There is a dangerous illusion in power. That if you have the numbers, you have the nation. That if a bill is passed, the argument is over. That once the Speaker says “ayes have it,” dissent has magically disappeared. It hasn’t. It has only changed location. When Parliament passes laws…


Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.