The Changing Indian Democracy
#opinion
The world knows India as a large democratic country by population. But now is the high time to think about this fact. A question which arises in front of us is that “Does India still remain as so?” Let’s have a look at the current democratic situation of our nation.
A system in which the government of a country is elected by the people is what we call democracy. The notion of democracy is built on the premise that all the citizens are equal and that the nation offers an opportunity to all members of the society to participate in the process of self-governance. We got our freedom back from the dominating British rulers after going through so much struggles and painful experiences by the brave fighters. They have proven in history that no one can make the people of India just slaves! Most importantly, freedom fighters inspired and motivated others to fight injustice. They are the pillars behind the freedom movement. They made people aware of their rights and their power. It is all because of them that we prospered into a free country which is free from any kind of colonizers or dictators.
So we should realize how precious the freedom we feel is. It is the fruitfulness of the efforts of a whole country. In earlier times, everyone enjoyed the beauty of democracy. But now it’s colors are faded . Until a decade or two ago, democracy in India seemed to be doing well. Today all serious scholars of Indian politics would probably agree that something is wrong with India’s democracy. It has begun to crumble. Still the government is selected on the basis of public opinion. After the electoral process, we have no role.
People are seen behind the curtain except the political parties and its leaders. The poorer sections of society are deliberately avoided from raising their voice and the government does not provide them a chance to take part in governing processes. In some places, many are not even getting their basic rights. Just a few days back, we saw the cruel denial of democracy in Lakshadweep. The government declined the citizen’s right to choose the food to eat and the administration banned some food items without any valid reason. Residents view the rule as a direct infringement on their culture and eating habits. They allege the rule was decided by avoiding consultation with local bodies. Like this there are more issues still exist there related to land rights, home ministry, etc. All of this is happening because the Indian democracy is changing or has changed a lot.
Of the world’s 10 most populous nations, only the United States and India are long-established democracies. A real proof for the concept of “DEMOCRACY” can be found only in a nation that is big, low-income and abundantly diverse in ethnicity, language, religion and every other way a society can be divided. But India’s democracy has seen worrisome erosion.
On The Economist’s list, the country has slid from No 35 in 2006 to No 53 today. And the ways in which democracy is being undermined there provide a wake-up call to those watching from afar. At the root of the backsliding, in India as elsewhere, is a rejection of the core democratic principle that all citizens are equal.
India’s governing champions now try to impose some ideologies that privilege one caste community over other religious minorities. It shows the deviation of our nation from secular democracy, which is mandated by its constitution. So in other words we can say that the democratic success of our nation is not shared by all. Even though we could increase the political awareness among common people, the exploitations by the political leaders also increased. Many of the politicians are trying to fill their pockets instead of helping the needy. They just appear in time of elections and do promise people about various developments for them. But after that, we will not get a chance to meet those leaders. Then what about their promises they made for only to win the elections? Further, the politicians have also been responsible for the use of unaccounted money and the criminalization of politics and also they have entrenched casteism and communalism within the society, which has led to deep religious and sectarian divide within the nation.
The Indian democracy has undergone so many trends over all these years. The number of political parties have increased. There has been a salutary change in the representation of people in parliament. Today without doubt, all sections of the population are represented in parliament. But still there are challenges to the democratic process of India brought by its multi-ethnicity, culture, languages, religions and societal make-up.
The Challenges
The very first challenge is the Multi-party system. India currently has about 730 political parties that are recognized by the Election Commission. The shift from one-party dominance to multi-party competition also leads from cohesion to fragmentation of the fabric of society. These small parties normally represent the vested interests of small and minority groups. All these may have been the result of inability, brought on by hubris, of the dominant Congress party. The prevailing multi-party system emerged as an antidote to the monolithic Congress party. To a certain extent, the results of 2014 national elections brought the electoral political evolution full circle. The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) won majority seats in Lok Sabha, achieving a single-party success for the first time in three decades.
The next challenge is the regional parties. The rise of the regional parties in Indian politics coincided with the decline in the influence of national parties. The strength of these regional parties is normally derived from an area or a community harboring a sense of deprived and not getting a fair deal from the policies of the Central Government. Also the chances of getting exploited by the regional leaders increased. On the whole, the emergence of these parties and the influence that they bring to bear on national politics has been detrimental to the overall progress of the nation.
Another challenge is Communalism in politics. The very important ideal of our country is being a secular state that gives us the right to religious freedom to all its citizens. Nowadays communal riots are lurking beneath the veneer of peaceful coexistence between different religions and communities. Such riots have become more common in recent times. Actually the real culprits behind them are the political parties here for creating vote banks. They took advantage of the religious emotions of common people which supplanted the loyalty to the nation in a broad way. No party has the right to impose the ideologies of a particular religion on the people. Harmony in the cultural and religious diversity is a sign of democratic success.
Other challenges are Corruption and Money-power. We can see the election process itself is corrupted in many areas. Our right to vote is being sold as money matters to many people. The financial scams that have involved politicians or VIP’s have neither been questioned nor investigated fully. The common people view this as a travesty but are unable to do anything about it, adding to their frustration regarding the governance and democratic processes. Even for getting some government services which are actually free, we are forced to give corruption demanded by the officers. Common people cannot bear this injustice anymore.
Role of the Middle Class
Although political awareness is improving in India, the middle-class remains apathetic to the electoral process. We can see a strong belief among common people that ‘Governments will change…But nothing will change for us’. The biggest threat to a nation emanates from the people’s cynicism towards the system that in turn creates spiritual and personal alienation of the people from the community and the government.
Since the middle-class also form the most educated segment of society, they can create a far-reaching impact in the democratic processes. All citizens should get the basic rights to live, food and shelter in India. Education must be provided to everyone irrespective of caste, class, gender or money. Standard of living should be improved among the lower sections of the society. In a democratic country, the political leader’s or the public representative’s duty is to provide helps for the needy immediately.
India needs to establish an egalitarian democracy. Equality must be established not in words, but in actions. This can only be achieved if the socio-economic challenges to the nation can be addressed and ameliorated. India still has a long way to achieve the complete democracy. Young people are the future of our country. They should get opportunities to speak loud and to express their opinions. They can bring the true meaning of democracy to our nation. Selfless and dutiful leaders must come forward. They can make differences in all the sectors which would make our nation to reach at the peak of the world. At the end of the journey, darkness will move away to give us light and sunshine. Let’s Hope for a better India — A Completely Democratic India!
Disclaimer: We are a platform which allows all views to be represented without bias or discrimination. This piece is not to be judged upon as the final stance of MUNner’s daily or MEC MUN Society.
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