The reality of Indian Democracy : A 75 Year Journey

India is a country which is popularly known for its democratic set up of government.
However, with the passage of time, this democracy keeps on down sliding. Democracy as
defined by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of United States is a “Government of the
people, by the people and for the people”. By this we are able to understand that in a
democratic setup, the citizens living in the country are the most important aspect. It can be
observed that, when in the year 2014 the BJP Government came into rule with full majority,
it gave people a picture of government which will be free from family-based rule, which was
very much popular in Congress rule. Nonetheless, during this period the comprising situation
of democracy in India became noticeable, but it cannot be blamed solely upon the BJP
government, as toady’s result is due to the negligence of all the mistakes which had been
committed over the years.

During the rule of Indira Gandhi, a 21-month emergency was imposed wherein the elections
were called off and the civil liberties were also restricted. During this period of emergency
nearly one lakh eleven thousand people were arrested under the prevention detention laws.
The citizens of India, taking into account all the consequences, elected Morarji Desai from
the Janta Party as the Prime Minister. However, within 2 years Desai’s government collapsed
and Indira Gandhi was re-elected. In the above stated situation, it is required to observe that
people who are the foundation of democracy are so forgetful that, in span of two years, they
forgot about the inhuman torture they had suffer during the period of 21 months of
emergency and so they ended up re-electing the same person as their representative for the
coming five years.

Now, coming to the current government, popularly known as the ‘Modi Government’ which
came into act in the year 2014. Since, the day this government has came into rule, there has
been a series of developments which restricts the free exercise of fundamental rights of the
citizens of India. The way this government functions, it can be very clearly inferred that
Individual liberty is being restricted. There have been numerous internet shutdowns in
various parts of the country in a mere period of 7 years. The number of filings of sedition
cases has increased significantly after the election of Modi Government. The individual
institutions of the country have also started to act like the extension of executive. An
interesting observation which can be seen in this government is the renaming of cities like
‘Allahabad to Prayagraj’, ‘Aligarh to Harigarh’, which holds zero significance in the
betterment of country. Another thing which can be seen is the restriction upon the media
houses and the increasing number of defamation cases against them. The media holds a
significant position in maintaining the democracy of a country as they try to shorten the
distance between people and people’s representative, but unfortunately this government
makes it difficult to perform its duty. From the reaction of central government to the farmer’s
protest as well as the protests pertaining to the citizenship amendment bill, it can be clearly
perceived that, this government has no patience with public protests.

In a democracy along with the party having the majority as the ruling party, the party having
the second most majority gets to be the opposition party. The role of the opposition is to keep
check and balance on the ruling party. A strong opposition is very much required in order to
sustain a democratic rule, otherwise the government will more or less act on the whim and
fancies of the ruling party. Last but not the least, the citizens of India are the founding stone
of democracy and they are given Universal adult Franchise which gives them the right to
elect their representation. The citizens must choose wisely at the time of election by
disregarding their personal as well as socio-cultural bias. Only, then can democracy exist in
India.

Author: Juhi Patra

Roll No: 1114

Semester: Third Semester