Fully fledged democracy
I read and reread Mr. Prabhakar's letter India: Fully or partly democratic, (Jan. 17, 1997) and failed to decipher any sort of sense in his random ramblings. Was Mr. Prabhakar giving us a concise form of Indian history or a dose of British brainwashing or a sermon on the superiority of western culture? God only knows! But, nowhere did I find any connection at all with the topic in question, namely is India fully or only partly democratic.
It is a very well known fact that India has been a full democracy since the first day of its independence. If you go by the classical definition of democracy, which is "government of the people, for the people and by the people," our election record over the last 50 years will more than prove this to be the case. Politicians have been removed and reinstalled by the people depending on their record. Newspapers print stories about the alleged corruption of politicians, including the Prime Minister, without any fear of retribution. Another example is in Calcutta, where the state sponsored underground railway project came to a halt for 10 years when residents went to court to protest the lines going below their property.
The account given by Mr. Prabhakar regarding the delay in the filing of complaints by the police where poor people are concerned or the high-handedness of rich people (landlords) happens even in countries like the USA. A rich person in the USA has definitely more clout with the police. An example is one of the Kennedys, who reported the death of his companion in a car after it had toppled into the river at Chappadaquick one night only the next afternoon. Did anything happen to him? A person who is poorly dressed may not be admitted to a star-rated hotel -- this can happen in the USA, UK or in communist China. This has nothing to do with democracy or the lack of it. As a matter of fact a poor person has handicaps in any country or in any society.
In the USA the police cannot touch the mafia without hard evidence -- does this make the USA anything less of a democracy? Even today the African-Americans or Australian Aborigines are "less than equal" though their respective governments are constantly trying to correct the situation. Both these countries are fully fledged democracies. As a matter of fact, mafias thrive only in democracies. Russia is a very good example; during totalitarian rule it did not have a mafia, but now it is a democracy it does. As a matter of fact in a democracy you have the freedom to be educated or illiterate, be good or bad, work or to beg, to be honest or crooked.
The situation regarding the power of landlords mentioned in Mr. Prabhakar's letter happens only in small pockets in backward states like Orissa or Bihar (or has he been watching too many Indian films?). This is an exception rather than the rule. Who stops the peasant from being literate? In most states education is compulsory and free until high school. The so-called backward classes have positions reserved for them in professional colleges and government jobs, in some states up to 70 percent of all those available.
I would like to end my letter by saying that it is possible to forgive a body like Freedom House as it may have written the report based on ignorance or prejudice. But for an Indian to make such loose statements is unforgivable, to put it mildly.
B.M. MENON
Jakarta