Sh. S.V. Raju's article on Liberalism

["Dr. Sanjeev Sabhlok" <sanjeev@sabhlokcity.com>]

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(this is the non-garbled version; assuming it goes through. SS)

Sh. S.V.Raju's article dated July 24,2000 is below. I will try to put it up
on the IPI Publications page as soon as I can figure out how to get over my
shoddy internet connection and ftp problem. Thanks for the article, Sh.
Raju. It was very timely.

Reg. the para at the end of the article: "The purpose of the ILG is to
foster the values of freedom, responsibility, tolerance, social justice and
equality of opportunity based on the liberal beliefs that liberty with
individual responsibility are the foundations of civilised society; the
State is an instrument of the citizens it  serves; any action of the State
must respect the principles of democratic accountability and the rule of law."

, I have one comment: The phrase "social justice" needs to be defined very
precisely else it is liable to heavy misuse. I have defined in my NIT paper
what I call the Doctrine of Legitimate Economic Intervention which places
social justice in the context of economic justice: "attempts to spend a
rich man's money on a person not below the poverty line would meddle with
individual liberty, and would amount to pure robbery, also compromising
political and legal equality.  The following "doctrine" then commends
itself for adoption.
(a)	Each society has to determine its own poverty line,  based on its
unique environment and concept of living standards.
(b)	No society can justify direct transfer/subsidy from public funds to
anyone above this societally defined poverty line under any circumstances.
(c)	If resources and technology exist in the society, all persons below
this poverty line should be elevated to this level. If not, the "assistance
line" should be lowered until the public resources available for
re-distribution are exhausted. In other words, the State can discriminate
amongst the poor only if the resources available for distribution are
lesser than those needed to eliminate poverty.
(d)	If resources available exceed this amount, either the taxes should be
lowered, or a higher quality of public goods provided."

Unless the words "social justice" are circumscribed very carefully, we will
let loose all kinds of 'go-good' theories which rob the rich to help
another rich person.

Now the article of Sh. Raju: /SS

		Liberalism - A Contemporary View
						S.V.Raju

What is Liberalism all about ?  If it were a dogma or a doctrine a straight
answer would be easy. That it is not, is, at once, its strength and
weakness. The only dogma, if you can call it that, is the  conviction that
Liberal thought is anchored in freedom. The content of Liberalism has never
been static.  It is constantly evolving. At times it has meant the
democratic state taking on additional tasks not strictly governance and, at
other times limiting its role. But at all times it has been in and through
freedom.

The most remarklable aspect of the liberal philosophy in the West has been
its continuous evolution and vitality responding to social problems as they
emerge and seeking to resolve them in a manner that would promote the
rights and dignity of the individual. A political philosophy that developed
in an agrarian context adapted itself to the requirements of an industrial
society, thanks to political philosophers like Bentham, John Stuart Mill
and T.H.Green. Liberalism, often asking the state to intervene on behalf of
groups of people at the receiving end.

In India Liberalism  evolved as a philosophy of liberation, liberating
Indian society from a variety of social and political chains and reminding
the education public of the values of civility. In the early part of the
twentieth century the Liberal Party of India could not make much headway
but it leavened the Congress ideology in many ways. The Indian
Constitution, despite the many horrible amendments since 1949, still bears
testimony to the resilience of liberal values - emphasizing liberty,
equality, and justice as the cornerstone of the Indian Republic.
But the emergence of the Swatantra Party ( a party based on liberal
principles and values) in the early sixties was denounced by Jawaharlal
Nehru  as a party representing capitalism and the philosophy of Laissez
faire . The party's strong defence of the right to property was given as
evidence Liberalism being pro-rich and anti-poor.

Despite this assassination of its character the Swatantra Party, during its
life-time, did not bother
About being politically correct. On the other hand its policies were
dictated by what it considered right in terms of ethical and liberal
values.To give some examples: The Swatantra Party repeatedly demanded in
Parliament and outside that India honour the pledge of a plebiscite in
Kashmir; commended a confederation between India and Pakistan; opposed
banks nationalisation; opposed the abolition of privy purses; fought the
collectivisation of  agriculture  (attempted in 17th Amendment under the
guise of  cooperative farming); opposed the so called 'liberation' of Goa.

The party was able to expose the mantra of socialism for what it really was
and to brand the statist policies of the then ruling Congress Party led by
Mr. Nehru and his daughter as the 'Licence, Permit, Quota Raj. But despite
Rajaji's  and Masani's untiring efforts the Swatantra Party was unable to
break the tag of a 'Rich Man's Party.

The Swatantra Party secured 44 seats in the Fourth Lok Sabha (1967 -71) (
not  60 Sauvik Chakraverti 'The Liberal Vision', The Times of India, July
9). It was 2 more than what the Jan Sangh (now called the BJP) had. But
there are two features to be noted in connection with this achievement: 1.
Not one of these 44 was from a metropolitan city . All of them were from
rural or semi-rural constituencies;  2.It was not  due to a voter
appreciation of the election manifesto of the  Swatantra Party - a
Manifesto steeped in  Liberal values. The success arose from other factors
mainly in the realm of realpolitik.

The Swatantra Party emphasised freedom as its basic value. Its Statement of
Policy was titled "To Prosperity Through Freedom" and its slogan "Farm,
Family and Freedom  Repeatedly the party emphasised that it stood for a
mixed economy (in fact Minoo Masani is credited with pioneering this
concept in a series of lectures to the Bombay University in 1947) where the
State would run enterprises that were not attractive to private investors
and would leave the rest to private initiative and enterprise.  Later, in
both cases the Swatantra Party made it clear during parliament debates that
it was opposed to all monopolies the including state monopolies and
demanded that the  MRTP should equally apply to the State sector as it did
to the private sector.

The Swatantra Party's economic policies were greatly influenced by Prof.
B.R.Shenoy. For instance any one who cares to read the debates on the
Finance Bills in the sixties will see Swatantra spokesman advocating a
floating rupee- a proposal that Professor Shenoy tirelessly advocated as
was his opposition to deficit financing. At the same time the party did not
oppose all subsidies. Subsidies to loss making PSUs were opposed; but the
Public  Distribution System had to be rationalised so that it did not
subsidise foodgrains to the well-heeled.

It is this legacy of social concern even while advocating a free market
economy that the Indian Liberal Group carried on even after the party's
eclipse. In 1985 with Minoo Masani and Count Otto von Lambsdorff, an
outstanding German Liberal, present, the Indian Liberal Group adopted a
manifesto which, in a reference to equality had this to say:

"To try to eliminate poverty and social injustice is not to accept
egalitarianism viz. the abstract right to rigid equality of conditions for
all, independent of  talent, work or forethought. While Liberals strongly
support measures to reduce differences in wealth  to protect each citizen
and to increase equality of opportunity, they decidedly oppose
egalitarianism which degrades the individual, whereas the recognition of
merit in conditions of social justice is stimulating."
The Indian Liberal Group  does not believe that freedom and equality are
antithetical ( Sauvik Chakraverti, 'Liberty and Equality - Freedom as the
Supreme Value', The Times of India, July 19)

The Indian Liberal Group values both freedom, and equality born out of that
freedom - the equality of opportunity. Even Pandit Nehru who is quoted as
saying that 'democracy and private enterprise are incompatible' had, in his
later years to amend his assertion somewhat.' Nehru may have had different
notions of equality but let us not forget that it is because of his strong
commitment to parliamentary democracy that we have in India today, a free
society - with all imperfections, a free society nevertheless.

As for Minoo Masani  this is what he wrote on December 1952 when naming the
journal he founded Freedom First:
" We selected this title for our Bulletin because we consider Liberty, with
the great historian Lord Acton, to be the supreme good.  We do give
priority to freedom - not in point of time, but in time of fundamental
importance. The fight for bread and freedom has of course to be waged
simultaneously . We want both for our people  - we want bread  through
freedom because that is the only way to get it. "

Much later in, 1985 , referring to socialism in his seminal article
"Liberalism" he wrote inter-alia:
"Socialism has failed to deliver the goods. It has produced neither
equality  nor a better life for the masses of the people. The aims of
socialism are good. I am still a socialist in that sense. If you put it to
me:'Do you believe in Lenin's free and equal society?' I will say 'Yes' .
If freedom and equality are the  objectives of socialism, I am for it.  But
when I find that the weapon  that I have used  does not create freedom or
equality , but creates tyranny and slavery on one side  and inequality and
poverty on the other,  then I would be a fool if I stuck to that weapon."

In March this year the Indian Liberal Group reviewed the manifesto and
incorporated in its  Constitution the following ,among other things, as the
Group's  Objectives: "The purpose of the ILG is to foster the values of
freedom, responsibility, tolerance, social justice and equality of
opportunity based on the liberal beliefs that liberty with individual
responsibility are the foundations of civilised society; the State is an
instrument of the citizens it  serves; any action of the State must respect
the principles of democratic accountability and the rule of law."
The bottom line is of course a better life for our people
This ought to be the profile of contemporary Liberalism.
July 24,2000



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