Tuesday 14 August 2007

Democracy: The Raped Prostitute

Don’t be surprised by the subject of this article. Have thought hard to put it more subtly than this – but just could not. It is thanks to our actions (historically as well as in my own life time) that I am forced to look back and relate completely to the aforementioned topic.

Democracy is today the most used word in the world – in fact to the extent of the political leaders being overtly obsessive about it. As we step into another year of our nation’s journey – it will be prudent for all of us to understand the significance of this oft-repeated word, lest we fall prey to the interpretations derived out of various twisted forms of democracy demonstrated around the world, and lest we miss the acknowledged values that democracy entails.  

Democracy as defined in the dictionary: "<Democracy> is a government by the people in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system." In words of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Democracy however is regularly confused with “freedom”. Though they are intertwined – Democracy at best can be termed as “institutionalization of Freedom”. They are not synonyms of each other by any means. Democracy is indeed a set of ideas and principles “about” freedom, but it also consists of a set of practices and procedures that have been molded through a long, often tortuous history. Hence, it can easily be said that Democracy is meant to make people feel free BUT bound by set of laws defined by society as a whole or by the elected representatives.

Democracy also means making decisions by majority acceptance. But it should be remembered that a mere 51% majority on issues may not necessarily be democratic too as it will mean subversion of the other 49% who are in minority. A true democracy entails majority preferences with effective safeguards for minority component. Unless that is achieved in all the cases – a democratic setup moves into the authoritarian/totalitarian domain, which is where the trouble starts.

Going further, Democracies fall into two basic categories, direct and representative. In a direct democracy, all citizens, without the intermediary of elected or appointed officials, can participate in making public decisions. In Representative democracy however (which is the common form of democratic governance followed today), citizens elect officials to make political decisions, formulate laws, and administer programs for the public good. In the name of the people, such officials can deliberate on complex public issues in a thoughtful and systematic manner, that requires an investment of time and energy, which is often impractical for the vast majority of private citizens to devote.

I must add that Democracy in its own definition needs also be interpreted individually by general masses and the elected representatives. As indicated above, Democracy is a form of independence woven over by lawful boundaries. Any act by citizens of a democratic setup outside such lawfully restricted domains would, and should, constitute punishment of the severest kind. It has been observed off-late however, that the lawmakers in today’s world tend to make such laws that suit their own personal purposes in the name of the good of the larger society. This then means that if a Parliament/legislative council (of a nation) has majority of people who have criminal cases against them – they would want a law to protect themselves from getting arrested by the police/ law enforcement agencies while they are active legislatures or members of parliament and perhaps even when they are not.  That would be logical. The question to be asked then is – will that come under the ambit of true democratic form of governance?

Democracy was not meant to be a tool to serve the elite. It was meant to serve, and form the basis of governance of the society that includes poorest of the poor and also the elite. The moment it neglects any one sect of the society – the form of governance cannot be termed as democratic. However, that unfortunately has been the case in almost all the nations that term themselves democracies. Thanks to the elitist political class who have used it in every conceivable shameful way as they felt. It is not as if democracy has become the bed-mate of such elected scoundrels only in recent times – it has been used loosely for generations by all the nations that have ever called themselves democratic. Even Romans, who claimed to be the first amongst the homo-sapiens to use democratic form of governance, never truly had it implemented in its purest form. The nation was subservient to the whims and fancies of Caesar and is a well known fact. I mean, did the assembly of legislatures have the practical power to go against or replace Caesar? Don’t think so. Unless of-course they would come up with a Brutus every time they wanted to do that! Such form of rule, for me, does not fit into the principles of democracy. Even Stalin and Hitler would then claim to run a democratic setup. Thank you very much. But both Romans and Nazis claimed to run a democratic country! The point I am trying to make here is that historically, this way of governance (that we today know as democracy), has been used in various forms – by various leaderships – to meet their own dubious ends and their typically non-pluralistic pleasures. But whether any nation and its citizens have really implemented the laws of democracy in real earnest – so as to allow the benefit of the system to reach even the lower strata of the society? The answer to that is pretty clear, an emphatic NO. And that has not happened simply because the leadership across all generations has never risen beyond its own pity needs. Democracy in fact is a dream we are made to chase – and chase we do.

That democracy has remained alive and active in any form today is thanks to its capacity to take all the positives from every bad experience it has had and make itself into a more compact option. That there is no end to the torture for Democracy is evident even today – when all the democratic countries continue to twist it, mould it and then use it in the form and shape they want – rather than honoring the laudable concept of higher values that Democracy represents.

Let us not forget, Democracy’s key elements include safeguarding human rights, freedom of speech and opinion, religious liberty, equality in all forms of life, apart from the right to vote etc. These are but the governing principles. Having said that, look around you – people indulge in any and every kind of “generally-perceived” unlawful activities like arson, disruption of peace, hooliganism (considered lawful, by the principal actors in such acts) and tend to justify them by quoting the freedom of expression clauses of democracy. That the lives of others get disturbed temporarily or permanently is none of their concern. The law, here, is interpreted the way these people want to see, rather than what it is. Huh. Another sad example is of a painter who indulges in making objectionable paintings of gods/goddesses full of nudity. There are people who tend to defend his/her action as part of the constitutional democratic right of freedom of expression! Is this not a betrayal of trust that a democratic nation puts on its citizens allowing them the liberty of expression? Is this not a breach of the boundaries set by democratic principles? I mean, isn’t democracy also about respecting the views, lives and sensitivities of other human beings? Here I must equally condemn the deplorable and punishable act of violent protestors, the representatives of the “sane” society and the so called protectors of faith, who go on a rampage damaging property and lives while protesting against such objectionable paintings. If displaying God in nude form is outrageous – it is criminal for the people, whose sentiments get hurt, to take law in their own hands. This is not the democracy that I have grown up to live in. And I am ashamed of both the forms of breach of trust.

Democracy allows display of dissent or displeasure, but again, under certain guidelines. For anyone breaching the guidelines and justifying the same as permissible under “democracy” and freedom of expression needs to be put behind the “authoritarian” jails. A hard taught lesson on the right form of democratic discipline within the jail’s parameters would serve such rascals right.

And perhaps the most telling representation of how democracy is infringed and ravaged is seen in the way our “constitutionally” defined “Democratic India” works. The way democracy is designed in India – we are “made to feel” democratic only once in (every) 5 years – i.e. when we are asked to elect one of the many “lovable” candidates to “represent us” in the House of Parliament. We too use our democratic right regularly with all fervor, in these intermittent periods. We are made to feel all important during the whole exercise of elections. Democracy as a word gets used/ abused/molested in every conceivable way in the process by these candidates to somehow coerce us to come out and vote for them.  The reality only dawns on us, once one of the scalawags/scumbags (??) gets elected. As many of us have seen for years now - the drama only just begins. I have to bring in a quote by George Bernard Shaw here, who is at his sarcastic best when he says - Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve. We in India can relate to this I am sure – and all because we use the democratic “germ” within us in one emotive moment every 5 years. Wallah.

These democratically elected representatives then reach the Parliament/ legislative Councils carrying our expectations on their shoulders. Or so we think. It is only then that they show their true colors. They convert themselves almost immediately from a democratically aligned leader to a totally “authoritarian” one. The ones we thought were our representatives start behaving like our masters. They then go on to ram and shove every conceivable democratic notion that you and I may have had till then. They make and support laws that defy the very democratic principles that we believed our constitution guarded against.

Since democracy is almost mostly confused with Freedom – these elected crooks of the today’s society exploit the norms of freedom without any remorse day after day. They start becoming laws unto themselves and when the barriers of principles of Democracy become hindrance – they do not hesitate in using their might to crush the tenets to the benefit of their own desires. I am forced to think back at something that I was told some years back – “When it becomes clear that our "representatives" don't represent the public, the foundations of democracy are in peril”. I guess it summarizes our situation pretty aptly.

Today my friends – as we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the foundation of our free and democratic country – we cannot but look back both, with satisfaction (for all the good things that have happened in the short journey), and indeed a lot of pain at how the representative form of governance has turned into a blot in the process of implementation of true freedom. A form of governance that should have given the millions of people the power to make laws for their well being – has been constantly mauled and raped (literally) by the same selected few who were supposed to ensure its applicability.

Perhaps the last words should go to Winston Churchill who said “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except, all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”.  As true as this may sound – this anniversary of India’s Independence Day (when India moves into the “Senor Citizen” band) is the right time for all of us to think ahead and perhaps find a way to stop the continuous exploitation of freedom that we are fortunately bestowed with. Time has indeed come to redefine our responsibilities and stop ourselves from forcibly breaking the already broadened fort of this noble form of governance that we call - Democracy.

Think about it.

Mantosh Singh..
14th Aug 2007’