India - The Largest Democratic Nation on Earth. Really?

I find I have a huge bee in my bonnet, I would rather qualify it as much bigger, maybe an ostrich in my bonnet when it comes claims that we are a democratic nation. I find myself, once again, ready to render a didactic exposition on democracy. The “why” of this essay is not hard to guess – a heated exchange with some colleagues and a recent read which had the author gushing about the so called greatest achievement of India – democracy.

I reiterate that I am not prejudiced for or against any particular system of governance, democracy or any other. That said, I find myself clinging on to the seams of my seat whenever an enthusiast gushes forth proclaiming the superiority of democracy. Going physical wouldn’t solve problems and no amount of logic and reason can convince a believer. Let me therefore rant out in the air; I don’t need another source of bottled up frustration. I only hope that the shrill wail of mine doesn’t convince you that I am a basket case.

Let me put one argument to rest straight away – most of the people whom I hear rooting for democracy root for it since they feel only democracy grants freedom of press. Free press in any place is a myth – especially so in India. And I am convinced of this because free press sources itself from freedom of expression; I don’t think lack of executive supervision qualifies any institution to be termed "free" - if one cannot express his opinion freely, free press is just a slogan. The funny part is that democratic principles (terms like public good, sentiments of the majority etc etc) are used to curtail individual expression when it is contrary to mob opinion. Ask Hussian – not that I am a big fan of his, but hounding a person out of his home just because his opinion is different from another’s cannot be condoned. So much for freedom of speech and expression, so much for freedom of press. You can have a truly free press in a dictatorial regime and a horribly shackled one in the biggest of democracies.

My next pet hate is reservation. To me, it represents the perfect case of misallocation – of manpower, of resources and of energies. Reservations were intended as a short term remedy for social inequities, not to create newer and more long lasting ones. The architect of the constitution and dalit champion, Shri Ambedkar, had intended the reservation to be done with in 10 to 15 years. And yet somehow everyone bats for the “downtrodden” while a deserving top achiever, many times with as much as 20% difference, is denied a job posting, a seat in a stream in the college of his choice. Social backwardness is a reality but it cannot be done away with by reservation, at too at levels such as IAS. And with women now getting 33%, the odds against a male in general category are so highly stacked that brain drain remains the only option.

Democracy is but a system of governance, the principal need of governance being the need for a single authority; one person to look to incase of conflicts and at times of doubt. The governing person must be like the biggest bully on the school field, his writ running large and unquestioned. Whether the system is just or not is a different question, it must be effective. An effective bad system can be made an effective good system with some change of heart and strength of mind but an ineffectual system remains just so. Maoism would have failed in a true democracy or a total authoritarian state. A true democracy would have ensured that the complaints of the weak and the meek were heard before they were forced to arms and an autocrat would have made a Tiananmen Square of the Maoist movement.

Here I am struggling with a million words portray the true picture of our pseudo-democracy, and I have just realized that a picture is worth thousand words. As I struggle for the suitable pictures (again the struggle is due to profusion rather than paucity), the doyen amongst our legislators and executive have come forward to present me with the best of the pictures to substantiate my claims.

Thank you Ms. Mayawati andMr. Narendra Tomar – such an ostentatious show of opulence would be derided even in a monarchy. Its easy to end my rantings - all I request, my dear fellow citizens, all I need is an acknowledgement from you that 1) we claim to be a democracy but we are not and 2) We have much bigger and greater achievements to our credit than our system of governance. Acknowledge this and I would rest my case.