Is Indian democracy bracing for a change? The premise for the argument is the paradigm shift in power in various states like Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Naturally, hopes are high that the changes are to the heart’s content of the masses, who have been instrumental in the change of guard.
It is well known now that credits for building many important pillars of our civilization such as the introduction of the number system was not clearly given to India till very recently. History reveals that though glory is given to Greece for the birth of democracy, albeit short lived and merely a prototype, various parts of India at different times had similar concepts at work.
India, if not the oldest, is definitely the largest democracy, representing over 1.2 billion people. And people of Indian origin live in numerous countries carry core democratic values such as pluralism of thoughts and practice which is the foundation of Indian society.
While India has adopted the path of a secular democracy, this system rests on many contradicting and sectarian factors; caste and religion play a major role in the elections of thousands of representatives at different levels. Rigging, stuffing of the ballot box and manipulation of the EVMs have all along been the major perils, and booth capturing has been the de rigueur.
The real challenge is to rescue Indian democracy from being reduced to a caricature of a political ideology and from creation of a privileged ruling class.
Besides, after winning the mandate, the elected representatives do not necessarily discharge their duties. When representatives toe the party line, act for themselves and not for their subjects, democracy becomes a mockery, akin to autocracy!
True democracy demands that various political parties respect the true spirit of a secular democracy, where no particular group, rich or powerful, religious or jati get a preferential treatment. Yet, the weak and neglected are supported because they are truly underprivileged and their birth has no role on determining this.
The recent police attack on innocent people protesting against corruption and black money lead by Swami Ramdev is a big scar on Indian democracy. Global Indians can only hope that such acts aren’t repeated. Also, this must bring a sea change in the mindset of the people to fight against the corrupt authorities, who, along with unlimited power are not only denying democratic rights to those whose votes enabled them to high offices but also amassing wealth of monumental proportion by cheating the nation. They were elected not to become part of a privileged class, akin to the Rajas of yore, but to be the true voice of people and ‘serve’ them as opposed to ‘ruling’ them.
But looking at the current situation, a fear may engulf us – as Francis Fukuyama felt, is it the end of history? Or, have we reached the fag end of democracy? Is this the right form and structure for India or an artificial imposition? Can genius Indians crack the code of this puzzle, and put in place a more effective system? Or has India reached at the right juncture in history for reviewing and re-writing the constitution?
Yes, Indian genius has the capacity, but the real challenge today is to rescue Indian democracy from being reduced to a caricature of a political ideology and from creation of a privileged ruling class.
