Wither Indian Democracy?-English Essay, Paragraph, Speech for Class 9, 10, 11 and 12 Students.

Wither Indian Democracy?

Inequality of rights and disparity of opportunities have been breeding ground of revolutions. On the ruins of monarchy and aristocracy, democracy has come into being with its doctrine of political equality. It is undoubtedly a grand social ideal. According to George Bernard Shaw, it is “a social order aiming at the greatest available welfare for the whole population and not for a class”. “A world in which, the voice of the people is the voice of God and the political capacity and sagacity of everyone over the age of twenty-one is infinite and infallible” is to him “a fairyland”.

January 26, 1950, was a Red Letter Day in the long and chequered history of India because on that day the Constitution of free India was inaugurated with pious hopes and great expectations. Produced by the untiring efforts and single-minded dedication of a galaxy of freedom fighters, legal luminaries, and constitutional experts of that time, the Preamble to the new Constitution of India proclaimed to the world that “We, the People of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a Sovereign Democratic Republic and to secure to all its citizens, Justice…… Liberty….., Equality, Fraternity……, adopt, enact and give to ourselves this Constitution.” Later, the adjectives, Socialist and Secular were also inserted in the Preamble.

It was, therefore, a solemn promise to all the citizens of India that the new State would be a sovereign, Socialist, Secular, and Democratic Republic, in which all its citizens will enjoy justice- social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and of opportunity. It also promised that the State would promote among all its citizens fraternity, assuring the dignity of individual and the unity and integrity of the nation.

Now, after more than half a century of Independence, most of the citizens are wondering as to what extent the solemn promises enshrined in the Constitution have been kept and in which direction our democracy is going. This is precisely the question, which this essay seeks to raise. To answer this question, we have to have a second look at the concept of Democracy and review its functioning in India over the decades.

On the one hand, illiteracy, unemployment, economic disparities, the concentration of wealth in a few hands, low standard of living, corruption, nexus between criminals and politicians and ever-new scandals, each involving hundreds of crores of rupees, are threatening the bed rock of Indian democracy. On the other hand, economic disparities, regional prejudices, political intrigues, underhand deals, linguistic fanaticism, etc., have assumed unmanageable proportions. The net effect of all these evil developments is that the system of governance based on the principle of rule of law has virtually collapsed. As a rule, under a democratic set-up, the law is supreme, all are equal before the law and in every case, and the law takes its own course. But in India of today, the law is enshrined in the pages of the law books but it does not operate on the ground. Law does not take its own course, but follows the course chalked out for it by the high and the mighty, who sometimes happen to be culprits and law-breakers themselves. Today only 25 percent of our population enjoys the fruits of development, perquisites and the monopoly of knowledge and power. Indian Democracy is at the crossroads today. Selfish, short-sighted, corrupt and dishonest politicians sometimes reach the highest offices in the State, because men of appropriate stature and vision have to- tally disappeared. Such leaders are hell-bent to fill their Indian and foreign bank accounts to the maximum and cultivate their vote banks, so as to be able to win periodic elections at any cost or by any method.

Communalism, casteism, religious fundamentalism, and inter-caste tensions carefully cultivated by the get-rich-quick professional politicians have created an environment in which the future of democracy in the country has become bleak. The result of all this is that people have lost faith in the party-based political system. The widespread frustration among the people reflected itself in the results of the recent Lok Sabha elections, in which no national party could get a clear majority to be able to form a Government on its own. A critical review of the election results shows that the days of national parties are over and the regional parties and independent candidates are gaining primacy. Some people have hailed this tendency as indicative of a shift towards genuine federalism. However, it is apprehended that soon this new type of federalism may cease to be a federalism of 28 States and 7 Union Territories and may well become a federalism of 543 Regions, with every parliamentary constituency assuming the character of a region and each assembly segment may become a sub-region. It should not be forgotten that right up to August 1947, we had got 570 Native States besides the 11 British Provinces of British India. Perhaps we are moving back to that feudal system.

Orthodox democracy has proved itself unequal to the exigencies of India. The problem is to modify the traditional institutions of democracy to suit present-day conditions. The inefficiency of democracy first became noticeable in economic problems in India. Therefore, to manage the economic system in such a way as to ensure for everyone a reasonable standard of living, coupled with a reasonable amount of security and liberty is imperative.

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