Democracy or Mobocracy

India today holds it's head high being proud to be the largest democracy in the world. During the PM's address to the US Congress he proudly said that US is the world's oldest democracy and India is the world's largest democracy. Pavan K Varma (and so we all should) in his book “Being Indian” asks the question how can a people who are of undemocratic mind-set be democratic? That is certainly a question we all Indians need to deeply ponder. How can this be so?

What are some of the principles which govern democracy? Freedom! Freedom to vote. Freedom of speech and expression. Freedom to practice and propogate your religion. Freedom of civil liberties. Freedom to choose. The word freedom conjures up some emotions of wild abandon. Abandoned to be yourself. The picture of a bird singing as it flits from place to place enjoying the wide open sky is the picture of freedom.

Former CM of UP attributed blame to the Election Commission for losing the UP elections to BASPA. There is an element of truth in this. The EC set an unprecedented standard of making sure that the elections were free and fair. And so it was. Goonda raj wasn't able to operate. There was none of the booth capturing which the UP elections are so notorious for. There were no threats to make voters vote for those they didn't want to. The heavy security force presence at polling booths and the police being kept away from polling booths made sure that the elections were free and fair. BASPA sweeping the board with an outright majority was a major surprise to all and sundry. Why? This time there was a difference. Voting wasn't done along a single cast line as was previously. There was a mixture of castes, Brahmins and Dalits. This time both Dalits and Brahmins voted BASPA. However, the point to note is that voting was still done along caste lines albeit a mixture of castes. Is this in line with democracy? The very idea of democracy is that voting should cut right across caste lines from one end to the other end of the spectrum, far-left to far-right . Be it UK, USA, France, Germany, Australia, SA,etc voting in western democracies is mostly done according to the acceptance or rejection of party policies. Will India ever get to that place?

It is enshrined in the Consitution that every citizen has the freedom to believe, practice and propogate the religion of his or her choice (Articles 25, 26, 27). All democracies have this enshrined in their constitutions and live accordingly. Where this freedom is infringed upon the perpetrators are brought to book and punished for this infringement. It can be very easily observed that those who infringe upon this basic human right are the Neo-Nazis and Fascist elements. In India it is very difficult to believe that this basic human right is enshrined in the constitution because the neo-nazi and fascist elements set themselves up as the moral police and make it seem as if it is immoral to believe and practice any religion besides their's. What does the law do? Most of the time the law is on the side of the violators of this basic human right because they confabulate some trumped up charges against the innocent. If you happen to be living in a state in which a fascist is the CM then beware. If you dare to be different your life can be made to be hell. Most of the time the fascist elements stir up the emotions of the people and march in mobs brandishing their weapons openly and then descending upon the so called guilty ones. What are they guilty of? Being different. Guilty of choosing a set of beliefs which are different to that of the fascist elements. The police is on the side of the rich and powerful and not on the side of the poor and voiceless. What does the central government do? Nothing. A mere rhetoric of being a secular rather than communal state when there is a flaring up of communal violence. The Gov has no backbone to stand up and come to the aid of those who have their rights infringed upon. It isn't a safe haven for minorities. It is embroiled in its own battle to try and stay in power. It cannot spare time for these trivialites.

When it comes to freedom of expression no artist, writer, actor or newspaper is spared. Like freedom of religion freedom of expression is a farce. The recent spate of cases against artists is a case in point. Renowned artist MF Hussain had his works vandalised and properties attached by court and cases of obscenity made against him. Other artists who have had their works vandalised have recently been at the sharp end of the trishul of the moral police too. Even those who stand up for the rights of the artists are punished by the court. If you stand up and protest then you can be hounded and attacked by the fascist elements for the rest of your life.

When some writer researches history and finds some not very complementary things about some past heroes then he is asking for trouble if he publishes this factual information. His office and the very centre where his research is carried out, housing a rich heritage of Indian civilization can go up in smoke in an instant while the rest of the property is completely destroyed by mobs baying for blood.

When an actress was the victim of racism in a celebrity program the whole nation was in uproar because the Indian sentiment was hurt. The same actress when during an HIV awareness campaign was the victim of being publicly kissed she and the kisser were both charged and summoned to appear in court for indecency. That was a laugh. Had it been 1st April all would have taken it to be an April fool's joke. But it was not April and no joke and no laughing matter. This was serious business of the moral police and the court.

This same Gov spends corores of rupees to attract visitors from all over the world to come to the tourist destination of the temples of Khajuraho, caves of Ellora and Ajanta to see the rich heritage of the land of India. The moral police doesn't bat an eye-lid when they stand in front of the statues in all kinds of indecent postures depicting nudity and sexuality. Is it because it is seen to be their gods? On the contrary it is touted as the rich cultural heritage of Bharat Mata. Why shouldn't it be...it fills the coffers of the Gov. Keep in mind this is the land famous world all over for the Kamasutra. In any other country these graphic depictions of sexuality of Khajuraho, Ajanta, Ellora and Kamasutra would be seen for what it is. Pornography. But breathe not a word of that sort here or you may have the wrath of the moral police come down upon you.

If there is any film which hurts the sensibilities of the moral police then the director making the film faces the wrath of the mob, most of whom don't even know why they are there, except to destroy at the behest of the moral police. If the film made it past the sensor board and is shown in cinemas then it is the cinemas who come under the brutal vandalism of the mobs stirred up by the fascist elements.

Here is something to think about. In the well known Sanskrit plays of Kalidasa the ladies are depicted as wearing very little clothing to cover themselves up. Some article of clothing on top covering the breast and something covering the bottom and a very filmsy wrap around. Hence much of the body is visible. Today the sari is seen to be the dress of modesty. Yet I sometimes don't know where to look when ladies wearing saris wear an extremely small blouse just covering the breast and tie the sari well below the navel leaving the entire area from the blouse to below the navel exposed in the front and much to be seen from the back too. I am surmising that modesty in clothing only came in with the Mughals. Hence the evolution to the sari from the sarong-like wrap around. However, even the modern sari still has marks of the immodesty of times of old. I wonder when the moral police will force all ladies to wear salwar-kamiz only?

Do we see the moral police lift one finger when Dalits are treated worse than dogs? Do we see them protesting against the female foetacide and infintacide and abortions? Do they do anything about the corruption in the police and judicial systems? Do they stand up for any travesty of justice? Did they stand up against the Nithari child killers? No! Why? Because it has nothing to do with their agenda. Their agenda is to bring everyone in line with their ideologies. Let corores rupees of food get rotten in godowns while the poor are dying of hunger and starvation. It isn't any of their concern.

What is ironical is that the fascist elements of India are the far-right and yet they are worse than far-left communist regimes of present and past.

Is India a true democracy or does mobacracy rule? Do you have the feeling of a bird soaring in the open sky or are you afraid there are fowlers out there who have set up their nets and they are waiting for you?