What is democracy??
A school-going kid would answer: "It is the government of the people, by the people and for the people."
It's a simple and easily understood definition in our country. Unfortunately, as is evident by plain observation, we seem to be focused, somewhat, only on the latter 2 phrases - "by the people" & "for the people", and have either completely forgotten or ignored the first one - "of the people".
Let me explain what I mean by that. We people have, in our minds and thought, limited democracy to elections only. Once we cast our votes, we think we are done with our democratic responsibility. There is no doubt regarding the importance of elections; in fact, they are fundamental to a democracy. But, we tend to forget our other major fundamental democratic responsibility without which elections become meaningless gradually.
Many of us keep harping on the irresponsible or unaccountable attitude of the elected leaders and keep complaining about the corruption in our political system. It is true that our politicians are some of the most corrupt people, but the question is: what made them so corrupt, so irresponsible?? Is it that they are born corrupt or criminal minded? May be. But they wouldn't have dared to doing it so openly had we citizens been vigilant and ever mindful of our duty in a democracy.
So, it's that we are mindful of our rights ("for the people") and also elections ("by the people"), but we tend to ignore our duties ("of the people"). In my previous post, I mentioned about the burden of democracy. This is what I meant by writing that the burden lies on our shoulders, on the people of India.
We demand our rights and worry that they are being abused, but we forget that we will have our rights only when we perform duties. That is, we get our rights by the virtue of our duties. We neglect our responsibility and expect the elected representatives to fulfill theirs'?
Now, what do I mean by the duty or the responsibility? It is that we don't forget our nation right after we cast our vote, but to keep an eye on the policies the Government makes, and let our voices and concerns be heard and, more importantly, be responded to.
Who would dare even think of taking bribery for example, if he/she knew how conscious the people are? After all, the politicians were once normal people like us, and they aren't aliens who came from other planet.
You could say, "Ah! This ain't possible by me," or "who cares what they do?" or "I have many other matters to tend to." But, how can you or I possibly do anything constructive, even for ourselves, if our freedoms get snatched; if we are again subjected to dictatorship or autocracy or monarchy??
Therefore, it's not just a burden of democracy, but rather a burden of being free. If we don't want to pay the price of being enslaved, we better wake up and do what we have to.
I know that decades of our indifference to the politics has left us in a receptive or passive state, and that state terror has taken its toll on many of us. Those who tried to raise their voice against injustice and deceit have been severely dealt with or put down by the arm of force. But, if we do not act now, things will just become worse and worse.
The choice is ours!
