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Indian Democracy: Meaning and Politics
edited by Rajindra Vora and Suhas Palshikar. Democracy, originally a political principle, has now been enlarged to include economic, social as well as ethical ideas. It being one of the most emotionally provocative words in political vocabulary, in India, unfortunately, democracy is still not understood in the latter sense (economic, social and ethical). Though India has gradually evolved her own system of governance, much improvement is desired. Distinguished political scientists like Rajni Kotari, Javed Alam, Sanjay Kumar, Gopal Guru etc. deliberate on the meaning and practices of democracy in India. Discussing one of the relevant concepts, Substantialisation of Democracy, meaning proper representation and participation of people in decision-making, Rajindra Vora and Suhas Palshikar, editors, feel that this goal is yet to be achieved. The masses are yet to feel involved in the political process for democratic values and attitude, which can only be reinforced by repeated political experiments. With Mahatma Gandhi’s and Vinoba Bhave’s dream of politics of self–governing people shattered, it is the parties in India which maul and manipulate democracy. Rajni Kothari feels that: "We may be reaching the limits of representative democracy and its capacity to promote social change," for new challenges are emerging everyday. The menace of regionalism, ambitious corrupt leaders and appeals in the name of religion, which are not only provocative but also shrill and militarised, add to our woes. The essays questions whether democracy in India has become a mobocracy, and why have the masses been excluded from the spirit of representative democracy. D. L. Sheth rues on this aspect of democracy. Elections, he argues, are becoming less significant in setting the valid claims of political authority. Political parties rely on mobilising either the casteist or communal sentiments to emerge as a powerful partner in any coalition. Mohanty, in his essay, Theorizing Indian Democracy, calls the Indian experiment a "creative theory of democracy", for our model doesn’t fit in the standard categories of Euro-American theories. In his essay, he traces the development of the Indian state through different stages and through different crisis. Palshikar discusses the concept of empowering the different segments of society and tries to explore the different dimensions of democracy. Highlighting the role of elections, which are interplay of domination and aspirations, he also proves that elections are a chance for the disprivileged to show their dissent and anguish. Thomas Pantham praises Gandhi’s stand on the inseparability of religion and politics and for giving the former prominence over the latter. Indian democracy is evolving everyday, despite being infected with many ills; thus, it becomes all the more important to reflect upon the reasons for its marginal success. Any discussion on Indian democracy would be incomplete without deliberating on the issue of the Dalits. Gopal Guru argues that the leaders of the Dalits have let their people down by themselves becoming an appendage of the dominant parties. The leaders bargain for the spoils of power, which makes them lose their status. Indeed, it is true, for the Dalit leaders talk of issues far-removed from the aspirations and demands of the Dalit masses, who form a sizable portion of the Indian population. These essays discuss the important developments, the various crises in India’s social, political as well as economic systems and tries to offer solutions. Focussing on the crisis of secularism, the assertion of the backward castes and the decline of the social movements, the writers sincerely hope that the Indian tryst with democracy succeeds. The work is the result of a seminar organised by the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Pune, in January 2000. Such essays and discussions are essential for forcing us to retrospect on the various facets of democracy and its application in India, despite hiccups. |
