There are victors and vanquished only in a war. In a genuinely political engagement everyone must emerge a winner. That is made possible only through compromise, through “give and take”. Through his reasonable statement in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has opened the door to an honourable compromise between the government and civil society on the issue of the Lok Pal Bill. Dr Singh only stated the obvious when he said that Mr Hazare’s fast had helped place the issue of corruption in public life at the centre of national political discourse. The government has also made several important concessions on substantial matters without conceding the primacy of Parliament in making laws. Mr Hazare and Team Anna should also take a step or two back from their hard-line position and accept that in a parliamentary democracy, Parliament must have the final word. “My way or the highway” cannot be the basis for negotiations in a democracy. Prime Minister Singh’s gracious “salute” to Mr Hazare is a gesture that has been widely appreciated. Indeed, it has secured for the government a softening of stance by the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, with Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, accepting the prime minister’s gesture and supporting a unanimous message from Parliament to Mr Hazare to withdraw his fast. The point of principle that the government has conceded to Team Anna, of Parliament discussing a Bill drafted by private citizens, comes with the gesture that all other existing drafts – one by Aruna Roy and another by Jayaprakash Narayan – would also be considered by Parliament. Constitutional purists will find it difficult to accept this political compromise because it could complicate the process of lawmaking in future, especially if vested interests start drafting Bills that get promoted by civil society groups acting on their behalf. However, given the prevailing mood in the country, this was the best of a bad bargain. Mr Hazare must take it.
Mr Hazare and his supporters must also realise that while theirs has been an important and influential voice in the debate on Lok Pal, there is still no reason for anyone to believe that a “majority” of the people are with them. The only way anyone can claim majority support for a view in a parliamentary democracy is to test their strength either on the floor of the Lok Sabha or at the polls. Parliament as a whole, treasury and opposition benches taken together, spoke in one voice when Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar urged Mr Hazare to end his hunger strike and allow Parliament to discuss the Lok Pal Bill drafts. This is an unprecedented gesture on behalf of Parliament which speaks for the nation’s silent majority. Every group of social activists speaks on behalf of one vocal section or another of society, some large and some small, but Parliament speaks for India’s silent majority. While Mr Hazare has captured the imagination of a large number of Indians, his views must contend with those of other civil society groups. Together, the voices of all such groups must contend with those of the silent majority that Parliament represents.