Ever since Narenda Modi has taken over as the Prime Minister in 2014, suddenly the largest democracy has become extremely fragile and vulnerable! It wasn't so earlier. Rather, it was at its best when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency or when Rajiv Gandhi overruled Supreme Court's decision in Shah Bano case or when the Congress dismissed the State governments a whopping 41 times and so on and so forth ... But some other interesting points have come up of late ...
Recently, the Supreme Court appears to have taken up the cause seriously with Shivsena and NCP splits or majority defections. The Supreme Court is posing to be the supreme guardian of democracy. It has directed the speaker of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha to take a decision within the specified time frame. We are told that the 3 pillars of democracy viz. the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary are equal and independent. If the Supreme Court can direct the Legislative to decide a matter within specified time frame, with thousands of pending cases, why can't the Legislative or the Executive direct the Supreme Court to decide matters within a specified time frame? When decisions of the Supreme Court get so much delayed that they are practically meaningless when delivered, isn't such a delayed justice actually a denied justice? If elections are required for the Legislative, why are nominations allowed for the Judiciary? Or is the Supreme Court the Supreme pillar or more equal pillar than others? What is the constitutional provision or basis for this equality or inequality?
What is democracy? We are told that it is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. We have representative democracy, so hasn't it been reduced to more like the government of the representatives, by the representatives and for the representatives? Doesn't it appear to be so when the Supreme Court is discussing the provisions of the anti-detection law?
When more than 2/3rd legislators challenge or question the party high command for its seemingly faulty decisions and choose to defy the high command's order and defect, how democratic is the anti-defection law that forces them to either join another party or get disqualified? Shouldn't the minority get disqualified instead? And how democratic is the concept of whip as well? How democratic is the act of minority high command issuing whips to the majority legislators?
Let us leave aside the defective anti-defection law for a moment. Going to the basics, how democratic is the act of defying the mandate of the electorate by the party high command? Shouldn't the so called party high command itself get disqualified for such anti-democratic act? Or is it that the people and their mandate are completely irrelevant and ineffective after the elections and only representatives matter thereafter? How cruel is this joke on democracy? Supreme Court spends days, weeks and months discussing and debating provisions and nuances of the anti-defection law, but doesn't bother to consider basic mandate of the electorate? Shouldn't the party defying the mandate of the electorate get summarily disqualified? Shouldn't the party junking its manifesto get summarily disqualified?
So coming back to the basic question, the Supreme Court may ultimately decide based on the anti-defection law and one parry may win and the other party may lose, but aren't the real losers all of us stupid people who vote so naively to elect some government which ultimately is neither of the people, nor by the people and definitely not for the people? So doesn't it mean that our democracy is really, really fragile? What do you say?
Civilizations are always in the process of evolution. Major changes in administration take place when new rulers with different ideology come to power, though they also are believers of democracy. But in democracy the rulers can always play around to be one step ahead of their predecessors and opponents.
ReplyDeleteIt is again a matter of perception, whether a strict democracy benefits the public at large or a fragile one. We tend to visualize the worst and the best that can happen, but what happens only time shows us.
The kind of achievements being publicized by the present government are undoubtedly very much beneficial to the public, but their sustainability will again depend on the continuance of the present systems which result in fragility of the democracy or otherwise. Finally who is more happy, a parrot in a cage who gets everything or a parrot in a jungle who has to find his own food and also protect itself from predators and environment.
Both are happy as ignorance is bliss. What discomforts is the CHANGE.