We wish India well in their experiments with Desi Demokrasy, Super-power-hood and all the rest of it.You can Tax yourselves Zero or Tax like hell.
Just give back our land and stay out.
We will help you to be that.
mm
From: Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: ASSAMNET <[email protected]>
Subject: [Assam] No Taxation without Reservation-Sentinel letter
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:41:48 -0600
This letter to the Sentinel by KJD, does raise some issues:a) The elections do NOT represent all the people (states). The powerful states (by sheer numbers) get most of the benefits.b) The aspirations of smaller/weaker staes are marginalized.c) Should the people of smaller states be taxed according to their representations in Govt.?Many netters (specially C'da ) have frequently said election reforms is a must. While, most of us agreed, none of us have actually put forth a tangible plan for such reform.KJD's idea seems to be good - at least he proposes one facet of change.But, I am not sure of certain things - maybe netters can weigh in.KJD compares India to the US system. Question: Does the US system work (representation), because it has a Presidential form of government?Would there be problems if such a system be implented in India - ie. each state is represented equally at the Center?Just thoughts - seems to be an interesting idea that may be worth looking into.--Ram______________________No Taxation without ReservationTo all intents and purposes, the current Indian electoral system is a tyranny by the majority. Anyone with half an eye could see that the Indian politicians of all grades and shades do not give even one hoot about the way Mizoram or Nagaland votes. Have we heard them raise a whimper, let alone hullabaloo, when it comes to the question of parliamentary elections in smaller States? Yet, mention Bihar or UP in the similar context, and the same politicians of all hues and hubris, who are normally sedate in the matter of governance, turn absolutely apoplectic. What causes them to behave so differently in both the cases? The answer is simple: in a popular vote system, their numbers (read Bihar or UP) alone make up for others. Uttar Pradesh, for example, sends a very large number of members to the lower house as well as the upper house, while Nagaland elects only one member to each house of the same Parliament.
It is, therefore, a small wonder as to why members of the north-eastern States fail miserably in calling the shots in what is essentially a turf dominated by the powerful (by virtue of being 'large' in size) members of other States. In the USA, the President is not elected by any popular vote of his country but by a system called electoral college, which was designed to give greater strength to the States (read smaller southern States with less people) rather than to the citizens themselves. The US founders adopted this system because the southern States, with less number of people, feared that the north would dominate. Moreover, in the US Senate, each State, regardless of its size and population, has two senators. By contrast, the allocation of seats in India is according to the State's population. And due to New Delhi's emphasis on sheer number, the smaller States are actually disenfranchised! Unless this blatant disparity in the representation to Parliament in respect of numbers is removed, the provincial jokers, epitomized by the likes of Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan, will continue to run (better yet, if I may use the word 'ruin') the country forever, at whose whims India's policy, both domestic and foreign, will be defined and redefined. In order to bring New Delhi down to the realization that there is an urgent need to devise a new and balanced electoral system, the rallying cry for the people of the smaller States ought to be ''no taxation sans proper representation''. Unless it happens, there would be no happy tidings for these States.
Kamaljit Deka,
Sugerland, Texas.
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