India must reclaim true heritage in eyes of world
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
FROM a nation beset with widespread poverty and illiteracy and riven by secessionist strife, India's rise as an economic and political power 60 years after it won independence can be attributed chiefly to its robust democracy and civil-society institutions. India holds the distinction of being the world's largest democracy, with freely contested elections at regular intervals. This is a monumental task by itself, with 620 million people — a tenth of humanity — registered to exercise its franchise.
While other Asian countries have resorted to military dictatorships, communism and Confucian-style one-party rule, India has produced a vibrant democracy that remains amongst the most stable on the continent, inspiring younger nations in Africa and Asia.
"From 1947, many predicted that democracy would fail in India, but they were proved wrong," said Sachin Pilot, a young member of parliament. "India is not only a working democracy but a dynamic one where changes of power take place smoothly in elections that are the largest planned human exercise on earth," he said.
As India lends stability in South Asia, one of the world's most volatile regions, global powers like the US, Japan and the EU seek closer ties with New Delhi, confirming the country's role as a regional power.
Even so, democracy in India is by no means perfect and has faced many serious challenges along the way.
In 1975, an authoritarian prime minister Indira Gandhi secured power by suspending democracy and declaring a state of emergency. Gandhi was thrown out of power by the Indian public when she held elections two years later.
At the same time, Indian politics is no more immune to the appeal of sectarianism and the siren call of communal identity than other countries. It is said that when Indians vote, they often vote their caste. Also, many lawmakers have criminal backgrounds.
However, factors that have helped democracy and an open society flourish include a free press, voluntary action and the creation of institutions like the Election Commission that give law and courts a seminal role in not merely defending rights but pursuing social goals.
India has made strength out of diversity, its perceived weakness. Instead of suppressing its diversity in the name of national unity, it has acknowledged its pluralism. All groups, faiths, tastes and ideologies survive and contend for their place in the sun.
The idea of India that its people have come to accept is of one land embracing many, Shashi Tharoor, a former UN under-secretary general, said.
An eminent historian from the Aligarh Muslim University, Shireen Moosvi, explained that an innate faith in democracy was ingrained in the national psyche by the freedom movement and founding fathers who won independence from Britain.
Tharoor, who was India's candidate for UN secretary general, says the clincher is that in India, democracy is not an elite preoccupation, but matters most strongly to the underprivileged masses.
"Whereas in the US a majority of the poor do not vote — in Harlem in the last presidential elections, the turnout was 23 per cent — in India the poor turn out in great numbers. It is not the privileged or even the middle-class who spend four hours in the hot sun to cast their vote, but the poor, because they know their votes make a difference."
Like China, India faces daunting challenges, including a fast-growing population that includes the largest number of children suffering from malnutrition, a quarter of its population below the poverty line, massive unemployment and poor health indicators.
But with relatively stable elected governments, its leaders have combined democratic rule and economic liberalisation over 15 years and the country now is ranked along with China as among the world's fastest growing economies.
"Democracy has made development at grassroots possible. The previous regime was kicked out by masses who were denied the fruits of economic reforms. They elected the United Progressive Alliance, which promised reforms with a human face," said Ram Autar Kushwaha, a clerk at a private firm in Delhi.
Lawmaker Pilot said India, which has focused on devolution of power and leadership in rural areas in recent years, has a "democracy edge" over China. There are now more than three million elected representatives at the village level.
"It's more to do with equality than mere growth rate figures. A rise in GDP is not a true index of economic growth, it is the equitable distribution of national income," contended Moosvi.
Among the challenges that lie ahead for democracy in India is that India not only has to lift its masses out of poverty, but also must preserve its precious pluralism.
"India is a rare example of the successful management of diversity in the developing world. But every time there are reports of religious violence or a pogrom, like the Hindu-Muslim savagery in the Gujarat state in 2002, it suffers a huge setback on its soft power. India must reclaim its true heritage in the eyes of the world," Tharoor said.
Mira Kamdar, a noted author and associate fellow at the Asia Society in the US, said Indian democracy is tangibly transforming the world but its major challenge remains to democratise economic opportunity at home.
"If India succeeds, it will prove that democracy is not a luxury for rich, Western societies. If India fails, then democracy itself will have lost much of its allure, especially in the developing world. And so, the world must cheer India on," she said. DPA
While other Asian countries have resorted to military dictatorships, communism and Confucian-style one-party rule, India has produced a vibrant democracy that remains amongst the most stable on the continent, inspiring younger nations in Africa and Asia.
"From 1947, many predicted that democracy would fail in India, but they were proved wrong," said Sachin Pilot, a young member of parliament. "India is not only a working democracy but a dynamic one where changes of power take place smoothly in elections that are the largest planned human exercise on earth," he said.
As India lends stability in South Asia, one of the world's most volatile regions, global powers like the US, Japan and the EU seek closer ties with New Delhi, confirming the country's role as a regional power.
Even so, democracy in India is by no means perfect and has faced many serious challenges along the way.
In 1975, an authoritarian prime minister Indira Gandhi secured power by suspending democracy and declaring a state of emergency. Gandhi was thrown out of power by the Indian public when she held elections two years later.
At the same time, Indian politics is no more immune to the appeal of sectarianism and the siren call of communal identity than other countries. It is said that when Indians vote, they often vote their caste. Also, many lawmakers have criminal backgrounds.
However, factors that have helped democracy and an open society flourish include a free press, voluntary action and the creation of institutions like the Election Commission that give law and courts a seminal role in not merely defending rights but pursuing social goals.
India has made strength out of diversity, its perceived weakness. Instead of suppressing its diversity in the name of national unity, it has acknowledged its pluralism. All groups, faiths, tastes and ideologies survive and contend for their place in the sun.
The idea of India that its people have come to accept is of one land embracing many, Shashi Tharoor, a former UN under-secretary general, said.
An eminent historian from the Aligarh Muslim University, Shireen Moosvi, explained that an innate faith in democracy was ingrained in the national psyche by the freedom movement and founding fathers who won independence from Britain.
Tharoor, who was India's candidate for UN secretary general, says the clincher is that in India, democracy is not an elite preoccupation, but matters most strongly to the underprivileged masses.
"Whereas in the US a majority of the poor do not vote — in Harlem in the last presidential elections, the turnout was 23 per cent — in India the poor turn out in great numbers. It is not the privileged or even the middle-class who spend four hours in the hot sun to cast their vote, but the poor, because they know their votes make a difference."
Like China, India faces daunting challenges, including a fast-growing population that includes the largest number of children suffering from malnutrition, a quarter of its population below the poverty line, massive unemployment and poor health indicators.
But with relatively stable elected governments, its leaders have combined democratic rule and economic liberalisation over 15 years and the country now is ranked along with China as among the world's fastest growing economies.
"Democracy has made development at grassroots possible. The previous regime was kicked out by masses who were denied the fruits of economic reforms. They elected the United Progressive Alliance, which promised reforms with a human face," said Ram Autar Kushwaha, a clerk at a private firm in Delhi.
Lawmaker Pilot said India, which has focused on devolution of power and leadership in rural areas in recent years, has a "democracy edge" over China. There are now more than three million elected representatives at the village level.
"It's more to do with equality than mere growth rate figures. A rise in GDP is not a true index of economic growth, it is the equitable distribution of national income," contended Moosvi.
Among the challenges that lie ahead for democracy in India is that India not only has to lift its masses out of poverty, but also must preserve its precious pluralism.
"India is a rare example of the successful management of diversity in the developing world. But every time there are reports of religious violence or a pogrom, like the Hindu-Muslim savagery in the Gujarat state in 2002, it suffers a huge setback on its soft power. India must reclaim its true heritage in the eyes of the world," Tharoor said.
Mira Kamdar, a noted author and associate fellow at the Asia Society in the US, said Indian democracy is tangibly transforming the world but its major challenge remains to democratise economic opportunity at home.
"If India succeeds, it will prove that democracy is not a luxury for rich, Western societies. If India fails, then democracy itself will have lost much of its allure, especially in the developing world. And so, the world must cheer India on," she said. DPA
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