"What good has democracy ever done India?", my housemate asks me, bringing to my attention the latest scandal involving Indian MPs being bribed to ask questions in parliament. I have just settled into my hour of mindless entertainment during dinner, and smile at the latest antics on "Australia's funniest home videos", without paying him much attention. "Look at China", he presses, launching into a diatribe against "India's democratic chirade", reminding me of China's success story, contrasting it with India's poverty and festering instability.
If there's one thing I cannot stand, its people bad-mouthing India. I myself do it all the time, and this may seem hypocritical, but the fact is, India is my country. I can say what I damn well please about her, but it does not give foreigners the same right.
"Democracy", I tell him, "is government by the people, and for the people." Indians are a polyglot, multi-faith people. Most religions on the planet are represented in this country which speaks 35 major languages. Inspite of these vast differences, the country has, by and large (barring a few months in the 70s) seen peaceful democratic rule for over half a century.
But I agreed that "India has more than her fair share of problems." "What, Pakistan?" he asks derisively.
I go on, calm, pretending not to notice....
India was economically liberated only in the mid-90s, about 15 years after the Chinese economy opened her doors to the world. No wonder then, that we are a few years behind when it comes to progress. I remind him of the IT and service industries, where India leads China, and indeed, the world. I tell him of the independent judiciary, the free press, the pluralistic society and the general ability of Indians to go about their lives without fear of the "thought police" coming knocking on their doors.
I add that I would prefer democratic India any day over life in prosperous, but autocratic China.
This argument has however, got me thinking. Do millions of India's poor, living under conditions of desperate poverty really enjoy the ideals of democracy the country's founding fathers had in mind? Does the centuries-old caste system that is routinely subscribed to by most Indians
(some educated people I know are chaste devotees) really represent the ideal of pluralism that I so proudly bandied as a symbol of Indian progress?
Still, I stand by my assertion that I'm not prepared to take criticism about India from anybody who's not Indian.
If there's one thing I cannot stand, its people bad-mouthing India. I myself do it all the time, and this may seem hypocritical, but the fact is, India is my country. I can say what I damn well please about her, but it does not give foreigners the same right.
"Democracy", I tell him, "is government by the people, and for the people." Indians are a polyglot, multi-faith people. Most religions on the planet are represented in this country which speaks 35 major languages. Inspite of these vast differences, the country has, by and large (barring a few months in the 70s) seen peaceful democratic rule for over half a century.
But I agreed that "India has more than her fair share of problems." "What, Pakistan?" he asks derisively.
I go on, calm, pretending not to notice....
India was economically liberated only in the mid-90s, about 15 years after the Chinese economy opened her doors to the world. No wonder then, that we are a few years behind when it comes to progress. I remind him of the IT and service industries, where India leads China, and indeed, the world. I tell him of the independent judiciary, the free press, the pluralistic society and the general ability of Indians to go about their lives without fear of the "thought police" coming knocking on their doors.
I add that I would prefer democratic India any day over life in prosperous, but autocratic China.
This argument has however, got me thinking. Do millions of India's poor, living under conditions of desperate poverty really enjoy the ideals of democracy the country's founding fathers had in mind? Does the centuries-old caste system that is routinely subscribed to by most Indians
(some educated people I know are chaste devotees) really represent the ideal of pluralism that I so proudly bandied as a symbol of Indian progress?
Still, I stand by my assertion that I'm not prepared to take criticism about India from anybody who's not Indian.
posted by Jay at 6:39 PM
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