Harsh Dev Singh
As students of law and political science, we were taught that Democracy is a govt of the people, by the people and for the people. Times have changed. And with it have the values that the Indian democratic system symbolized at one point of time. The role of people seems to have been minimized. And their welfare appears to be the last concern of a modern democrat. What all matters in the modern Indian democracy is capturing power by hook or crook and then retaining it by whatever means possible. Surely the meaning, significance, role and relevance of democracy has undergone a complete metamorphosis in the country in the last few years with the history keenly observing us acting as mute spectators.
Every other day we hear people talking about autonomous institutions surrendering their autonomous character to mighty rulers and losing their credibility. We hear of procedures and norms being destroyed that otherwise guarded citizens against unbridled powers of states. There are loud clamours of suspensions of rule of law. There are frequent crackdowns on civil society and there are concerns against biased and complicit media and judiciary. But still we are silent. And allowing the gradual degeneration of democratic values paving way for its ultimate demise. Strange enough but true.
J&K has been deprived of democratic govt for the last four years. Elections are being delayed and denied and continue to be postponed for one reason or the other. Sometimes they are denied on the grounds of the security scenario, sometimes on the pretext of unfinished Delimitation exercise, sometimes on the grounds of Amar Nath Ji pilgrimage, while at other times by taking the plea of intense cold or hot weather conditions or heavy snowfall. And while the constitution continues to be subverted by taking freakish excuses to deny Democracy to the people of J&K, the rulings of Supreme Court on time bound restoration of democratic govts in States/UTs too continue to be violated with impunity by the present rulers.
Democracy in the country is presently on the cross-roads of history. At a time when we needed statesmen we got politicians. And democracy for them is a mere route to grab power and privilege. Assuming unchallenged political power and unbridled authority, they are behaving as unquestionable despots. Tailoring their slogans with the sole objective of retaining power, they have the least hesitation in using the administrative paraphernalia to realize their goals. And in the process, the democracy is becoming the biggest causality.
According to the ‘Economist intelligence unit survey’ a leading Research and Analysis Organization, India has slipped on the Democracy Index from 27th place in 2014 to 51st position in 2019. Erosion of democratic values and civil liberties has been cited as a reason. Even the Supreme Court has emphasized the need for protection and preservation of democratic values. While setting aside extra judicial executions by police and expressing disapproval of suppression of voices of sanity, the Apex Court has upheld the Right of the people to criticise the govt over its policies and to hold dissenting opinions. Dissent is the safety value of the pressure cooker and if it is disallowed, the cooker would burst, the Apex Court had held. The rulers however continue to suppress all alternate and critical voices through the coercive apparatus of the state. The SC, the CBI, the ECI are grappling with a crisis of credibility. And under the circumstances the institutions are being demolished and administrative apparatus abused.
We are passing through unusual times. Value based politics is fast disappearing. The role of opposition is squeezing and the civil servants in majority are allowing themselves to be used by the rulers to bully and browbeat those questioning the government’s policies. Dissent is being bludgeoned through the iron fist of Police with other agencies also pushed into service. Policing those criticizing the government’s failures has become a routine feature. Protestors are delegitimized as anti-nationals, urban naxals, Tukde Tukde gang etc. Protests against rulers are met with imperious arrogance rooted in hubris. Civil society is being pulverized. Opposition is demonized and stigmatized. The posse of self-styled moral police has now re-inforcements in the form of oral police who determine what people may or may not put in their mouths. Politics of coercion, intimidation, detentions and persecutions is becoming the order of the day. The instances of malicious and trivial persecutions are too many to recount. And each outdoes the other blatant idiocy and malevolence. To quote an instance over 200 opposition workers were booked in frivolous cases in District Udhampur in BJP-PDP rule and FIRs registered against them, their only offence being that they were holding protests for regular power and water supply.
It is said that the best sign of a democracy is a protest march and not a barricaded empty street. And the worst spectacle in a Democratic system is a peaceful, conscientious protestor being dragged into a police van. Bias against opposition is antithetical to democracy. Such instances sadly bear the stink of demise of a responsible govt. And these occurring on a regular basis in the present times shall remain etched in public memory as watershed moments in the perversion of constitutional guarantees in the current regime in particular.
When Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency it received widespread condemnation from opposition parties and inevitably led to fall of Congress Govt at the centre. Is the present situation not a replica of 1975 without it being declared as such. Political affiliation is often given precedence over rule of law by those in power in the majority of cases. And while those owing allegiance to saffron ideology are being given open space, the political persons differing on issues with the ruling party are being treated with derision and contempt. Its unfortunate that it is the political philosophy which is determining the conferment or deprivation of civil liberties of citizens particularly in J&K. Whereas the opposition leaders are often denied even their basic fundamental rights, the BJP leaders have been granted open license to act as per their free will without having to face the rigours of law. Isn’t the govt policy an abuse of the constitutional muscle? Does it not undermine the democratic quotient of our constitutional architecture? The BJP has once again demonstrated its intolerance for the opposite spectrum of opinion. Our’s is not a monarchy where the king can order the execution of the courtier at will. The fundamental rights and liberties of opposition need to be respected in a free country. National interest can’t be used and abused as a overriding mantra to consecrate any opportunist and political manoeuvres. The BJP must learn from the 1975 order of Indira Gandhi. Its needs to remember that lessons of history are not for sects but for civilizations. The decisions of the Govt need to be logical and not ideological. Curbing of civil liberties and choking of inconvenient voices is a brazen rebuke to the very concept of democracy.
India has a huge cultural history of tolerance and accommodation and it can’t be altered by arrogance, aggression and aberrations. Resorting to the strong arm method in times of rampaging democratization at various levels the world over would lead to dangerous denouement. The Govt needs to understand and respect the right to freedom of its political opponents. Remember, we are all Indians. And we can take on the inimical forces within and outside only by collective onslaught against the enemy and not by fighting our own countrymen for vested political interests.
Tampering with people’s mandate has also become a unique feature of the present day democracy wherein protection of elected MLAs from horse trading is more odious a task for the respective political parties, especially opposition, than winning elections. Winning an election is insignificant until and unless you can save your legislators from sale and floor-crossing. And then there are all powerful Frankensteins that can dismantle your govts and dethrone you even if you command majority in the legislatures. In 2016, Uttarakhand was brought under President’s Rule to dislodge congress govt. The Apex Court over-ruled the decision and restored the congress govt. Likewise in 2016 Arunachal Pradesh was brought under President’s Rule with the Supreme Court again restoring the congress govt. Formation of govt in Goa further reveals the rut in the system and illustrates the attempts of perversion of democracy by the rulers in collusion with pliant civil servants. The Rollercoaster drama in Maharashtra Assembly also reveals as to how the Machiavellian politics has invaded the soul of democracy in the country with the active support of unscrupulous elements in the system.
The “Amrit Mahotsav” of Indian Independence that we are celebrating is the result of countless sacrifices made by our ancestors. This Independence has to be preserved. And no one can be allowed to destroy the freedoms that our ancestors and forefathers fought to defend. The Indian democracy needs to keep moving forward, to grow and flourish. Let us all play our role well to ensure a clean, transparent and accountable system in the country so that democracy prospers and rule of law prevails.
(The author is former Education Minister and Chairman Aam Aadmi Party J&K State Co-ordination Committee)
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