DailyPost 2246
INTOLERANT DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENTS!
If we delve deep into the sentiment which makes democracy benign is the overall feeling of tolerance. If something can be called as the heart of living, bubbly and robust democracy, it would certainly be tolerance. It has the capability of managing the frictions and fissures of a functioning democracy which are bound to keep cropping in a multifarious, and politically broken country like India. It the bounden duty of the establishment, belonging to whichever party, that has to have a tolerant edge and, in the process, extrapolates to polity and society of the nation.
If you just try think of various democratic establishments in last so many years, both at the federal and the provincial level, it would be very difficult to pinpoint a few well known tolerant democratic establishments. Living on the eternal principle of, by the people, for the people and of the people, how does did this discrepancy get created and it seems, it has come to stay. Intolerant democratic establishments have become the order of the day and have been there at least for a few decades. Most of the democratic dissonance which gets reflected in a variety of ways, has it its genesis in this ailment.
Unison and consensus have to the valued mantra, with dissent on the other side of the spectrum can only make things happen. Intolerant democratic establishments cannot usher democracy in their functioning, it is not even their concern, then from where does tolerant and responsive governance come from. Governments are what we are referring to by wat of democratic establishment. The day you are not able to differentiate the government by its party and all citizens find it to be responsive, we would have the real battle of ushering in true democracy. How much of democracy do we find in the parties?
Not schooled in the western liberal democracy mould and not seen it in practice here on the ground, they pick up what they see and quickly practice it. The end result is the power game and to get the best out politics and government. The business interests of our elected representatives play on their mind endlessly. The governments perforce have to ride roughshod to make good those goals. There is not even a thin line between the political party in power and the democratic establishment called government, which is supposed to work for common good. From business to political interest to take care and manage workers and support base vehemently, how can tolerant democratic establishment come into being. Transforming run of the mill politicians with do or die vested interests into a tolerant democratic establishment on coming to power, is the biggest challenge of Indian democracy.
INTOLERANT DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENTS ARE DEMOCRACY’S NEMESIS.
Sanjay Sahay