Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. India adopted representative democracy because of its size; people elect their representatives to power on a periodic basis. India is referred to as an elephant (in contrast to Asian tigers) because it is very big in size (population wise) and it moves very slowly (decisions, reforms and growth wise).
During the
early years after independence our leaders nurtured democracy, made people
centric decisions, and were honest and not motivated by personal gains. Lal
Bahadur Shastri resigned accepting moral and constitutional responsibility for
a railway accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu that resulted
in 144 deaths. While speaking in Parliament on the incident, Nehru stated that
he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in
constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsible for
the accident. There were other examples too. The standards today have stooped
so low that the corrupt are rewarded leave alone ethics.
If India
could not achieve rapid growth and development until mid 1960s it was because
of the excessive socialistic and idealistic orientation of our policies rather
than the intent. After Nehru, there was widespread realization that our policies
have failed. A crisis situation emerged when USA stopped food aid temporarily. Lal
Bahadur Shastri as the PM undertook bold measures and green revolution was the
result of such an effort; however more reforms could not be initiated because
of his untimely death.
The
unsaintly politics and power struggle that followed cripples Indian democracy
till today. Criminalization of politics, corruption, dynastic politics,
nepotism, cronyism, misuse and abuse of power and bureaucracy, sectionalism,
caste politics, politics of divide and rule, politics of fear, politics of
religion and a false sense of nationalism etc have become synonymous with
Indian democracy. There are numerous examples of the above and hence I will
leave it to that.
Reforms to
treat these ills have been few and far between: toothless anti-corruption
agencies like CBI, CVC and Lokayuktas (in some states) were created. Rajiv
Gandhi undertook certain measures to reform and modernize the government but it
was not until the 1991 balance of payment crisis (another crisis) that we were
to have serious reforms (and these were not enough). There was no intent this
time from our politicians, they had to reform because they did not have any choice.
Early 1990s also
saw the fall of communism; reforms in many other developing countries;
liberalization; globalization and proliferation of information technology.
Information began to flow at an unprecedented rate, a vigilant media and civil
society emerged. Civil Society pressure has led to some major reforms like
Right to Information (NCPRI and others); Code of conduct during elections;
Right to know candidate’s criminal background before elections (ADR); Police
reforms etc. It has been clear however that there has been no serious
initiative from the ruling class towards reforms. Criminalization of politics,
corruption, dynastic politics, nepotism, cronyism, misuse and abuse of power
and bureaucracy, sectionalism, caste politics, politics of divide and rule,
politics of fear and politics of religion and a false sense of nationalism etc
have become like multi-drug resistant diseases. At the same time, following the
Darwin’s law of evolution corruption has stepped up from license raj to
resource raj (read 2G and Coal gate).
The vigilant
civil society of India is growing increasingly restive partially due to its
successes too. However the political class has adopted an increasingly arrogant
stance. Activists and common people are mocked, called guttersnipes, threatened
openly and killed. Criticism from our PM of RTI (yes, he speaks sometimes) shows
that they created a Frankenstein. There has also been criticism of well
functioning constitutional bodies like CAG and Supreme Court. Multiple cross
cutting nexuses have emerged: Politics-Criminals, Politics-Bureaucracy,
Politics-Businesses, Politics-Media (paid news), Politics-Civil Society and
even between rival political parties. Again there are numerous examples of the
above.
Why isn’t
our democracy able to evolve and reform itself on a continual basis? Why is a
crisis like situation always needed? Why does the elephant always need shock
therapy? There have been calls for right to recall, right to reject, Lokpal etc
but will these reforms be enough? Even if we assume that these are enough, why
will the ruling class dig their own grave? Can the citizens of India vote out
the corrupt political class for a non-corrupt one? Who is non-corrupt by the
way? How can we usher in a mental revolution of oneness in a diverse India and
recognize the politics of divide and rule and sectionalism? If education was
the answer to all these questions, why has the increasing literacy rate failed
to achieve greater democratic reforms?
