A true democracy may be coming to India too

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scsosho

29 June, 2011

Monarchies have gone, the dictators and autocrats are going but pseudo democracies have remained in many parts of the world, which must also go. India is ripe for true democracy, only a trigger away now. Let us pull the trigger.

CHANGES IN the Arab world have been witnessed by all with disbelief but also relief - the dictators, monarchs, presidents for lifetime, etc., must go and give way to democracy.

The Egypt episode was most fascinating where a powerful head of the state, ruling the country for decades through strong-arm tactics, was overthrown in a matter of days by a small mass of people gathered to agitate on the streets against his autocratic regime. Many other countries await dictatorial heads to go; human beings are equal before Mother Nature and must have the right to active participation in building the society they build.

The dictators are not the only ones to be ousted. Pseudo democracies are functioning in many countries of the world, which must change to true democracies. Take the case of India; we have democracy in this country without its people being the true power centre. Power rests with political parties whose top brass functions more or less like dictators.

The representatives we elect become a law unto themselves and never return to public to seek its opinion. They hardly have scope to voice the public’s concerns for they constitute no more than numbers adding up to the required figure to rule the country by their party. Party heads decide what is good or bad for people, people in themselves matter no more. In true democracy, public participation must be ensured at every stage in decision making for nation building.

Is the Indian public ready for participation in the affairs of the nation? Earlier a large mass of Indian population was uneducated, poor and therefore did not understand national issues. Mass media was also absent. People living in different parts of the country were cut off from each other. Things have changed and reversed now. People have become assertive of their rights and freely express their concerns over media and internet. The bastion of politicians is gradually eroding.

The Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev stirs have shown mass public support behind them. Twitter and Facebook are fast becoming tools for people’s interconnectivity and voicing their concerns. TV debates and round-the-clock news are playing exemplary role in educating the public on important issues of governance and nation building. Surely, the Indian public is now ready and willing to participate in national affairs to let true democracy emerge.

The politicians of the day are fighting their last ditch battle to save the crown to themselves by talking of parliamentary system and the constitution of India. They want public and civil society to stay indoors. They are forgetting that these systems are not God-sent but created by the people of India, and now when old systems has failed to deliver, people can create a new one in its place.

We have to have a system where people’s voice interacts with political system all the time to make true democracy possible. This does not seem a distant reality; true democracy may be coming to India soon.