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Indian Democracy
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will arise to life and freedom.” – with these famous words in his ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech, Jawaharlal Nehru looked all set to become the first head of state of the world’s largest democracy. There was hope and a deeply embedded faith that democracy is the right way to go forward. It was believed that the best judge of who rules the people is people themselves. After living through the oppression of the British for centuries, Indians were assumed to be ready to lead themselves into the future with progress and development as the sole motives. Today, 63 years later, we find ourselves in the same democracy with some astounding economic statistics – we are the world’s second fastest growing economy, and that too when most of the globe is reeling in recession. But we also see ourselves mired in issues which were never foreseen nor should ever have arisen. Widespread corruption, communalism, regionalism are only few such concerns. Why is it that in spite of being in a democracy, an Indian citizen does not feel empowered? A good democracy is one where not only does the overall system reflect its presence but also each and every institution established as a part of this system follows it with equal dedication. The Constitution of India has provided ample room for every aspect of democracy to be followed and yet at the same time, allows some space for it to be misused. The three arms of the government – Legislative, Executive and Judiciary are the most effective in ensuring a just and equivocal rule and yet we see them most often at loggerheads with each other, rather than functioning in a cooperative manner. Opposition in the parliament is supposed to be such that they keep the ruling party in check for any irrational decisions but then also extend support when it takes sensible decisions. However, our opposition just believes in one thing – oppose whatever the government says or does. Be it the Bofors scandal or the Godhra riots case; the Golden Temple killings or the Babri Masjid demolition, the political parties seem to think that by pointing out a greater crime by the ruling government, their own wrongs will be corrected. Our Courts also appear to be excessively slow when it comes to delivering justice, so much so that it has caused the so called ‘Media Trials’ to emerge which have started convicting the accused even before the case opens in the court! Is our system full of problems or is there also a silver lining? We need to understand a few provisions of the democracy to realize the same. Democracy promises that anyone who is capable of leading the people can rise through the ranks and do so irrespective of family background or culture. But dynasty politics has been prominent in the system right from the beginning. Nehru paved way for his daughter, Indira and she passed the power onto her son, Rajiv (although in a sympathy wave). Not only the Gandhi family but many upcoming youth leaders of today have a strong political background. Jaganmohan Reddy, Sachin Pilot, Agatha Sangma are few such names. The extreme side of this can be seen in DMK where most of the family members of Karunanidhi are a part of the party. Corruption, nepotism, and biased decisions are consequences of this practice. It’s very easy to get disheartened and lose faith in the system when these truths are considered. However, we also have countless examples of politicians who do not have any political background and yet, on the basis of their knowledge, work and dedication have managed to live up to people’s faith. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Narendra Modi, and Nitish Kumar are some of these prominent personalities. One very important aspect of any democracy is the right to freedom of speech and expression. It is this specific right which gives the media enough scope to extract and expose information which they deem critical to public knowledge. It is this very right which allows any individual to openly voice their opinion of any politician, administrative official or any institution as such. However, the same right has been misused time and again. Political hardliners and separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Binayak Sen get away by justifying seditious statements as freedom of speech. Certain TV channels repeatedly telecast inappropriate content, again using this provision for monetary benefits. We ourselves are also equally culpable when we decide to throw a piece of chocolate wrapper on the road instead of in a dustbin as there are no stringent measures against such behavior. We really need to think whether these realities are effects of the constitutional right or a direct fallout of our tolerance and acceptance. Elections are the basic foundation of a democracy. It is those few minutes inside a poll booth which provide a citizen with his/her brief moment of power where they can choose their leaders. A fair election is the best way to establish a sound democracy. But elections have been time and again been manipulated by various political elements to gain power. Political parties form their own masses in the public who are fed and bribed so that they cast their votes for the respective party’s candidates. Here too, we share part of the blame. Most of the educated urbanites decide to spend the time allocated for voting in the comfort of home or office to avoid standing in the queue. All these factors result in an unfavorable or an unstable government which spends most of its time maintaining their power at the center rather than producing some significant developmental work. While this may appear as a fatal flaw in the system, it has been shown in history that the people have indeed raised their voices when needed. The 2009 Lok Sabha elections showed the country that its public was fed up with the coalition politics and wanted a stable government at the centre. The recent Bihar elections, where the ruling coalition of JD(U) and BJP won four-fifths of a majority, go a long way in showing that the citizens do notice and appreciate work more than the vote bank politics and do not hesitate to give a strong response to the others who depend upon those kinds of dirty politics. Finally, we need to comprehend that the intention of establishing a democracy was that economic and national progress has no meaning until the citizens forming the core part of the society have an innate feeling of happiness. We may be tempted to follow China’s procedures in building our own country, especially when they are growing at a much faster rate than us in spite of a rigid communist regime but we need to understand that people of a country are to be treated as a gift and not as its slaves. If human values are not given precedence then what is the point of development? Economists have predicted that our growth is much more stable in the longer run as we are not suppressing true individual potential for short term growth. When India was in a state of Emergency from 1975-1977, it was assumed that it would be the end of democracy in the country, but the people of India came back strongly and we have a vibrant democracy today. It may seem from the various scams and scandals in politics that our democracy is a fractured one but just like a broken bone can be mended, so can our democracy, as it is ultimately in our hands. An ideal thus, it remains.
Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com). Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in March, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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