India’s Democracy, Diminished and Declining

Context: 

The article talks about how the truth about India’s declining democracy has taken the sheen away from an otherwise impressive story of the nation’s significant accomplishments.

Declining Quality of our Democratic Engagement:

• Incidents that have denuded Parliament of its institutional sanctity:
  • the expunging of parliamentary statements of Opposition leaders, 
  • the disruption of the Prime Minister’s speech in the Rajya Sabha, 
  • the disproportionate penalty of suspension imposed on an Opposition MP for recording the proceedings of the House, 
  • the disgusting puerilities (childness) of the people’s representatives.

• Reminders of the persistence of historical and social inequities:
  • The suicide of an 18 ­year­ old Dalit student in one of the country’s premier educational institutions because of ‘unbearable distress’ (allegedly on account of caste discrimination).
  • 16 year old Dalit student being beaten up by his principal as the boy is said to have drank water from the principal’s water bottle.

Deteriorated quality of our Political discourse:

• Use of Obscene Language: Leaders use profanities and hurtful language towards each other in democratic politics.
• Against the Dignity of Constitution: Political language today is full of hypocrisy and personal animosity, which reflects the narrowness of our politics.
  • This language breaks the promise of dignity in the Constitution and harms social unity.

Value of Elegant Communication in Democracy:

• Dignified Language: The effectiveness of communication is not about volume, but about the elegance of the spoken word.
  • The strongest criticism of injustice and misgovernance is best reflected in the depth and the dignity of the medium. 
• Accommodating Approach: The language of democracy is one of accommodation anchored in moderated thought and rational persuasion and not treating adversaries as  personal enemies.
• Finding a Middle Path: Democracy is not about a strong man imposing his will “over the wreckage of the universe”. 
  • It is premised on a search for the middle ground and rejection of extremes, an objective best served through elegant communication. 

Conclusion:

• The Spoken words and speeches of leaders provide the benchmark of democracy. The standing of our public figures is tested through their utterances, which also tell us who we are. 
• India’s diminished democracy can be resurrected only through an ennobling political discourse defined by civil conversation founded in reason and faith in the power of decency to make a difference.
• The foundations of the Republic are predicated on a just exercise of peoples’ power by ruling dispensations of the day and on the Opposition’s fearless pushback against the abuse of power.

News Source: The Hindu

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