“In Chauri Chaura, freedom fighters burnt 23 policemen” (Feb 4, 1922)

““To sound the order of retreat just when public enthusiasm was reaching the boiling-point was nothing short of a national calamity” - Subhash Chandra Bose. (Feb 12, 1922)

These News Headline are an extract from renowned journals on 4^th and 12^th of February 1922 following the Chauri Chaura violence in 1922.

     Mahatma Gandhi in response to violence at Chauri Chaura made the decision to put an end to the Non-Cooperation Movement because he believed it had been contaminated by abhorrent violence. Subash Chandra Bose called it “a national calamity”.   

     Despite severe criticisms from Jawaharlal Nehru, CR Das and others, Gandhi held himself responsible and accountable for the Chauri Chaura incident as the incident was completely against his principles of non violence. The disillusionment caused by the suspension led many younger nationalists to believe that India would not be able to overthrow colonial rule through nonviolence. For Gandhi no future goal of independence justified the violence. Self discipline and Self Responsibility were crucial to attaininment of sovereignty and swaraj said Gandhi.

    The exercise of Power is based on the Reciprocity Principle. Persons occupying the thrones of power raise the expectations of the people. They are given power because people entrust them with a trust or responsibility of protecting their inherent being. This spelt the evolution of Social Contract that created the modern state. Hobbesian contract hold that the masses surrender their rights to the Leviathan, the sovereign. The Leviathan himself not being part of the contract enjoys immense powers alongside immense responsibilities to protect the right of the masses. Despite favoring absolute sovereign power to the king, Hobbes proposed the dethroning of king if he fails to deliver his entrusted duties. Lockean contract paved the way for modern liberal democracies with a limited government dictated by the terms of constitution so that those who enjoy higher echelons of power must be held responsible and bound by the procedural and institutional means.

     As rightly remarked by Management Guru Peter Drucker, “Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.” Discretion of power holders act as the differentiating factor between the ones who hold on and ones that let go.

     The incident from the life of Abraham Lincoln during the heights of the American Civil War, where public was opinionated on the use of force to weed out the confederates. Lincoln being the President and having the tools at his disposal could have listened to public opinion but instead held “do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends”. This particular incident and other such illustrations portray the importance of discretion those in power. History being a one-way street is intersected by lanes of illustrations where power was held with little to no responsibility by tyrants like Hitler, Mussolini etc. and the events like the holocaust paint a grim picture of the role of power that lacks responsibility.

     American Sociologist Talcott Parsons holds that system of stratification in the society is functional and its existence is attributed to the value consensus of the social group in order to uphold social harmony. There exists a variety of stratification systems in which the strata are arranged hierarchically based on their functions to the society. Caste system the stratification system of the Indian society in Parsonian perspective is held to be functional and those of the upper strata wield considerable power and influence to take responsibility over other strata to maintain social order. However, in reality the responsibility degenerated to ugly notions of prejudice, oppression, discrimination and other inhuman means as a showcase of their power.

     The recent instances of fiscal impropriety by individuals like Nirav Modi. Lalit Modi, Vijay Malaya etc. illustrate that they had the power and influence to garner loans from the financial institutions but were not responsible enough to repay the debt or own up to the default. Business tycoons like Ratan Tata owed their responsibility towards the society with which they are working through their benevolent gestures and activities and is creating a legacy of TATA group. Corporate social responsibility is a kind of business self-regulation to be socially accountable and contribute to the well-being of communities and society as a whole. The economic prowess of a business enterprise is hence defined by its ethical business decisions in a responsible communitarian way.

     Power in its ideal typical sense is viewed through a concrete lens (i.e.) only concrete elements hold power. Reality begs to differ; abstract elements also hold considerable power. Science is one such abstract element that holds immense power, whose power-o-meter grows everyday as it levels up. Though there exists “n” number of positive externalities to science, all positive things have their value in negative terms. The words LITTLE MAN and FAT BOY still inflict fear amongst the global community.

    The social responsibility of science is an undiscussed issue at large. The powers of science are daunting and hence a responsible science is the need of the hour. Countries on the right end of the development continuum have harnessed the prowess of science for their development and power, such nation like the US, UK must have the responsibility towards developing other countries through technology transfer and other initiatives for democratic and equitable development.

    Lord Acton’s famous phrase “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” is the best fit to explain how Man has exercised his influence and authority over the environment. The primitive man awed, feared and respected nature and hence did not indulge in activities detrimental to the ecosystem, The modern man perceives him to be superior to the environment and has raped it to a great extent and some continue to rape it beyond the point of recovery. Man holds no responsibility over the environment. Man is the manager of the environment and not the sole proprietor of his environment. He has the greatest responsibility of handing over this nature in its pristine form to his future generations.

    The Developed – Developing – Underdeveloped trilemma is major predicament in global environmental ethical governance. The developed have become powerful by exploiting the environment and have discovered a new found responsibility towards the environment, they call for costly environmentally sustainable practices to be practiced by all without factoring in their capabilities. The powerful nations such as the USA, France, Canada etc. must take responsibility to further the ideals of common but differentiated responsibilities in accordance with respective capabilities towards the environment through forums like Paris Deal etc.

     The world had entered unchartered waters with respect to the COVID 19 pandemic. The virus brought the globe to its knees but however managed to get back on feet through vaccines. The period witnessed a large-scale responsibility crunch on account of vaccines on the part of powerful players. The vaccine nationalism displayed by developed powers like the US portrayed the lack of responsibility and that the leaders were global in vocal and local in action. The current state of affairs revolves around the Russia Ukraine war is also a great example for a situation where power is not followed by responsibility.

      As the saying goes “Knowledge is Power” the institutions of eminence like IITs and IIMs were created to create a knowledge society in India and work towards the India’s well-being by sustaining a large and vibrant democracy. At 17.5 million, the Indian diaspora is the largest in the world. “Non-residential” Indians are becoming “not-returning” Indians. Every IITian or IIMian who is migrating away for greener pastures must realize that he/she has a greater responsibility to contribute towards the nation building process.

     India with its emergence as developed power among the developing nations, has never denied its responsibility to raise voice for the voiceless in global governance and has been very much instrumental in various forums like IMF, WTO. India has taken its leadership role for the third world countries. “India is a multilateral institution in its own right when it comes to its commitment to humanity… It is not just the fifth largest economy in the world but it is the largest economy in terms of its heart, compassion, humanity and putting lives ahead of profits.” said Guyana’s foreign minister, Hugh Hilton Todd recently. India’s role stands in direct contrast to the five permanent members of UNSC. The so-called super power status of USA has made it arrogant and unbound to hegemonize the world. Super power status in fact must have made USA more responsible and bound to the peace and prosperity of the human race.

    Greater Power brings greater responsibility; greater responsibility brings greater accountability. Civil Servants are revered and glorified greatly because they are the instruments of social change and economic development. Civil servants must be responsive to the needs of people, with sensitivity to their rights and aspirations. They must use their power for the poor and disadvantaged.

   The ultimate realization of power can happen only within the context of collective well-being. Power derives its significance only within the plurality of the masses. Power sans responsibilities is no doubt impotent.