The Democracy of Gandhiji’s Dreams
Today, politics has no principles. We need to go back to Gandhi’s vision of democracy, says IBONIO D’SOUZA
In his characteristic wisdom, Mahatma Gandhi was of the view that democracy is the best form of government for our country of diversities, not only in the political field but in the economic and religious fields too, despite its being liable to be greatly abused. He also emphasised upon its constant development and maturity, and wished through this the transformation of his dream of ‘Ramarajya’ into reality. He visualised every citizen, weak or strong, would get an equal opportunity to rise, and that his or her security and honour would be guaranteed. Is this reality in sight? What is the present scenario?
The painful and pathetic plight of Gandhiji’s fruit – ‘Free India’ – is that the country has descended to an ignoble and unexplainable situation. We have wealth without work. Making a fast buck has made people resort to illegal means. Corruption is at a high key. In order to enrich themselves nobody is conscience-pricked about committing any kind of crime.
Our education lacks human values. It is job-oriented, and does not venture into character building. Students are made to masticate hundreds of pages of ‘knowledge’, but they are not taught independent thinking. The teachers of yesteryear exercised parental care. Present-day teachers, on the other hand, are often found abusing students. Culture has become obsolete and character has lost its meaning.
We do business without morality. Gandhiji said: “A customer is the most important visitor on the business premises.” What we see today in business is that the customer is supplied with counterfeit (euphemistically called ‘duplicate’) and / or spurious products. Black marketing is at its zenith and is being done in broad daylight. Most financial institutions drag the common man into a debt trap. We allow millions of people to starve, even as millions of tonnes of foodgrains openly rot!
Our intellects have expanded but our hearts have shrunk. Our technological advances have made possible a nuclear deterrent, space missions, acquisition of state-of-the-art weaponry, etc, costing thousands of crores of rupees. On the one hand, about half the numbers of India’s population goes to bed hungry each and every night.
Religion teaches us to ‘be good and do good’ and ‘oneness of all’. But what we find is that self-centeredness is omnipresent. People are sacrificing the ideologies of their religions to overpower other religions.
We have politics without principles. Groups, factions, parties and individuals, hungry and anxious to rule over the people, are proliferating. The majority of politicians are pursuing their careers with moral turpitude. They are more focused on enriching themselves and securing their vote banks, rather than promoting the welfare of the common man.
A criminal, by winning an election through means fair or foul, manages to substantiate his ‘innocence’ by the public mandate (s)he has obtained. Every political leader manoeuvres to secure a cabinet berth or some other high (and ‘lucrative’) position, mainly with an eye on the sheer power and wealth it endows. To achieve this they even quit their party and defect or rebel, and then rejoin it later on some assurance, with no qualms of conscience whatsoever. Politics without principle is the fundamental principle of politics now.
Is there still a possibility of the transformation of Gandhiji’s dream of ‘Ramarajya’; of bringing an advanced or evolved form of democracy into a reality? If yes, then when? Gandhiji knew that human beings always commit mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. He was aware that one cannot get rid of them immediately and completely. In the same manner, a man-made institution like democracy cannot be free of evils, entirely and right away.
Gandhiji particularly stressed upon discipline, equal respect of law by all, and priority to social will over the individual will. He believed that indiscipline, disrespect of law and priority to individual will over the social will, are among the main causes behind evils in a democracy. He said it is essential to minimise them, if not eliminate them altogether, to ensure discipline and enlightenment in a democracy.
Gandhiji’s great emphasis was on healthy public opinion and responsible representation. The reason being his stress on these was that if public opinion in a democracy is not healthy and mature, it can degenerate into a mobocracy instead of being strengthened. This has been evident over the years and at different levels in our country. Again, if elected representatives in a democracy are not responsible, they weaken it instead of becoming its defenders. Gandhiji’s call to save democracy from converting itself into mobocracy and making it people-friendly, thereby finally transforming it into a genuine ‘Swarajya’ was, and is, worth giving a thought.
How can a democracy be transformed into genuine people’s rule? How can it become a ‘Swarajya’? Gandhiji was of the view that this is possible through a process of constant reform, not in avoidance of it, and that too in accordance with the demands of time and the prevailing circumstances.
To support this process, he stressed that ordinary citizens need to be clearly conscious of their rights, duties and responsibilities towards the nation. He fixed the responsibility for this transformation on the people’s representatives on the one hand, and on the government on the other. In the words of Gandhiji: “Democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the centre. For, it has to be worked from below, by the people (consciously) from every village.”
Gandhiji’s views on democracy cannot be taken lightly. An open debate on their vitality and relevance in the current perspectives is vital, and it should be promoted by his claimed ‘heirs’. In today’s violence-wracked milieu, the whole world is looking at the ahimsa-based ideals of Gandhiji. Particularly, institutions of higher learning are making a critical analysis of his views on democracy and his methods. India’s only hope of resurrecting its much-mired democracy essentially lies in adopting the views of its ‘Father of the Nation’.
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Polly’tical Eggs’itement
By Francis Rodrigues
I awoke in a cold sweat. Crackling sounds came from the kitchen. “What’s cookin’, birdie?” I ambled over to my pet cockatoo Cocky, hovering over a sizzling pan. She glared. “Shaddup!” she yelled, turning a golden egg sunny side up, as she grabbed a raw one and held it aloft.
Outside, the last of the summer melted gloriously into autumn.
Cracking the shell, Cocky sang sarcastically:
“Humpty Dumpty Mr Obama
Sat on the White House wall,
Humpty Obama had a good summer
Then Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…”
Splash! The yolk splattered and sweet smells wafted forth.
“Which Humpty Dumpty are you cackling about?” I asked, as she added bacon rashers and hash browns.
“Aha,” she giggled, “So you get it. I’m a bird of prophecy.”
“Prophesy, grophesy,” I laughed, “you can’t even predict the weather like many famous Indian birds.”
“Excusez moi,” she glared, “Which crackpot Indian weather-birds are these oracles?”
“Well,” I said, “There’s quite a few – the cuckoo, the owl, the crow, the pitta bird… etc.”
“O man,” she cackled, “Oh men, that’s how evil they are.”
“Whaddya mean?” I snapped. “What’s with the ‘oh men’?”
“Heh heh,” she cackled, “Every Goencar knows the crow is a bird of ill… omen. As for the rest…”
“Hah,” I sniffed, “it’s raining cats and dogs in Goa, and you know who predicted that? The cuckoo!”
“It’s you who are cuckoo,” she guffawed, “If you can actually believe cuckoos predict the monsoon.”
“Well,” I said facetiously, “Some cuckoos live in a clock, so they are pretty accurate and timely.”
“I’m sorry,” she spat, “But I don’t give a hoot!”
“You can’t,” I roared, “You’re not an owl. You can’t even sing or ululate like our famous ull’oos.”
“I often wonder,” Cocky glowered with withering sarcasm, “why you got me, instead of marrying another talking bird.”
“Because,” I giggled hysterically, “sex with a mynah is against the law, ha ha!”
“I’m speechless,” she glared, “Here I carry on the famous tradition of the dove from Noah’s ark, the high seagulls of Punjab…”
“There are no beaches in Punjab,” I giggled back. “Is this the high seagull who sings: “Ki gull hai?”
“I’ve never heard such idiocy,” she spat, “Next you’ll be telling me the weather is predicted by the pitta bird from pitta bread!”
“Can we cut the crap?” I was tired. “Who were you singing your Humpty Dumpty twaddle to?”
“It’s an ancient prophecy,” she said sternly, “Symbolized by kings as fragile eggs losing their kingdom and crown! And I was being witty too – after summer comes… fall!”
“So who’s the king you’re predicting about?” I asked, “Indian?”
“Of course,” she screeched, “In the byzantine world of Indian politics, only kingmakers fish in troubled waters.”
“And a bird can predict that?” I was amazed, “So who is this next kingmaker of Indian politics?”
“Vijay Mallya!” she blasted. “Just elected… and on his way. So… a drink to my fellow prophet bird, who predicted his master’s ascent!”
“What drink?” I gasped, “What bird?”
“King… fisher!” she roared hysterically and collapsed.
The popat always knows.
[If you just arrived: Langoti ‘Long’ John Silva is a globe-trotting Goencar, always accompanied by his wise-cracking parrot Cocky]
