Imported Democracy

I belong to the old school. In an age where everyone reads newspapers on their mobile phones i.e., online, I prefer to read the physical one. Over a period of time this has become a habit. Time now, I should get rid of this habit. The daily newspapers invariably consist news of rape, murder, cheating, burglary, arson, unrest and other petty crimes. This information is disturbing. What is happening? However, more disturbing news in the newspaper is the politics. In India, we may be having around 10 lakh politicians. These politicians belong to all regions and in various positions. In other words, I am talking of the politicians from the Prime Minister to the defeated ward level candidate. These 10 lakh politicians,invariably discuss, comment and preach us about democracy.

Is India a democratic country? The popular perception we created, across the globe, is ours being the world’s largest democracy! I am not defining democracy & not interested in that. Let us take India and its rulers during the last 4000 years. 2000 years after Christ (CE) and 2000 years before Christ (BCE). We had Maghada, Satavahana, Pandya, Chera, Chola, Kushana, Pallava, Kadamba, the Rai, Chalukya, Mewar, RastraKutha, Sena, Kakatiya, Chutia dynasties besides the Delhi Sultanate that ruled till 18^th century. The names of different dynasties stated herein are not comprehensive. I am stating them out of memory. I may have missed many dynasties, certainly. There was no democracy!

So, during the last 4000 years of Indian history, we were never once ruled in a democratic manner, whatever democracy may mean! We do not know anything about it – good or bad.

During the British rule we were greatly influenced with the western thinking. I wish to define the word ‘we’. ‘We’ here means the educated elite of India who had the opportunity of going abroad. They were impressed with western thinking, ideas &culture. They started dressing like westerners, speaking their language, reading their books &obtaining their university diplomas. Few of them thought that rather than be ruled by the British, we should rule ourselves – swaraj! The freedom struggle commenced. During the later stages of the over glorified freedom struggle, a situation arose when a Constituent Assembly and a drafting committee were formed to draft a constitution for a mythical India under the chairmanship of Dr. Bhima Rao Ambedkar. The very name drafting committee suggest that our present constitution is not a creation. These educated elite of the Constituent Assembly decided that India will be a democracy. Believing the ideals of democracy and socialism, Nehru, Ambedkar, and Gandhi etc., drafted the first line –“WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC…”.

In the past 4000 years we never heard the concept of democracy. None of the scriptures stated this concept. This was imported by the foreign educated people. Thus, democracy is an imported foreign concept. We have absolutely no notion of it. Similarly, the word ‘India’too a foreign concept, for over 4000 years we were ruled by the dynasties and kingdoms…not democracy!

If by mere statement of the Constituent Assembly if India can become democratic, then the moon is made of green cheese. The people of India have no idea of what this democracy is! Even today, 99% of the masses have no notion of democracy. It remained a foreign imported concept. Since we do not know what democracy is we do not know the value of it either. The uneducated idiots who do not know the difference between a diamond and a stone preach us about democracy!

Democracies cannot develop by declaring oneself as a democratic country. Hence, I am scared of these 10 lakh and odd politicians who rule us in the name of democracy! India was never a democratic country. The undemocratic values are so ingrained in our blood that it may take another 4000 years to understand ‘democracy’. Hence, I say India is home for the world’s largest imported democracy.

---