The Different Facets of Indian Democracy

Let’s Start

Hello there,

I hope everyone reading this will keep an open mind.

Democracy at its core is all about a government system where regular folks like you and me pass on our power to chosen representatives who make decisions for us. It’s not just one-size-fits-all; democracy can take different forms, such as direct democracy, where people vote directly on issues, or the kind we often see, where we elect leaders in a representative democracy. Sometimes, you might even have a democratically elected government within a constitutional monarchy.

But here is the kicker: to keep things fair and balanced, there are rules and limits in place when it comes to using that power in a democracy. Otherwise, those we elect might go wild and do whatever they please.

These restrictions can be term limits, different pillars of government, independent judicial systems, federal governments, staggered elections, transparent and open policy making, auditing of state spending, universal suffrage, arming the people, independent government institutions, free press, freedom to assemble, freedom to protest or build the ideal of democracy into royal traditions and institutions of the state.

These restrictions, checks and balances often form the foundation of a liberal democracy, constitution, and society.

It’s pretty clear these days that a lot of folks are starting to question the whole idea of liberalism. They are out there looking for alternatives to the democratic values we have got. Some of them think we should just throw caution to the wind and let power run wild with no rules.

But honestly, they are missing the mark, like they usually do.

If you take a good look at the past 200 years of political history, you’ll notice that plenty of those authoritarian regimes have crumbled into dust, while those liberal governments seem to have an almost eerie level of stability.

Still, that hasn’t stopped some anti-democratic forces over in India from shaking things up and entertaining some pretty wild ideas about how to reform Indian democracy.

This long opinion article is all about breaking down the different facets of democracy in India since 1951.

Majoritarianism

Majoritarianism is the philosophical idea that being the majority in the country should come with certain privileges and entitlements that are exclusive and harder to access for minorities. It doesn’t matter that these privileges come at the expense of some other group in the country.

It is a complicated way of saying:

“Might makes Right.”

This concept is at the heart of modern Indian democracy. Regardless of different political beliefs, government policies in India have often favoured certain influential groups while discriminating against those considered minorities in the political scene.

India is a pretty complex place with all sorts of religious, linguistic, and ethnic groups, and there are a bunch of divisions and differences that overlap. Instead of recognizing that India’s foundation is built on its collective independence struggle, British colonialism, and social movements, some people have pushed this nationalist idea that India is a 4000-year-old nation of Hindus, and everything should revolve around that.

But here’s the catch: Hinduism itself has lots of different sects, beliefs, and ideas, and what’s true in one region might not hold in another. So, who really gets to be the majority? Who decides? Are all Hindus part of this majority, or are some beliefs left out?

This push for a Hindu India mainly reflects the beliefs of North and West India, ignoring the values and identities of folks in the rest of the country, like the Northeastern tribes, Bengalis, Odias, Telugus, Tamils, Muslims, Christians, and sexual minorities.

We all should ask how many people think that a particular Hindu god (for example: Durga) forms the foundation of their national identity?

So, we are left with this majoritarian rule that’s based on some randomly chosen values, and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Building a country around a single idea, value, and religion doesn’t work when India is home to such diverse groups, faiths, and languages. Therefore, a majoritarian identity chosen randomly is exposed as nothing but irrational daydreaming.

Modern India is the sum of ancient Mahajanapadas, Magadh Empire(s), internal and external migrations, expansion of Delhi Sultanate, the establishment of the Mughal Empire, subjugation by the British, Revolution of 1857, countless protests, strikes, and rebellions dating back to the ancient era. The current attempts of the state to co-opt ancient rituals into current state practices is a lazy attempt to unify the people under a singular idea that never existed in the past (I am talking about the Sengol, prayers, and priests). It is as if the US president wearing an exact replica of the British crown on the inauguration day to pay respect to the origin of the modern USA as colonies of the British Empire.

To put it in simple terms, there has never existed a time when India was a golden bird. The majoritarian democracy of India is:

1. a nation built for an ill-defined majority
2. a pluralist nation that respects the value of certain groups (still not a majority)
3. a republic worshipping the by-gone empires of the past

One Nation One Language

The Indian state has always believed in the Idea of Unity in our Diversity. A liberal idea where people stand together despite their differences. This has made India a darling in the eyes of other democratic nations.

But there is a catch.

For decades, India has been systematically subjugating various linguistic groups in India to artificially build a Hindi-speaking majority. The story of modern India has many examples where Hindi and Hindi speakers were prioritized over other languages through denying statehood, suppressing languages as dialects, and promoting education in selected languages as a way to “bridge the communication gap”.

The kingdoms of India that preceded the modern state were squabbling subjugated entities that existed under the boot of the imperial British crown. As the empire slowly lost control of its imperial subjects, the Indian freedom fighters debated and concluded that India would be a nation for Indians. However, these Indians belonged to different cultures, spoke different languages, and worshipped different gods. Their vision of a modern Indian state made space for all Indians but everyone communicated and used a singular bridge language.

Standard Hindi.

Now, the idea of a bridge language isn’t necessarily bad, but forcing Hindi on other North Indian languages and suppressing unique dialects opened the door to some pretty sinister notions. Such as:

1. One nation, one election
2. One nation, one leader
3. One nation, one culture
4. One nation, one race

This whole idea of creating a linguistically homogenous state has led some folks to believe that India can only succeed if everyone speaks and thinks the same way. That mindset has given rise to authoritarian laws, control over education, media, entertainment, religion, industries, and national myths, all aimed at enforcing uniformity in a country that’s incredibly diverse.

As Hindi was promoted throughout India, it left little room for other regional languages, and this “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan” notion started taking root, making people who didn’t fit into this group feel like they didn’t belong in India, which, in turn, led to more discrimination.

So, when the current government came into power, they had a system in place to insert and spread certain anti-democratic ideas that didn’t really match the original idea of the Indian republic. The imposition of a single language made it easier for the government to undermine Indian democracy and its people.

The fact is simple, the promotion of Hindi over other languages has put India on a road where it has slowly transformed into:

1. a nation confused about its national identity
2. a nation unable to respect the ideal of Unity in Diversity
3. a nation on the road to becoming an Ethnic Republic

Democracy for God(s)

India is a prime example of how religion can have a pretty toxic influence, not just on the government but on society as a whole. They have been using Hinduism left and right to score political points, and it’s gone beyond just religious sentiments — it’s getting downright sinister.

India is diverse and a multicultural nation with 80% population Hindu and a sizeable minority of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains. Within Hindus, the caste system has established a system of oppression that further divides people into Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras, and Dalits. There are many more separations within each varna into smaller caste groups.

The people born into these castes have no choice but to accept their fate and oppression as the caste system is intrinsic to the existence of Hinduism. The continuous oppression by Indians of other Indians has further separated the society into different political, social, and economic classes. Despite gaining independence from colonial rule, India hasn’t managed to kick this caste system to the curb because taking it on means going head-to-head with the Vedic God(s) themselves.

Throughout history, Indian kingdoms, whether Hindu or Muslim, have had their fair share of discrimination and suppression against certain minorities in their territories. But today, this issue of discrimination is even more crucial because the Indian state is all about promoting values like liberty, equality, fraternity, and social justice. So, you have got a population caught in this complex web of oppression, surrounded by both thugs and those who claim to be religious saviours.

Fast forward to today, and you have got Indian political parties positioning themselves as the protectors and representatives of our religions. Imagine living in a country where political parties put religion above the people — it’s a nightmare and insane. When it comes to elections, it’s becoming pretty clear that our choices don’t count for much, because those elected end up dancing to the tune of these so-called religion protectors.

The Sangh Parivar, a state within a state, aims to remake India into a theocratic nightmare where its loyalty lies to mythical God(s) and not to the people. Various members of the Sangh Parivar act as inquisition and crusaders in the name of the religion in which one rises through the ranks with ever-increasing anger, madness, and fanaticism.

Theocratic rule in a democracy is a recipe for disaster. Choosing between different flavours of extremism is still, well, extremism. In a system like this, democratic dissent doesn’t really have a place because any form of defiance is seen as an attack on the gods. In the eyes of those in power, the people are just expendable pawns in their quest to create a heavenly utopia right here on Earth.

To put it in simple terms, Democracy for God(s) is:

1. any nation established to protect a religion with a soul filled with fanaticism and hate
2. a nation where people are subjugated by those who see themselves as less sinful.
3. a nation where mythical God(s) hold more value over people

A Special Case for One

Alright, let’s dive into the final facet of Indian democracy. It’s like this big, glaring problem that’s abandoned all those liberal democratic values we hold dear. We are talking about something that’s basically a sham, a real mess in our system — it’s like a systemic rot that serves no purpose for the Indian people. This part of the deal deserves its own spotlight.

Let’s call it “The One.”

One has many interpretations:

1. Number: “One” is the numerical value representing the quantity that comes after zero and before two in the counting sequence.
2. Unity or Singularity: “One” can symbolize unity, singularity, or individuality. It’s often used to represent a single entity or a unique and indivisible concept. For example, “We are one” can convey a sense of unity among a group of people.
3. First: “One” can also indicate being the first in a series or ranking.
4. Agreement or Consensus: In casual conversation, “one” might refer to an agreement or consensus.

“One” in Indian democracy often refers to an individual, person, position, agency, or office that holds absolute power over everything. Initially, this “One” was meant to be the cornerstone of Indian parliamentary democracy. But guess what? It’s gotten so powerful that now all policies have to go through a bunch of influential, undemocratic folks. It’s basically wrecked our parliamentary decision-making and replaced it with half-baked policies that don’t really do much to help the Indian people.

This fraudulent aspect of Indian democracy has transformed the nation as if the British never left. “One” is an extremely opaque, self-serving, undemocratic facet of our republic that carries on the legacies of the 200-year-old colonial rule. The “One” doesn’t have any vision, intention, or ability to change anything because it’s afraid that revealing its true colours will expose it as a fraud. It’s not into the whole social progress idea; it’s more about keeping things the way they are — very conservative.

Even that is not the purpose or ideology of the “One”. Its ideas are basically whatever those in the government want. It can flip-flop as long as its position isn’t threatened. This “One” is like a rock, immovable, unchangeable, and unstoppable. It can’t serve the people because it was originally designed to serve an idea that doesn’t even exist anymore.

Now, when you ask folks about what this “One” does, there’s no clear answer. Some say they make policies, others say they implement them, some even think they keep a check on things, and others believe they support the Indian administration. But whatever it does, it’s all pretty self-serving and doesn’t really benefit the Indian people. While some other aspects of our democracy might have had philosophical or ideological reasons for their actions, this “One” just seems to be a big fraud.

So, what’s the deal with “One”? Who is this mysterious “One”? Why does it even exist? And where the heck is it hiding? These are questions that need some serious answers.

Conclusion

This long discussion opinion article has highlighted the facets of liberal Indian democracy. These facets are actually changing our republic bit by bit, making it less and less liberal. And when you strip it down, it becomes pretty clear that at the heart of all illiberal states, you have a bunch of cronies running the show.

Sources for images used:

Photo by Studio Art Smile from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/horizontally-striped-flag-3476860/

Photo by Sanket Mishra from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/celebration-of-chhath-puja-worshipping-of-the-sun-chhath-puja-is-one-of-the-most-major-festivals-of-india-16034842/

Photo by Naveen Kumar: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-wearing-traditional-costume-12308372/

Photo by NEOSiAM 2021 from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-photography-of-child-on-bus-618116/

Photo by Rahul from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lighted-candle-695644/