Wahid Saleh, an Assamese origin has made interesting comments on Indian democracy from Netherlands in the Assam Times. Assam is a north eastern state in India. It reels under the unbridled influx of illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh and terrorist violence, unleashed by various groups in the state.
When asked to comment on Indian democracy he said:
With more than a billion people, the Republic of India is the world’s largest democracy. In spite of poverty, considerable illiteracy and diversity on a sub-continental scale, it is still is a democracy. Democratic procedures go down to the village level. Indian government has decentralized several administrative functions, empowering elected gram panchayats to govern at the village level. This is something special. But the question is what type of democracy we have in India when ethnic and other identities like religion or language determine the voting process where a right of the group is more important than individual rights?
After the terrorist attacks in Mumbai the city elite and intellectuals were blaming the politicians. At the same time voters have turned up in unprecedented numbers to cast their ballots in elections to local assemblies in six states. And whom did they elect?
According to a study conducted by National Election Watch as many as 125 candidates with criminal records have won in assembly elections in December 2008. There are several candidates who have cases of serious criminal charges such as murder, attempt to murder and kidnapping against them. Affidavits submitted by the candidates showed that the total number of candidates with criminal records who contested the assembly elections were 549.
I think it was in a speech in 1999 our former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said that despite the outward appearance of health, Indian democracy appears to have become hollow, with elections reduced to a farce and the “party system eroded due to unethical practices.” According to Vajpayee, “The outer shell of democracy is, no doubt, intact, but appears to be moth-eaten from inside.” Vajpayee wondered whether democracy had truly taken root in India. “How can democratic institutions work properly,” he asked, “when politics is becoming increasingly criminalized?”
There is enough room for improvement. But still I am proud of it as it is still working and keeping India in one piece. Indeed India is the largest democracy. But is there freedom for all? According to the law all are equal in India. But due to the all compassing caste systems prevailing in our society, some people are more equal then the others. Otherwise we would not have 780 million Dalits, many of them still fighting at the lowest ladder of the society. Many of them are not allowed visiting the temples frequented by the upper caste or draw water from the village well.
There is no real freedom. Sometimes you even cannot choose different policies and different political parties and elect different leaders as the same set of leaders keep changing parties. An extraordinary growth of regional parties, coupled with defection politics and political infighting, the legitimization of criminal elements in the parliament and the State legislatures have compelled us to lose our faith in the ballot-box. The wheels of the electoral politics run on unaccounted money. This was also telecast live from the Indian parliament where three MPs pulled out bundles of notes to show that they were given to change party. The shocking statistic of vote for cash in Karnataka was highlighted in a study conducted by the Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Media Studies, titled ‘Alarming trend of purchasing voters’. Karnataka tops the country in voters being bribed to cast their vote in favour of a particular political party for money.
Another disturbing factor in Indian democracy is the use of populism in the political arena. It is a growing force in India, posing as “senas” or savior of local culture, generally operating as fronts for political parties to carry out their dirty jobs. Some of them will work for the highest bidders. Many of us have experienced corrupt bureaucracy and complain about it. But we have no ideas on removing this evil.
There is a rise of extremist ideologies, regional chauvinism, Islamic and Hindu fundamentalism, exploitation and communalism. There is no fatwas in the Hindu religion. But in 2001 the fundamentalist groups succeeded in preventing the circulation of the book “The Myth of the Holy Cow”, by Prof. D.N. Jha. A custodian of Hinduism even sentenced the author to death. The book was ultimately published outside India. In 2004, the government of Maharashtra banned the book “Shivaji: Hindu King of Islamic India” by US academic James W Laine. On January 5, 2004, in the name of protecting the image of Shivaji, large scale violence was unleashed by a mob resulting in the destruction of properties, valuable books. They ransacked the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune and destroyed valuable collections. Maqbool Fida Husain, India’s most famous living artist was banned by Hindu fundamentalist groups from exhibiting his work in Delhi as they were enraged by his paintings of nude gods and goddesses. But they all go on a pilgrimage to see the erotic sculptures of the sun temples of Khajuraho. We have seen what Raj Thackery did to North Indians. After the attack in Mumbai we have seen how Shiva Senas ransacked the properties of the lawyers who wanted to defend the terrorist. This is what I mean by - there is no freedom in our democracy.
Among the intellectuals of India, in their discussion I think four subjects dominates – cricket, cinema, corrupt politicians and corrupt system. In spite of all its drawbacks, Indian democracy was and still is a secular democracy and a republic with its States enjoying a good measure of autonomy, is still vibrant. There is a silent majority which upholds the values of democracy. Unlike our neighbouring countries, Indian democracy is not dominated by its religious leaders and the armed forces. We still sing with full conviction – Sare Jahan se Asha, Hindustan Hamara. Abroad, we are not Assamese, Bengali, Marathi or Punjabi. We are all Indians.

http://www.assamtimes.org/Editorial/2578.html