that a doctor or engineer from India residing abroad will compromise it any more? Moreover, mechanism to disenfranchise those that abuse the privilege can easily be put in place, if they are not there at least in principle. [I wonder, even ‘Judicial Activism’ has ignored this aspect and none thought of raising the issue of denial of voting rights to Indian citizens living or traveling abroad before the court].

Others said it may give rise to divided loyalties. Really? On the contrary it will double the loyalty. Actually it is those who can easily abandon their love of their Motherland will not be able to sustain any affection for even their adopted land. Hence, they carry their venomous separatist agenda wherever they go forming separate parliaments, harping on exclusiveness for ever. On the contrary, we can be proud of the history of expatriates from India. Wherever they went, they built those countries. They made land fertile through sugarcane or rich through commerce and trade. Thus whether it was as indentured laborer or trained engineer the record is a proud one. And even when generations have passed the love for India, the affection for the valiant and kind King of Ayodhya, Shri Ram never diminished in such places like Jamaica and Trinidad among people of Indian origin who brought with them Tulsi Ramayana, the only connection they had with India. The more recent immigrants to the UK and the US, more fortunately endowed from free India that trained them as professionals unlike earlier ones forced to emigrate from British India due to poverty, have migrated to seek better educational and professional opportunities. They are changing the landscape with towering spires of temples transplanted exactly along with all the sacred rituals from India thus enriching the culture and civilization of the adopted lands to the best of their ability. They know the meaning of gratitude and also serve the land and people who have been hospitable to them.

Any country, any nation would consider such emigrants, expatriates an asset and would love to include them in its electoral rolls. It did not happen in the first 50 years of independent India. May be in the next 50 years something better can be expected from powers that be in India, hopefully a changed India.

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