‘National interest’

 

THE term ‘national interest’ assumes special significance when Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi uses it to highlight it as a metaphor of common national purpose beyond differing political agendas. Mr. Narendra Modi insisted in his address to the media before the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament that democracy did allow political organisations to have their own goals and objectives, but all those should be subservient to national interest. In other words, national interest is something that goes far beyond the normal confines of petty political goals or who wins an election or who loses.

 

Very proudly, the Prime Minister referred to the all-party parliamentary delegations India sent to 35 countries post-Operation Sindoor to explain to the world India’s position as against terror and how justified the Indian response to terror was. No Indian person with his/her sanity intact would ever contest the Prime Minister’s appeal to the good sense of the people in general and the political community in particular. Against the background of the Government’s effort to have a proper conduct of the current parliamentary session, the Prime Minister’s appeal needs to be considered by all seriously. As a precursor to the Monsoon Session, the Government convened a meeting of all political parties to highlight its expectation of a smooth sailing in the proceedings. The Opposition, as usual, had its own axe to grind and own points to raise (though without much substance).

 

The Opposition wanted to have a discussion on some issues such as US President Mr. Donald Trump’s ceasefire claims, the Pahalgam terror attack and voters’ lists revision in Bihar. The Government said it was not averse to discussion, but wanted an assurance that the proceedings would be smooth and without hiccups. Mr. Narendra Modi’s appeal to the Opposition was about raising the discourse to the level of ‘national interest’. It needs to be noted that for the past 11 years since Mr. Modi assumed prime ministership, the Opposition has made a point to keep the parliamentary proceedings disturbed on this or that count -- mostly with little logic. So nasty had the Opposition been in stalling the proceedings that the presiding officers expressed their helplessness in conducting the sessions. Most unfortunately, the Opposition did not feel a qualm of conscience to rectify its ways and means. However, time had come for the Opposition to understand how the nation appreciated its cooperation with the Government in sending all-party delegations to different countries post-Operation Sindoor.

 

The Opposition has every right to pursue its own agenda in politics. However, it must also understand that there is something called ‘national interest’ that transcends smaller political goals that parties pursue. If the Opposition can display its sense of ‘national interest’ during the all-party-delegation phase, then it can do so on other occasions as well. This was the crux of the Prime Minister’s statement before the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. He made it clear that multi-partisan dialogue is the crux of democracy, but that did not mean blocking of the national discourse. The term ‘multi-lateralism’ suggests that every point of view has an equal merit in the national discourse which should uphold national interest. What the Prime Minister has expected to happen is something in the high zone of open-minded discourse that would promote national interest -- no matter who occupies the seat of power, no matter who sits in the Opposition. These sides may stand altered in vagaries of politics, all right, but that should never mean that political parties should be obstinate and unrelenting. That is not how democracy operates. That is how great nations rise above pettiness and conduct their affairs in utmost sanity and an uncompromising sense of dignity.