A cowardly world we are creating?
The new dictators might be terrorists or the nuclear adventurers?
Time to look at our democratic pretensions very critically!
The world thought that after 1989,the world would turn on to a new civilization. The “end of history” and the dawn of a liberal democracy, the world believed with confidence.
Now, we see the new dangers. Democracies, says a new book, from Singapore to India to China to Russia and even USA and Britain we see the democracies taking some sinister turns.
The poor and the weak and the underprivileged, in the case of India, the situation is almost typical of this phenomena, the rural and the poor, as against the urban and the privileged, the new generation cooperates are very like in a way, the Russian oligarchs, and so the democracy ,again as in India ,is excluding the vast mass of people, while democracy, as again in India, is becoming less genuine and more twisted. We have a vast range of people, starting with the Prime Minister, not elected to the Lok Sabha nor elected but becomes the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister often talks of inclusive growth. What is inclusive? The economy or the polity or the society?
None at all as we can do a survey.
Why, many top bodies have persons who seem undeserving to hold such high constitutional offices. Often manipulated or arbitrarily chosen, again, by a non-representative, undemocratic process or processes. The Rajya Sabha is again an instance. And so on.
It is time we start worrying. Worrying about the degeneration or derailing of the democratic processes. Dynastic politics is only one instance of derailment!