The turn of a tortoise:- Democracy in Peril

Whenever we think of India, some important notions immediately wobbles our mind. Things like World’s largest democracy, a spiritual destination, Freedom of Speech, Free Press,Republic and what not.

Democracy is indeed one of the important and most loved virtue that India holds and that gives India a global stature on the global arena. And it seems quite wonderful to hear that we are the world’s largest democracy but to maintain the required ethos of the democracy is a fundamental challenge that every nation faces over some point of time.

The essence of a democracy is a sensitive one and a small crack can have a domino effect on others. We saw Capitol Hill burning last week which shows a divided and ideologically seperate America, which by the way boasts himself to be the world’s oldest democracy.

The glory of a nation is not defined by how much success it has but defined by how quickly it backs himself up in times of misery and hopelessness. There is not a single country in the world which don’t have any fault lines. Even moon have blood clots.

The recent trends in India sometimes scares me whether are we looking at a downfall or are we living in a bubble which is about to burst open and give a reality check of what we have been boasting off since the last few months.

Today, I have had the opportunity to read an article titled “Offensive posts against Bihar Ministers may Land you in Jail“. While I consider this not only obnoxious but also undemocratic, this trend is not new and have been a result of the furore happening for the past few months.

As I had mentioned, the essence of a democracy is a sensitive one and where People have the supreme power to elect whoever they want. It is also pertinent to mention that those elected representatives are very much accountable to the same people and answerable to the representatives of the same people in Legislative Assembly.

Criticism is a part and parcel of a democracy. It is a democratic way of life. Authoritarianism seeps in where criticism goes silent. One aspect of development and Progress is to address the underlying problem which grapples a nation and recently we have not seeing this trend in India.

Right now, Government, whether it is centre or state tries to shy away from addressing the elephant sitting or tries to reorient in some other direction and this becomes perilous in long term. A problem is solved when we recognise that there is one. If there is no problem, the the question of a solution doesn’t arise.

From the past few months, we have seen various ordinances, laws which are passed without active consultation, rules which have not gone for scrutiny and acts which are amended without any reference from a special committee and let me tell you that this is a dangerous road.

If we have to bring any significant change, we have to stood up and call a spade a spade keeping aside our ideologies and perceptions. Governments come and go, Nation always stands there and it is our responsibility to make it happen. Criticise, point your fingers towards the existing problems, tell the govt what it is doing wrong and in this way, we will make a change, not for us but for generations to come.

I had not written any article for long and it had been amassing in me for long but now I feel that I need to get it out of my system often. It acts as a great stress buster.

Thank you. Jai Hind.