This blog has been mostly silent since the Lok Sabha Election defeat in May with a few occasional tweets. When I say defeat, I speak of the defeat of democracy. It may seem like an extreme opinion to many, but I did not see the methods of the party that won as respectful of either democracy or rule of law.
All that is water under the bridge. The hiatus has made it clear that my fears were extremely reasonable. It has also made it clear that criticizing the government will lead to little beyond outrage noise and impotent rise in frustration.
Over the months, several who thought I was over reacting seem to have sobered in their appreciation of “victory of democracy” others continue with their unconditional regard for the government that can dilute protections to the environment, the poor and the minorities with scant thought for the country they claim to love. One fails to understand the celebration in democratic institutions being diluted through means that bypass the participation of elected representatives of people.
It is also pointless to speak of promises broken and “U-Turns” made. There are no surprises there, except for the newly disillusioned.
To me, this has been a period of cooling down. The brief foray I had made into political commentary seems to have lost its utility. Political commentary makes no sense in the face of impunity. Without even so much as an opposition, there is no real way to force accountability on the government.
Time to get back to blogging about policies, their impact on people, social issues and more.
That is what 2015 is going to be about. Ignoring a government we are helpless against, and seeing what we can do to empower ourselves and understand issues and how they are relevant to us to be empowered anyway.
The government has few answers to social ills anyway. What is needed is social reform, which we can achieve with determined action and proliferation of thoughts that trigger insights that uphold ideals that lead to a better co-existence.
That is the resolve. Now it is time to make it happen.
What do we mean when we say victory or defeat of democracy? Do we mean that we have incredible blind faith in the idea of a system that has been approved by the most elite (intellectually)? My uncle, who is a BJP sympathizer, has faith in democracy. One of my friend who is an AAP volunteer, has faith in democracy. My mother, who has been voting for BJP until the last elections (where she voted for AAP), also has faith in it. I do not have any faith in it. One might say that it is because of democracy that I can still be safe without having any faith in the system which dictates my daily life.
IMO, democracy is refined version of monarchy. But I have no problem with monarchy, much less with democracy. The center force that decides the nature of the democratic system is power and authority. Though some clever people can talk of decentralization of power, sharing of power etc etc in order to retain or hold on to power. Use the centralized structure, where the center will decide what will happen to the structure, to decentralize it. People can talk whatever they want to.
So, whether or not you call it democracy, whether or not your values regarding the nature of the structure be very high and noble, it is basically and essentially a system which is governed by the urge for power. Also, there was urge for power, that is why there is democracy. Not the other way around.
The people, that are respected and must be taken care of, in democratic structure, do not exist in actuality. Individually it can not help you at all. Collectively it can show tremendous respect for you. Collectively, as citizen of this great country, you are nothing, you have no value at all. The great trick that all the religious and political systems know very well.