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| Kathmandu, Tuesday August 19, 2003 Bhadra 02, 2060. |
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Comprehensive
democracy
This refers to the
interview of Mr Mohammad Mohasin, former Chairperson of the National Assembly, carried in
your esteemed newspaper on August 18, 2003.
While we respect the
views of Dr Mohasin as an experienced and well respected political leader, we are unable
to agree with his description of Indian democracy as being "alive but in dire
straits". Quite the contrary, the experience of the past 57 years of India’s
democracy is a testimony to its resilience and its success in providing the best mechanism
through which formerly disadvantaged social and economic groups have been able to assert
their fundamental rights and find empowerment.
Indian democracy is not
merely the exercise of franchise by the largest number of electorates in the world. It is
also anchored by the presence of strong and independent institutions like a powerful
judiciary, an autonomous Election Commission, a free and vibrant media and an extremely
active and vigilant civil society. Yes, there are Naxalite groups operating in some very
limited parts of our vast country, and such challenges need to be and are being addressed,
but this is hardly any evidence that the entire country and its democratic system are in
dire straits.
We do not accept that
there is any direct correlation between per capita income and the resilience of democracy.
The Indian experience itself refutes this. India certainly has a long way to go, but it is
our conviction that some of the most important achievements India has to its credit, such
as being able to feed its one billion plus population, are directly related to our
practice of democracy. The Indian Constitution, which has remained the bedrock of Indian
democracy, has in fact guided it towards a steady development of its economy, distributing
economic benefits to an ever widening circle of people without abridging their fundamental
rights. We do not believe that democracy and development are antithetical, nor do we
accept that democracy is a luxury that only the rich can afford. The people of India have
proved this time and again in the past half a century and more. We do not believe that
people in other developing countries, including friendly Nepal, deserve any less.
Nagma M
Mallick,
First Secretary, Embassy of India |
