My Space / Shiv Visvanathan

POLITICAL CHURNING Mukherjee took note of the wide sweep of protests, including the one in Shaheen Bagh

An Immaculate Jairam Ramesh, a Rahul Gandhi should learn how to take themselves and de- mocracy seriously. The facetious does not quite add to the party struggling in Performance a political wilderness. Mukherjee’s message is as astute and In saying that the recent protests will deepen ’s democratic roots, the former president has even more pointed to the regime in po - wer. He shows Modi that being a states - played the role of a philosopher king brilliantly, combined with the shrewdness of a drama critic man means you read threats but do not threaten people, that you must never RANAB MUKHERJEE confuse levels of analysis. Modi and was not a great president Shah often confuse a threat to the re- but he was a shrewd and gime as a threat to democracy or the pragmatic one, balancing nation. It is this repeated misreading the statesman and the Twitter.com of protest which has created the politician in him. He knew is youth on the streets and such digni - Pranabda’s sense of democracy is current imbroglio. how to avoid controversy and yet he fied street theatre is good for democratic But beyond his short-run insights, con veyed a sense of competence as fin - politics. The freshness, the nonviolence immaculate. He suggests that democracy Mukherjee hints that democracy as dra- Pance minister and as president. There gives a new sense of politics. The young is the art of listening, deliberating, ma and the Constitution as text must was a sense of compact theatre in the are challenging the old to re think and discussing, arguing and that dissent is a resonate with each other. India works way he constructed himself, adept that revitalise the two value fra mes that critical part of such a glossary. best when these two institutions work in he was at role playing. As a master of make India so wonderfully live able—the tandem. Mukherjee is astute enough to the balancing act, he could harmonise Constitution as a lived text and democ - the cow has four legs and that democra - point out that the young understand pragmatism and idealism. He presented racy as a life world. cy needs dissent and conversation. this today and that their celebration of himself as a competent working hypoth - Mukherjee’s sense of democracy is These are habits that keep its roots alive. the Constitution is sustained by a heal - esis and in terms of survival, it worked. immaculate. He does not pontificate The former president is clear that the thy sense of politics. His sense of timing made him rise to the about Plato and Rousseau. In fact, he message of the recent protests is not This Mukherjee as a politician un - occasion. In fact, he is still in the news quotes no authority. He merely suggests eph emeral. It is more that the drama derstands. He never undermines the po- often after his retirement. His successor that democracy is the art of listening, goes to the roots of the question. In fact, ssibilities of politics. As a politician, he is a colourless figure, a party creation, a de liberating, discussing, arguing and it is in a statesman-like sense, an act of senses his limits and therefore has a tre - modest man with a lot to be modest ab - that dissent is a critical part of such a pedagogy. Mukherjee reminds us that to mendous sense of possibilities, opportu - out. Come Republic Day and Ram Nath glossary. Mukherjee’s thesaurus of de - be statesman-like, one needs the drama nities and timing. Retired presidents are Kovind spouts ahimsa , which sounds mocracy is clear. It is an appeal to rea - of pedagogy where a society’s values are rarely lethal and are cited more out of odd as a message. It is too abstract to son, to conversation, not to electoralism restated and revitalised through a sim - nostalgia and habit. But Mukherjee capture the drama of Republic Day as and political struggle. ple ritual of civics. Protest becomes a senses the need and dangers of the hour. an occasion. It is almost as if he conced - Mukherjee literally clears the decks simple act of citizenship and should not Distorting or misreading politics emas - ed the occasion to Pranabda and the lat - PIB of suspicion with his certificate. Unlike create a panic of governance. culates democracy. What one needs is ter seized it. itself for an opportunity lost and the OUTSTANDING STATESMAN Prime Minister or Ho - transparency and timing to send the ri - As a statement’s comment, Mukher - BJP was stuck speechless at the immac - Former President Pranab Mukherjee me Minister , he sees nothing ukherjee’s message, as he ght balance. It is an art form and a re - jee was occasion-perfect. He transcend - ulateness of his master’s voice. Strictly receiving the Bharat Ratna from his divisive or pro-Pakistani in the message. himself tacitly hints, embod - tired president shows the current politi - successor, Ram Nath Kovind ed the divide of parties and isms and speaking, Mukherjee’s comment was not He is clear it is a statement of good citi - Mies two kinds of time—the im - cian that it is still achievable. In that could not be accused of being partisan. a call for intervention. It was a state - zenship, not a tom-tomming of patriot - mediate and the long run. In its imme - sense, the ex-president’s message was an He did not seem nostalgic for power. He ment of concern, care and a sense of the avunculate care, taking note of the wide ism and he insists that this is good for diate sense, Mukherjee offers a lesson to immaculate performance, converging an played the philosopher king brilliantly drama unfolding, combining the shre - sweep of protests and emphasising their the country. He is echoing another fa - two kinds of politicians. Firstly, to the ideal polity and the necessity for the after his retirement, almost as if it was a wd ness of a drama critic with sociologi - generally nonviolent character. He sens - mous speech by literally saying, come let unemployed vanguard of the Congress craft of politics. One is grateful for it. pedagogical lesson to the current in - cal insights. It was a lesson to our edito - es a manthan , a political and intellectu - us reason together. ready with quips and quotes and per - cum bent. India as a concerned audience rial writers on how a discourse on ideals al churning, and marks it as something As a message, it is clear. As a perfor- sonal comments but rarely with a sense —The writer is a member of the Compost was waiting for such an enlightened can be good copy. new. This is not a replay of old politics. mance, it is immaculate. The rhetoric is of the stakes involved or the drama Heap, a commons of ideas exploring script. The Opposition must be kicking Mukherjee begins with a sense of The actors are new, the script is new, it transparent, the message as obvious as being played out. A , a alternative imaginations

20 February 10, 2020 | INDIA LEGAL | February 10, 2020 21