Having lived in the United States, the world’s second largest democracy and only superpower, and having seen through an election season here, I am certain that nothing in this democracy matches the scale of the campaigning and the colour and energy of an Indian election. It is strange that India, a country so divided and diverse can be so regionally, socially and politically fragmented and can still have an elected government. I am not about to brush aside the success India has had in its electoral system because of the many faults associated with its politics, such as criminalization, caste politics and corruption. I am more optimistic than, say, Arundhati Roy is, in that it is possible for the Indian democratic system to become more refined as Indians, especially young Indians, realize the importance of their democratic heritage of sixty years. However, with all the mixed signals being sent out in this election ahead of it, the multitude of crises that haunt the public memory, I think it would be safe to say that the very system of our democracy is under attack from many sides, especially from a homebred cynicism amongst the youth that is threatening the fundamental premise that our country can be a democratic republic.
Where this cynicism comes from is a question any self-respecting Indian should ponder about. The changing tides of power and the cultural changes, globalization and economic influences have led to a multitude of changes in the average voter’s mindset. The truism that exists in Indian society today is that as a society with an increasingly wealthy upper class and a burgeoning middle class and an increasing number of poor people, the country as a whole is producing leaders who are more and more opportunistic, rather than more enlightened. Gone are the days when a Nehru or a Sardar Patel could inspire millions with his vision for the future. That world has merged with this one through the predictable route of authoritarian dynaties stemming from Nehru, the subsequent threats to the very idea of the Indian nation, communal clashes, the rise of the alternative to the Congress and even the rise of a third alternative to the Congress and the BJP. The phenomenon of coaliation politics is here to stay as well. These days, well meaning leaders are cast into the same fray as bullies, cowards and opportunists, making political survival a dirty game. There are no movements to capitalize on, no flags to fly except the flags that divide and conquer, and no stones are left unturned in gaining political advantage. Predictably, the way forward is forgotten in the mess of the present. And part of the mess of the present is the very nature of India – the pluralistic, dissonant country that has many faces, voices but seemingly, a single ethos.
Where does the common man fit into this picture? Only on the very fringes. The majority of India’s political class have effectively isolated the power of the common man from the equation, by practicing caste-based and communal politics. Even the so-called secular fronts indulge in this, perhaps more ignominously than the parties known to be oriented towards the Hindu majority in our country. The buck doesn’t stop there. Polarization on many fronts has been a feature of most recent Indian societies, especially during and after the 1980s. It is common knowledge that when a people are oppressed for centuries, and are then provided the freedom to practice their culture, they find an expression that is somewhat militaristic in its fervour, as if to affirm that their culture is a source of power. Leaders around the world have probably exploited this sentiment effectively, to lead their people in the face of odds large and small. The common man in today’s India is on the fringes, influencing these divisive forces, or else blissfully disconnected from the Gordian knot that is Indian politics. We need no Alexander in sight to break the knot with his sword, as that may damage the rope that makes the knot. This has been the case with our neighbour, Pakistan. We need a force that is intelletual and sweeping, awakening the masses to act in the face of corruption, greed and power hungry opportunism, and not a dictator who will crush the fabric of our society. Most well meaning fellow Indians accept this, but also admit that India’s system needs watershed change. This watershed change will probably not be a revolution, because, as poetic and irrational as it may sound, people are now too pragmatic for revolutions. It may be war that could change political equations in India, or better still, completely rewrite them, but war is a phenomenon that is becoming an outdated way of settling issues. That is, until we have our own version of D H Lawerence, who’d package the oldest trick in the book as the very latest thing and pass it off as the best thing to do. As enticing as this may be for those of us who think with our hearts rather than our heads, it is common knowledge that most effective outcomes to a problem lie in the middle, somewhere in between the very old and the very new. Although Bertrand Russell’s essay on Genius may have been relevant in 1932, it is most certainly not relevant in modern India, where things are more complex and anything pontifical and self-righteous is either frowned upon or dismissed as froth, as if the intentions behind these bouts of self-righteousness are malefic. It is not possible for India to attain a leader of magnanimous stature any more. We will have to make do with many hundreds of emasculated ones. This may not be a bad thing, and in fact, may become a very good thing, as long as we the people keep ourselves in check. If we were to cross the limits that we don’t know well enough yet, we may be in for trouble, and then, no one can come to our help in the midst of our distrust and cynicism.
There are probably two ways out of this. On the one hand, we could develop a cadre of leaders by a form of social engineering – but as we know crowds are generally less intelligent than the average person, and the greater the crowd, the more so. India is the second largest crowd in a single nation on the planet, and I don’t see a single leader emerging soon. The second way, is to do a lot more work away from the top, bring a silent revolution to the people that sees many more empowered, enlightened and cooperative individuals in our society. The second way is more sustainable, and that is probably the way forward.
4 Comments
April 2, 2009 at 11:47 am
‘the very system of our democracy is under attack from many sides, especially from a homebred cynicism amongst the youth ‘ That just about sums up the biggest(and probably the only) problem in India. And ironically this ‘old’ man seems to be the antithesis for the cynicism of our youth -http://goodnewsindia.com/pointreturn/online/why-is-goodnewsindia-not-being-updated/
And yes i agree with your suggestion about the ’silent revolution’. Any reform, be it legal or financial or administrative cannot bear fruit unless the seed has been sown through social reform. In the days of yore it was done by the society in general and the family in particular, their actions, in turn, being regulated by religion. Over the years the first two institutions have come upon to be looked as constrictive to ‘progress’ and the last one has fallen into disrepute. Unless these instituions are revived and reformed, not much can be done in the way of strenghtening our democracy….
April 3, 2009 at 2:43 am
Madhu, thanks for your comment. The cynicism is one of my biggest issues although I strangely share some of it. It is difficult to be enthused by the current crop of politicians and the political circles these days.
You make an interesting point. Since the family’s role has weakened simultaneously as the political system is criminalised and emancipation programs for the poor like Garibi Hatao bombed, the system has gone awry. In the presence of poverty, it is possible, through strong family and community values, to instill a sense of purpose in the youth, but this is becoming increasingly difficult.
The US faces a similar problem, because of weak families. Unconventional family arrangements are common here, and more often, youth grow up with a lot of confusion regarding their identity. While they are protected by the government and are able to make it in life in general, a growing number are unhappy, because an increasing number of marriages are marriages of convenience, an increasing number of people find money and position to be more worthy than good families. This materialism has consumed the European values retained in American societies, which has also been eaten away by sometimes misled libertarianism.
India is going down the same road and is facing the same conundrum – emancipation of minorities by helping them assert identities, rather than including them into the mainstream, sensationalism in the media, etc.
Religion in India and the West has taken blows. Hardliner Hindu and Islamic groups in India are counterparts of hardliner Christians in the US. The catholic church, mullahs in several mosques and the Shankaracharya have all been involved in scandals of some sort or other. Religion as an institution and ideology is waning in its influence.
April 4, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Nice post. But, I reckon its the public/common man who is emasculated, courtesy our political class. It will take a great deal of effort to self-correct ourselves and polity, at large.
April 4, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Amit, thanks for your comment. I guess the powerlessness the common man feels is in part the result of the cynicism that has built up over the years too. In this sense, yes, the common man have also become emasculated, to the extent that they aren’t able to do anything about vicious politicians who themselves are in no position to fight the system. The system is broken, in a certain sense.