Incredible India- A Sham Democracy!

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit…

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”- Tagore

‘Exotic’, ‘vibrant’, ‘enchanting’, ‘the World’s largest democracy’, ‘the next superpower’ as we love to call it, today, like many other times I am made to feel that we live in a sham democracy where all the emancipation is limited to make believe. For who here is free exactly? While we may pat our backs on freeing our minds from the colonial hangover, sixty five years hence, the minds are still very much  entrapped in the shackles of archaic ideals and so called ‘values’ that do more harm than good.

I mean seriously, what kind of society have we become? The form of governance in India is lauded tirelessly, but what about the quality of governance? We definitely and abidingly look great on papers but how efficient are we when it comes to delivering? Every year, we get up in the chilly January morning to witness the republic day parade. I, myself do it almost every year unfailingly even though I am a late riser and hate getting up early but it used to give me a false sense of pride in our nation. This year I question though, why rejoice this celebratory parade? What exactly are we celebrating?

Be it corruption, inefficiency, lawlessness or the sheer mindset of people that borders on being disgusting at times, is this where we want to live? Is this where we want to raise our children where we are not sure if they will come back home safely from school in the afternoon? Can we really call ourselves free if we are living under the constant fear of being bombed in a terrorist attack? Are we a developing country if people still vote for the candidates on the basis of their caste or religion as against to a better candidate? What kind of an incredible nation is it that doesn’t allow its women to step out after dark because it’s almost certain that she definitely will face some kind sexual assault on the way?

If in a democracy, the will of the people is supreme, then why does the government need to impose Section 144 of Indian Penal Code on a peaceful demonstration of solidarity for a gang rape victim? If in a democracy, people have the freedom of speech, why are angry slogans against butchers of humanity and demanding justice are welcomed with water cannons in the chilly Delhi winter? Why is a cartoonist who rightly depicted the sorry state of affairs in his cartoon pressed with sedition charges because he is certainly not the most serious violator when it comes to offence against the state? The credit for that will have to go our treasured political class which has very efficiently preserved all those archaic laws which were used by British Imperialists to smother, target and imprison the freedom fighters and revolutionaries during the British Raj.

The recent and tragic death of the gang rape victim angered us all. The nation mourned as though she was their own daughter, sister or friend. The mounting public outrage is causing increasing pressure on the government to strengthen the law, but is really a change in the offing? Perhaps, the intensified public pressure and a strong case against the six accused, will hopefully mete out the harshest punishment to them, but will the state of affairs also change after that? We need to ask the government about what will happen to those MPs and MLAs who themselves have charges of sexual offenses against them. Will they be tried and punished or at least kicked out from heir respective parties in the meantime? I am sure even if some charges are found to be false later on, we will not be missing out a lot from our great pool of political talent. I am sure we will manage just fine. We need stronger laws and stricter measures against offences, sexual or otherwise  available for the taxpayer who gives his blood and sweat in hope of a decent and safe infrastructure for him and his family.

As the age old adage goes, the people get the ruler that they deserve. We all are responsible for electing rapists, criminals and murderers as our representatives because after all they are where they are after a ‘fair’ democratic process. We all our responsible for accepting the indolent justice system, which even if it brings us justice, its mostly very very late. We have lived too long and too much with the ‘chalta hai’ attitude.

Let us try make a change this time, because someone’s child lost her life. She lost her life not only because of inhuman acts of a few merciless animals but also because the system was inadequate. She lost her life because our democracy is mostly hypocrisy. Let us not forget her death like many others that we have forgotten already. Let us make it into a catalyst that drives us to uproot this national lethargy and incompetence that has lead us to this mess of a democracy. Let us make a better and real democracy for ourselves.

'