On January 26, India celebrates Republic Day. With the repeal of the All India Act 1935, this day marks the beginning of the functioning of the Indian constitution. India is a democracy, but it is not a perfect one. There are several flaws in the Indian democratic and governmental structures that have become increasingly evident in recent years. However, the claim of the largest democracy needs some analysis to uncover flaws and legitimate issues in the Indian democracy and governmental structure.
Historical perspective and concept of democracy in India:
The driving force of political democracy is social democracy. However, democracy on the state level is meaningless unless democratic values exist in the societal livelily. Democracy is equality for everyone, regardless of race, creed, caste, or religion. Social democracy, or opportunity for everyone, is necessary for democracy. Constitutionally, India is secular, but socially, it is not. There has been a rage towards Muslims, Sikhs, and other religious groups. Congress, despite its legacy, lacks ideology. Political parties simply want to gain power by any means possible; to do so, they must form alliances with other parties. Indian democracy relies on cash, crime, and corruption, and no party can win the elections on its own. India’s democratic society has been permeated by violence at several levels. Populist measures have sometimes had harmful results. Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991 and Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s murder in 1984 are instances of the extremes of violence that entailed the murder of a state’s leader.
Contradictions exist between the ideologies of BJP leaders Gandhi, Nehru, Indira, and Modi.
The ideas of the leadership are quite contradictory; even Congress doesn’t have a clear-cut ambition despite having a legitimate history; thus, it portrays a crack in the façade of not having clear ideological goals, which sometimes hinders democracy.
The ideas of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Narendra Modi of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) might be seen as being extremely diverse and contradictory.
Mahatma Gandhi, who led India’s campaign for independence from British colonial control via nonviolent civil disobedience, is regarded as the father of the Indian nation. He promoted nonviolence, social fairness, and religious peace. Gandhi believed in “Sarvodaya” (the well-being of everyone) and pushed for the improvement of society’s underprivileged parts via the ideals of Satyagraha (insistence on the truth) and Ahimsa (nonviolence).
The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a secularist who believed in the values of secularism and democracy. He was essential to the formation of India’s foreign policy and the country’s economic growth. Nehru envisioned India as a democratic, socialist, and secular nation.
Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru and India’s third prime minister, was renowned for her strong leadership and emphasis on economic growth and poverty eradication. She enacted a variety of programs designed to improve the lives of the poor, including land reforms and the growth of education and healthcare.
In contrast, the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and his party, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), have been identified with a right-wing, Hindu nationalist philosophy. The political philosophy of the BJP is built on the Hindutva (Hindu Ness) idea, which highlights the cultural and historical uniqueness of India’s Hindu majority. This is seen in the party’s attempts to marginalize minorities, notably Muslims, and its drive for a Hindu-centric agenda. Additionally, the party has been condemned for propagating a majoritarian narrative and weakening the secular nature of the Indian state.
Flaws and shortcomings in Indian democracy and its governmental structure
India, the world’s leading democracy, has a constitution that shapes its complex and diversified political system. However, despite its merits, professionals and academics have recognized several problems in the existing structure of government.
The lack of effective decentralization of authority is one of the key problems of India’s governmental structure. The Constitution of India allows for a federal government system in which the central government and the states share authority. However, the central government controls a substantial amount of authority and resources, while the states have very little autonomy. This has resulted in the centralization of power and impaired the capacity of nations to govern efficiently and meet the demands of their people.
The lack of accountability and openness in the workings of the government is another significant problem in India’s governmental system. The administration is often accused of being opaque and unresponsive to citizen requests and complaints, which has resulted in a breakdown of the democratic process and a loss of public confidence. This is worsened by the absence of independent institutions that can hold the government responsible and the absence of effective checks and balances on the government’s authority.
In addition, India’s electoral system is criticized for its susceptibility to manipulation, with money and brute force having a large part in determining election outcomes. This hurts the freedom and fairness of the election and makes democracy less good.
Moreover, the total population of India comprises 50% women, but at the state and federal levels, they do not even get 10% of the representation. As a result of such neglect and the democratic flaw, rape, domestic violence, and other injustices against women are common in Indian society.
Apart from that, India is composed of 28 states and 8 union territories and has a population of 1.24 billion people who speak several languages. Approximately 60,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, 42 lakhs in various high courts, and 2.7 billion in the district and subordinate courts. The judicial system is inefficient and slow, and there are insufficient judges. More than 260 million farmers are now protesting the established agricultural law, yet the farmer’s protest continues to fail Indian democracy since the government has taken no action. People continue to face poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment in the country because there are only 1% of its 1.24 billion people are taxpayers.
Modi’s fascist ambitions and democracy
The question of whether Prime Minister Modi has fascist tendencies and what impact this might have on Indian democracy is hotly debated.
Several measures, according to critics of the Modi administration, reveal a lack of devotion to democratic norms. For instance, the government’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and impose a strict military lockdown has been widely condemned as a violation of the citizens’ rights and autonomy. Similarly, the government’s response to rallies against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been condemned for being heavy-handed and infringing on civil freedoms.
Others claim that the actions of the Modi administration have led to a climate of religious and social tension in the nation. Many see the government’s intention to build a temple on the site of the demolished Babri Masjid, a 16th-century mosque that was destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992, as a provocative act that has exacerbated sectarian tensions even more. Also, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was used in the state of Assam and led to the removal of millions of people, mostly Muslims, has been called unfair and a violation of human rights.
Moreover, according to some observers, Modi’s administration has deliberately attempted to control the media and the courts, which is a threat to fair and democratic practices.
Conclusion:
In short, India lacks a definite ideology that can lead the country; the political leadership has different, contradictory goals. While India is a democracy, it is not without its flaws, as have become more apparent in recent years. The article also offers some background on the development of democracy in India through time, comparing the approaches of prominent figures including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and current Bhartiya Janata Party head Narendra Modi (BJP). It also points out that India’s democratic society has been infiltrated by violence at numerous levels, and populist solutions have occasionally had detrimental repercussions. There are several issues with the current structure of governance in India, which are highlighted in the article, even though the political system in India is complicated and varied.
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Doreen Chowdhury