After sixty years of independence, Democracy is still there, this is really appreciable. India’s name is being used as a successful example by many countries. And knowing some countries’ condition from our neighborhood and around the world anyone would agree that India surely deserve this appreciation.
The word ’Democracy’ has thousands of definitions but I personally like “It’s a Government of the people, by the people and for the people” taught in class IX’s Social Studies. I have been taught many things but forgot most of them. The upper sentence is one of those rests unforgotten; the reason may be it’s the simplest. Anyways, ‘Democracy’ simply means a government of all and equality of RIGHTS in society. And ‘Government’ which is a noun means system of governing; persons governing state; particular ministry in office. And lastly ‘Govern’ (verb) means rule with authority; conduct policy and affairs of (state etc.); influence or determine; curb, control.
I strongly believe that bookish knowledge and practical knowledge is very much different and my belief becomes stronger when I look at the definitions of three words ‘DEMOCRACY’, ‘GOVERNMENT’ and ‘GOVERN’ and compare them with the practical meaning of these three.
Democracy in Indian context means that we the citizen of India are not living under any dictatorship or in communist society and have the RIGHT to elect our government by using the power of vote. Now, the question is- Do we really elect our government all the time? Answer is- Hardly. And if anyone dares to ask- Do we elect RIGHT persons for the governance? The answer is- No, most of the times. In every democracy majority always decides who would be elected, we also follow the same rule but the problem is Majority here doesn’t always means what Majority really is. A mere 50-60% vote casting is considered very good in our country and the worst is there are thousands of examples where the percentage has not crossed single digit’s limit in many areas from the independence. And there are also thousands of examples where the candidates were being elected with a single digit mandate. Our Election Commission’s repeated announcement of FREE and FARE Election sounds unrealistic and funny to us as we know elections are always fought with ‘PAISA’ and ‘LATHI’ and sometimes ‘BANDOOK’. It’s simple, the more one candidate can use these weapons; the more becomes his possibility of winning. So, when these elected representatives form a Government after lots political equations, bargaining and securing there best deal of power without considering the wishes of aam-admi once, can it be a Government of all?
Being a citizen of democratic country we all have heard about FREEDOM, EQUALITY, LIBERTY and RIGHTS from the very beginning but no one has experienced these fully. These are the words written in our constitution which has tried to ensure us a society of equality but failed considerably, if not fully. These are the words we hear in our leaders’ speech all the time and forget instantly. These are the words we have been taught from very early stage of our life so that we can feel good about our country at least theoretically but starts omitting from our minds as soon as we start seeing the real picture. Aam-admi can exercise only that much Freedom, Equality, Liberty and RIGTHS which our government and politicians allow. And they allow only that much which doesn’t affect their ineffectiveness. Why? Ssshhhh, you have no RIGTHS to ask that.
When we think about ‘Government’, the first things come in our mind is corruption, power, luxury….. Isn’t it? So, to gain all these in the name of government in a democracy, Political Parties are needed. There are more than five hundred registered political parties in India. These parties are of different types, viz. Nationalist, Socialist, Communist, Secular, Religious and Regional and so on. And then there are sub-divisions depending on their ideologies. Though every political party is born on an ideology which they think are better than the others, the main objective of all these parties are to serve the people, the meaning of which we all know very well.
Development is never an election issue in India. Issues are religion, caste, region, language, etc. There is not a single party in India which doesn’t use these sentiments to get votes, no matter whether they call them secular, religious, communist or communal and they succeed all the time. In the name of development, our political leaders everytime repeat the same speech and promise us ‘Roti, Kapda aur Makaan’, which means a prosperous future where there will be no hungry and poverty and there will be happiness, satisfaction and peace all the way. We know, they are lying but still eat their words and go to complete the formality and cast our votes.
Once the candidates are elected, Horse-Trading, Shifting Parties and Power Sharing negotiations begin. And when all these settles down some unwanted (sometimes), ineligible (most of the times) and power hungry (All the times) people form government and becomes our SARKAR to rule a country of 113 crores people. They conduct policies and affairs which benefits them, their respective parties, their relatives and not the aam-admi. They determine and influence our activities. And finally, they control our lives. This is called Democracy- a Government of the people, by the people and for the people after sixty years of independence.
Everyone knows these facts, then what’s the point of writing all these? There is a point but first I should write something which everyone doesn’t know.
My last job which I quit was in a Political Research Organization where I used to work as a Research Coordinator. Once I was conducting surveys in the interior of one of the most backward states of India. I sent my subordinates to collect samples and was waiting for them inside the car. Suddenly one of my colleagues came to me and requested to go inside a house nearby. When I entered the house five people surrounded and greeted me with crying voice. After the formal introduction was done, head of the family a 70-75 years old man started telling me his son’s story. His son went to Saudi Arab 4 years ago in search of destiny and started working as a labour. Some days later he sent some money and the whole family was very happy. Suddenly, a letter came to them from a respective ministry of Govt. of India, stating the news of his son’s death in an accident. Everyone was shocked. The sky fell on them as he was the only earning member of the family. They couldn’t see any rays of hope. Hardcore reality of life soon forced the family to overcome the initial shock and the father came out of home to inquire about his son’s death and the dead body of his beloved. He has been made run office after office but he could not get any more words about his son from anywhere. He has not permitted any meeting with many people whom he thought could provide news of his poor son’s dead body. His son’s body never came back to his house.
The word ’Democracy’ has thousands of definitions but I personally like “It’s a Government of the people, by the people and for the people” taught in class IX’s Social Studies. I have been taught many things but forgot most of them. The upper sentence is one of those rests unforgotten; the reason may be it’s the simplest. Anyways, ‘Democracy’ simply means a government of all and equality of RIGHTS in society. And ‘Government’ which is a noun means system of governing; persons governing state; particular ministry in office. And lastly ‘Govern’ (verb) means rule with authority; conduct policy and affairs of (state etc.); influence or determine; curb, control.
I strongly believe that bookish knowledge and practical knowledge is very much different and my belief becomes stronger when I look at the definitions of three words ‘DEMOCRACY’, ‘GOVERNMENT’ and ‘GOVERN’ and compare them with the practical meaning of these three.
Democracy in Indian context means that we the citizen of India are not living under any dictatorship or in communist society and have the RIGHT to elect our government by using the power of vote. Now, the question is- Do we really elect our government all the time? Answer is- Hardly. And if anyone dares to ask- Do we elect RIGHT persons for the governance? The answer is- No, most of the times. In every democracy majority always decides who would be elected, we also follow the same rule but the problem is Majority here doesn’t always means what Majority really is. A mere 50-60% vote casting is considered very good in our country and the worst is there are thousands of examples where the percentage has not crossed single digit’s limit in many areas from the independence. And there are also thousands of examples where the candidates were being elected with a single digit mandate. Our Election Commission’s repeated announcement of FREE and FARE Election sounds unrealistic and funny to us as we know elections are always fought with ‘PAISA’ and ‘LATHI’ and sometimes ‘BANDOOK’. It’s simple, the more one candidate can use these weapons; the more becomes his possibility of winning. So, when these elected representatives form a Government after lots political equations, bargaining and securing there best deal of power without considering the wishes of aam-admi once, can it be a Government of all?
Being a citizen of democratic country we all have heard about FREEDOM, EQUALITY, LIBERTY and RIGHTS from the very beginning but no one has experienced these fully. These are the words written in our constitution which has tried to ensure us a society of equality but failed considerably, if not fully. These are the words we hear in our leaders’ speech all the time and forget instantly. These are the words we have been taught from very early stage of our life so that we can feel good about our country at least theoretically but starts omitting from our minds as soon as we start seeing the real picture. Aam-admi can exercise only that much Freedom, Equality, Liberty and RIGTHS which our government and politicians allow. And they allow only that much which doesn’t affect their ineffectiveness. Why? Ssshhhh, you have no RIGTHS to ask that.
When we think about ‘Government’, the first things come in our mind is corruption, power, luxury….. Isn’t it? So, to gain all these in the name of government in a democracy, Political Parties are needed. There are more than five hundred registered political parties in India. These parties are of different types, viz. Nationalist, Socialist, Communist, Secular, Religious and Regional and so on. And then there are sub-divisions depending on their ideologies. Though every political party is born on an ideology which they think are better than the others, the main objective of all these parties are to serve the people, the meaning of which we all know very well.
Development is never an election issue in India. Issues are religion, caste, region, language, etc. There is not a single party in India which doesn’t use these sentiments to get votes, no matter whether they call them secular, religious, communist or communal and they succeed all the time. In the name of development, our political leaders everytime repeat the same speech and promise us ‘Roti, Kapda aur Makaan’, which means a prosperous future where there will be no hungry and poverty and there will be happiness, satisfaction and peace all the way. We know, they are lying but still eat their words and go to complete the formality and cast our votes.
Once the candidates are elected, Horse-Trading, Shifting Parties and Power Sharing negotiations begin. And when all these settles down some unwanted (sometimes), ineligible (most of the times) and power hungry (All the times) people form government and becomes our SARKAR to rule a country of 113 crores people. They conduct policies and affairs which benefits them, their respective parties, their relatives and not the aam-admi. They determine and influence our activities. And finally, they control our lives. This is called Democracy- a Government of the people, by the people and for the people after sixty years of independence.
Everyone knows these facts, then what’s the point of writing all these? There is a point but first I should write something which everyone doesn’t know.
My last job which I quit was in a Political Research Organization where I used to work as a Research Coordinator. Once I was conducting surveys in the interior of one of the most backward states of India. I sent my subordinates to collect samples and was waiting for them inside the car. Suddenly one of my colleagues came to me and requested to go inside a house nearby. When I entered the house five people surrounded and greeted me with crying voice. After the formal introduction was done, head of the family a 70-75 years old man started telling me his son’s story. His son went to Saudi Arab 4 years ago in search of destiny and started working as a labour. Some days later he sent some money and the whole family was very happy. Suddenly, a letter came to them from a respective ministry of Govt. of India, stating the news of his son’s death in an accident. Everyone was shocked. The sky fell on them as he was the only earning member of the family. They couldn’t see any rays of hope. Hardcore reality of life soon forced the family to overcome the initial shock and the father came out of home to inquire about his son’s death and the dead body of his beloved. He has been made run office after office but he could not get any more words about his son from anywhere. He has not permitted any meeting with many people whom he thought could provide news of his poor son’s dead body. His son’s body never came back to his house.
He has been trying for last three years and telling his story to everyone with a hope that someone would help him to know about his son’s last journey. He now wants nothing but the news of his son’s dead body, whether it has been buried properly or not, so that he can die peacefully. He gave me some papers relating to the accident. I tried to make him understand my incapacity and limited reach but he requested me to bring them with me and to show them to someone whom I think can help. He also showed me that he has made several copies of these papers from his earnings from pulling rickshaw so that he can give whenever anyone comes. When he completed his story I noticed that his wife, widow daughter-in-law, daughter, all were crying silently while doing their jobs. His 5 years old grandson was seated beside me and listening his father’s death’s story with blank eyes. I was totally speechless as I was not able to think of the situation where an old father is struggling for last three years to know about his son’s dead body whose death occurred in a foreign country and is known to our government and must have been informed in detail by the Govt. of Saudi Arab immediately after his death. How can it be possible? How can any government be so irresponsible towards its citizen? This is inhuman!
When I was leaving, the old lady, mother of that poor son clasped my hands told me that everyone but the father in the family has lost their hopes that any news would come again but they still pray five times everyday so that the old father can die hearing his son was buried properly and according to the norms of Islam. She cried for help and told me that they can’t give me anything in return of this help except duaa (blessings). I left the place promising that I would try.
Returning Delhi, I have shared this story with many people with a hope that any way would come out. There were some politicians, some high ranked officials and my seniors and friends who are working in different reputed media organization. No one paid much attention to this story. Lots of people are dying everyday, who cares! People are not interested in such cases. Moreover a three year old death story can’t increase TRP, then what’s the point of wasting time?
The point of writing about Democracy, Government and telling you one of my experiences is to remind you once again that this is not the system our ancestors dreamt of, this is not the format of society we deserve. We all know many definitions and their actual meaning, we all know many such stories of injustice but we never know how we should react. Actually, we have become habituated of all these and started believing that it’s normal but it’s not true. And our souls know that. Nothing heroic is required. If every aam-admi starts understanding the situation and changes themselves and their surroundings according to the need in their respective field, then the task is not quite difficult and there are many such examples around the world. Time is moving fast and if we don’t realize the condition soon and raise our voice immediately, it would be very late.
Remember, the old father has not quit his hope yet and is hoping for a day when the Government would change and someone sensible would take the charge of the ministry and he would be informed about his son’s dead body.
Returning Delhi, I have shared this story with many people with a hope that any way would come out. There were some politicians, some high ranked officials and my seniors and friends who are working in different reputed media organization. No one paid much attention to this story. Lots of people are dying everyday, who cares! People are not interested in such cases. Moreover a three year old death story can’t increase TRP, then what’s the point of wasting time?
The point of writing about Democracy, Government and telling you one of my experiences is to remind you once again that this is not the system our ancestors dreamt of, this is not the format of society we deserve. We all know many definitions and their actual meaning, we all know many such stories of injustice but we never know how we should react. Actually, we have become habituated of all these and started believing that it’s normal but it’s not true. And our souls know that. Nothing heroic is required. If every aam-admi starts understanding the situation and changes themselves and their surroundings according to the need in their respective field, then the task is not quite difficult and there are many such examples around the world. Time is moving fast and if we don’t realize the condition soon and raise our voice immediately, it would be very late.
Remember, the old father has not quit his hope yet and is hoping for a day when the Government would change and someone sensible would take the charge of the ministry and he would be informed about his son’s dead body.
1 comment:
it's a known fact that political parties use common sentiments not the common issues,so for that whom to blame the political parties who are using them to be in power or people like us who are allowing the parties to use them?
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