As farfetched as it may seem, there is a connection between the order of the Supreme Court of India — that a preliminary inquiry by the CBI be conducted into the allegedly ill-gotten wealth of Mulayam Singh Yadav — and the current constitutional turmoil in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The connection is deep-rooted and can be seen in terms of the relationship between a country’s political elite and its Constitution.

In Pakistan and Bangladesh, the political elites stand above the Constitution. When it becomes inconvenient they abrogate or suspend it. When it comes in the way of their self-interest they tailor it to fit their needs. Remember Mrs Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. Abu Abraham brilliantly depicted her attitude in his cartoon of the Emergency where he had Mrs G say to the judges (shown as tailors) who were measuring her up: “Be sure it fits my Constitution”. Except for that grotty interlude, the Indian Constitution has, in contrast to the situation in Pakistan and Bangladesh, evolved to a position where it stands above the whims of the political elite. And that is where the connection between the Mulayam Singh Yadav case and the constitutional crises in Pakistan and Bangladesh lies.

This aspect, of the relationship between the political elites and the Constitution, is important since on such relationships does the politics of a country develop. The differences we find in the three countries are not just matters of political contingency, or of a debased political leadership, and hence ones that can be remedied through political education and political will. They are based on something more substantial. They stem from the attitude the political elite has displayed towards the Constitution in the decades since Independence which has resulted in a political culture that permits the ‘defiling and defacing’ of the Constitution. Where abrogation and suspension has occurred, and no penalties paid, the Constitution is unable to regulate the political game. Where this has not occurred, the Constitution reigns supreme.

... contd.