Politics

The Land of (Political) Liberty - India

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal

So said the US Declaration of Independence. It may well have added…

Unless, of course, they are born outside the US. Then they cannot be President.

India Rules Foreign Born Citizens Equal

The Delhi High Court today ruled against a public interest litigation (PIL), seeking to ban persons of foreign origin from holding a constitutional post. The PIL claimed that such citizens could not be elected or appointed, and as in the US should enjoy full civil, but only limited political rights. The court responded:

If one has to follow the liberal and humane concept of ancient Indian philosophy, then what our scriptures have taught us is Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam, i.e., the whole planet is a family…then any narrow parochial meaning de hors the provisions of law would amount to holding what is not even the philosophy of this soil.

On the actual interpretation of law, and of the US limitations, the court said:

if the founding fathers of the (Indian) Constitution have not taken into consideration the concept of a natural born person to accord citizenship, then by no purposeful interpretation this court will hold that a foreign born person is entitled (only) to civil rights and no other rights.

Leading the Way

The court was right in suggesting that India has a tradition of liberalism. Yet, the west remains content in its ignorance to the contrary.

France, for instance, is beginning to consider a possible female President, after Ségolène Royal emerged as a leading candidate. The International Herald Tribune writes:

If Royal’s candidacy succeeds, France would join a relative handful of countries whose highest office has been held by a woman. They include Britain, where Margaret Thatcher was prime minister for more than 10 years and Germany, which last year chose its first female chancellor, Angela Merkel. In January, Chile elected Michele Bachelet as the country’s first female president and Finnish voters renewed the mandate of President Tarja Halonen. In the United States, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is a potential candidate for the presidency in 2008.

The IHT would be well-advised to note that Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India in January 1966, 13 years before Margret Thatcher (1979).

Political Liberalism in the rest of the World

The west fails to recognize that liberalism is not a western gift to the world. If anything, the reverse seems to be true. Iran, part of the ‘axis of evil’, granted universal suffrage in 1963, compared to 1971 for Switzerland, 1976 for Portugal, and 1984 for Liechtenstein. As these examples show, a small corner of South Asia has for long been upending America and its allies in protecting and granting equal political opportunity to all its citizens.

One may debate ad nauseum the merits of allowing foreign born citizens to rule a country. That debate will, no doubt, be tinged with xenophobia on one hand, and liberal fanaticism on the other. But if all men are indeed created equal, then a geographical border should hardly exclude them from that equality.

© 2006 The Discomfort Zone.