If you go by textbooks, india is a democracy. Infact the largest one! A place where people are the masters. A place where people vote a government in or out. A place where rule of law exist. Specially india which is a vibrant and thriving democracy. Or so we are taught. Let’s put things in perspective and try to analyze 3 recent incidents. I am choosing these 3 in particular coz they are fresh in memory:
i) Godhra 2002 and the never ending saga- This is an explosive week. A senior IPS officer implicates CM of state in perhaps most damning indictment. Now with new leads case will again drag on with perhaps new SIT members and blah blah. If you dissect the story it’s about a constitutionally elected govt orchestrating genocide of over 2k people. Worse, in the aftermath the entire state machinery have tried to suffocate any civil society voice which has dared to ask questions. So much for a Vibrant state.
ii) Jaitapur and nuclear energy debate- Indo-US nuclear deal of 2009 is considered to be a high point of Manmohan singh’s tenure as PM. It’s for no reason it is also called George Bush’s most imp foreign policy initiative. Whole world and some MNC’s rejoiced. In some corners of India people are crying and bleeding. As if India cares. Farmer’s lands are being grabbed and regions pushed towards perpetual doom. Anyone and Everyone’s views are being counted. Ramesh to Sarkozy to Areva to Chavan. Except people on the ground. Democracy for you.
iii)Binayak Sen- When scamsters, looters and criminals are roaming free, a doctor who has served poorest of poor for his entire life is being sent to jail for life on ridiculously bogus charges. Reason being his crusade against state govt exposing the illegal Salwa Judum force run by them. Binayak Sen may be out on bail but he became a metaphor for thousands still languishing in jails.
As different the three issues might be, the common binding thread between them is state oppression and its high-handedness which goes against core democratic values. The way govt is using money, muscle, media and even judiciary to fizzle out protest movements is alarming. Shrinking of democratic space for activism is a sad comment on any society, specially for a nation which owes its freedom to it. Intellectual dissent is being stifled out using bogey of sedition and activists are getting targeted through smear campaigns and doctored CD’s. There’s a battle going on, which sadly govt is winning.
The battle is for the right to dissent. Right to ask questions and get justice. Right to demand what is yours. And that’s exactly why its so important, coz govt is fighting this battle against you. And you cannot win it by being a mute spectator. By shutting up.
So next time govt tries to silence you, raise your voice. Shout. Scream. Protest. Not just in your homes. But on the road. If govt wants participatory democracy to take form in this way, give them this way. But create a space for intellectual dissent. Participate. Debate. Contribute. Coz if you don’t, you lose that right and empower govt in the battle against you. Too long media and judiciary have been called as pillars of our democracy. And we know how miserably they have failed. Time has come to make Activism as a pillar of democracy. And it starts with you. Next time David Rocis asks you, did you strike a blow against empire? You should reply- Shut up dude, I did!!
