ADDRESS BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, AT THE 89TH

INTER-PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1993

I have great pleasure in adding my voice to extend a warm welcome to the distinguished delegates assembled here in the 89th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Since the Conference of IPU last met in Delhi in 1969, both the world and India, have changed a great deal. The nightmare of the cold war has ended, and the freedom of peoples and the independence of nations have expanded on a spectacular scale. India, overcoming many a challenge to its unity and stability, has demonstrated its viability as a nation and its inner strength as a democracy, and is engaged in a massive liberalization of its economy today.

The preservation of democracy and the promotion of development and social justice for peoples, have emerged as the principal themes for the world today. There is a mood of triumphalism in the world in regard to liberal democracy. That is entirely justifiable. But it is a little difficult to go along with Francis Fukuyama in believing that we are witnessing today “the end of man’s ideological evolution and the universalisation of western democracy as the final form of human development.” One cannot believe in a doctrine of democratic “nirvana” as one could not believe in the enchanting vision of a Marxist Utopia. It is still in an unequal and unjust world that we are living. Mankind has to evolve further, both institutionally and spiritually, before we can say that freedom, justice and peace have been firmly established in the world. One must not forget the inter-War period both in Europe and Asia, and also ignore several trends that have emerged contrary to the spirit and practice of democracy. The world can hardly rest on its oars believing smugly that the struggle for democracy is finally won. We have to world hard, almost everywhere in the world, for the preservation of freedom and democracy.

There was an old theory that democracy was not good for everybody. It was assumed that it was suitable only for the industrialized and advanced countries and is unsuitable and unworkable in developing nations. In the days of the Empire the view was put forward that for a country like India Parliamentary representation was “the wildest of imagination that ever entered the mind of man”. It is surprising that there are serious political thinkers today who have advanced the concept of a two-tier international order in which the democracies of the developed countries formed the top echelon and the democracies of the developing countries occupied the lower tier as marginalised nations. In the context of the growing North-south divide particularly, this is a somewhat dangerous theory for the final triumph of democracy in the world.

On the agenda of the Conference there is a general debate on political, economic and social situation in the world. I am sure that the distinguished delegates will, in that debate, take into account the fact of the struggle for democracy in the developing world, the special problems and characteristics of that struggle, and also the fact that one of the largest nations, India, has operated the parliamentary system of democracy ever since independence. If the Indian experience has any lesson to be drawn from it, it is that for the success of parliamentary democracy it is essential that freedom is integrally combined with social justice, and the rights of liberalism with the imperatives of development. I believe that, as a matter of fact, even in the most highly developed countries it is by responding to the social and economic demands and aspirations of the general masses, that the democratic system has registered its remarkable successes. At the moment of triumph of democracy in the world, I do hope that the developed countries will not stand in splendid and proud isolation but share their experience and their prosperity with the poorer countries of the world. In this age of globalisation can an international system long prevail half rich and half poor?

I understand that one of the items on the agenda of this Conference is the fostering of democratic values. In order to foster these values some of the special problems affecting the developing countries ought to be presented to the public along with the general and universally valid principles of democracy. The specific problems of democracy in developing countries deserve wider and more sympathetic understanding.           Freedom, liberty and fundamental rights of man are of the very assence of democracy. We in India have adopted them not just in our Constitution but in our daily practice within and outside our Parliament. But the basic conditions for the full operation of these liberal freedoms are stability of the State and a sensation in society that the minimum social and economic needs of the society are being met. That is why Mark Twain once observed:- “America has three unspeakably precious gifts -- freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the good sense not to practice either”’ Marx Twain, of course, meant that people in America would not use their freedom in such a way as to subvert the fundamentals of the State and the peace of the realm. Such an understanding is even more necessary with regard to countries caught in the predicament of a struggle for development and basic nation-building. At the same time developing nations have to realize that it is not by binding enterprise hand and foot by bureaucratic rules and regulations that the developmental processes can be speeded up and economic prosperity brought to the people.

An important item on the agenda of this Conference is “the transparency in arms transfer through a global arms register notably as a means to check the growing use of violence to achieve political ends.” Such a register is the first step towards international control of this death-dealing free trade in arms. Unfortunately, it is not only smuggling that effects transfer of arms today. It is done by countries for boosting their exports, for creating jobs for their people and for reasons of strategic advantages. Therefore, it seems to me that we have to go beyond establishing transparency in such transactions. We have to reach out towards complete and comprehensive disarmament. The ending of the cold war has not decreased the urgency of world disarmament. There are still nuclear weapons in the arsenals of the powers enough to blow up the world several times over. I believe that IPU has an important role to play in disarmament. May I say that the developing countries are still waiting for the so-called peace dividend.

The phenomenon of pervasive violence in society is recognized by all as a threat to peace. There is an integral link between narcotics, arms smuggling, and the politics of terrorism. This unholy linkage has to be exposed to the full gaze of the public. Perhaps it is not enough to tackle the production and illegal transit of narcotics. The demand side is equally important. In order to tackle it we have to influence the life-styles and cultural values of people, particularly of the youth in the more affluent countries.

The essence of democracy is the method of peace and of persuasion. Can this be successful, in the long run, if society is founded on violence and the world order on nuclear and other weapons of destruction? It seems to me that mankind has to turn to the method of non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi. The logical culmination of the democratic theory is the practice of non-violence in human relations and the logical outcome of what has been called Pax Democratic is a non-violent world order. While I say this I am painfully aware that we in India have to practice it in our own country while we tell the world about it.

Parliament, in spite of its raucous and disorderly behavior the world over, is a forum for peaceful persuasion. At bottom it is a non-violence forum. It is a forum for reconciling differences peacefully and non-violently. It has a subtle effect on those who function within its precincts. It blunts the edge of fundamental conflicts and brings out the human element in politics. The Inter-Parliamentary Union is the comprehensive organization for this unique institution. I am sure that this Conference of IPU will have the effect of molding world thinking on vital issues and will be of great benefit to us in India. May I wish its deliberations all success.