It's Election Season

Get ready for more broken promises...

So here's the thing, I have kept this substack account largely about spirituality, humane stories from my journals and travelogues, but, and there's always a but, here is an exception. You'd say, why get your hands dirty, keep it fun and simple, and yes that's what I intend to do in the long run. Yet, I feel like I should express what I feel about the current political scenario in India. And tbh I spoke a lot about politics when I gave lectures and seminars during the 1800 km walk that I did across India. I was speaking at educational institutes, press houses, village panchayats and even sometimes in police stations. I kept this part of the walk under the radar for the most part, because I did not mean to associate myself with any political party or any political ideology and I still maintain that, but I do have a certain set of ideals for what a democracy should look like and I feel that we aren't even close to what the word democracy actually meant. In fact, we are light years away.

So, lets start with the basics then, what even is democracy?

Democracy, the word itself derives from the ancient Greek demos (people) and kratos (rule), which means people's rule. Democracy is the idea that the citizens of a country should take an active role in the government of their country and manage it directly or through elected representatives. Sounds pretty simple in theory, right? But, what if those elected representatives are compromised? What if those representatives become obedient only to the Prime Minister and that Prime Minister starts acting like a king? Then, we are safe to say, that we are not in a democracy at all, we are in a monarchy.

Okay, lets keep monarchy aside for a second. How come people are still adamant that their vote actually matters? That's the question that’s been bugging my mind.

It's no surprise even to the labourer who works on fields, who is definitely not big mouthing about this situation like I am, even he knows that this system and the situation is flawed to its core. It isn’t helping him at all. Let's face it, even if we like to say that it works, it does not. It is incredibly tilted towards the one in power and the one in power takes all the ill advantage, because no one really understands what their right as a citizen really is. Most of the population either votes for money or for religious affiliation. Voting for religious affiliation is a new trend btw, it's been growing since the 80's, but its extremely prevalent today, and now with the pranpratishtha of Ram in the temple, a certain sense of political and religious church-state merger has already taken shape. The Prime Minister takes it ten steps further to showcase himself as the king, being at the centre stage at all times, sometimes holding a stick that signifies kingship and other times invoking the long gone times of actual kings who ruled India. The President is merely a side character put in place to woo a specific class of people. People forget to realise that there was a reason we chose democracy; i.e. people's rule and not monarchy; i.e. a kingdom.

Coming to voter behaviour modification. These days it is becoming too easy to manage the collective understanding and the collective consciousness through Whatsapp and Facebook forwards. Who would have thought that some social media apps on a little brick like device can infiltrate natural thought patterns and send in messages that the sponsor- in this case the ruling party- wants you to hear and see. Think these words come out of thin air? Here’s some studies that show how people in Myanmar and the UK were manipulated into thinking in a specific way. Even the open minded have fallen into the trap of having to choose a side. If a certain leader announces that he supports so-and-so party, the entire hoard of people, who support him, HAVE to follow him into the abyss while knowing very well that it is not what their conscience says. It’s a rather strange behaviour. Moreover, the state also maintains the power to direct social media companies from refraining certain issues on their platform which might otherwise help the voter to gain a complete understanding of the situation. It is no surprise that India is topping the ranks in censorship and internet shutdowns.

The American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Every actual state is corrupt, good men must not obey laws too well". Now, ask yourself whether you have the liberty to speak your mind out and whether we can be defiant in the face of the almighty state. The answer is clearly a big NO. Why you might ask? Look at all the people who have spoken out, they are rotting in Indian jails, for years, I should add. We have given too much power to the state, to the point where our lives aren't our own to decide, instead the state now takes the decisions on our behalf, as if taking us for granted. There are no referendums or even in-party discussions, instead, now the king decides what is right for his subjects.

Given the 76 years since India has been free, we have come a long way from socialist style structure to a more corporate and authoritarian structure that is delivered under the name of a religious majority. It is true that a large percentage of the population lauds and hails the current government and thinks that the opposition is weak. That might be true, it might hold some ground, but using that idea to push India further into an authoritarian state ruled and controlled by a few oligarchs isn’t the right way forward. In fact, this will push the ‘common man’ light years behind the progress that is being made globally. Progress, that’s the word that has been used overly throughout this election season. For the current government, this ‘progress’ is clearly linked with all its infrastructure projects. All these projects need some basic things to thrive, like the raw materials; steel, cement, stone. All of which are state properties; i.e. citizens own them, but they are auctioned off to chosen few who are helping the parties in political funding, like the electoral bond data shows. So where is the benefit for us? What are we even voting for? That’s a question we all must be asking to ourselves. We as voters are really irrelevant at this point because we do not have a system to choose the actual candidates who stand for elections. They are chosen by the parties and we vote them based on a criteria called - the lesser of two evils.

I am not endorsing any party in this post. I really think that all of them are flawed and even if some individuals aren’t, the parties as a whole are filled with majority of people who care only about their private wealth. All the affiliations and political ship-jumping comes from the want to be individually wealthy and powerful. No one really cares for delivering to the common man, which is what they are put in place to do. Ethics and morals don’t have a place there, it’s politics they say. I think, the ancient Greeks were really smart, they knew that representatives might get hungry for power and they might get disconnected from their purpose, for which they held annual festivals. In the theatre of Dionysus, the great playrights helped to plant and nurture the seeds of representative government through their character and plots, where the representatives sat in the front row, soaking in the wrath of the ideas and stories presented. Do we really have such a place left in our society where we can openly criticise our elected representatives? Ask yourself that question. Our Prime Minister even refrains from conducting press conferences, fearing that that might tarnish his image. All the interviews are scripted and no one is allowed to ask hard-hitting questions which would show the supreme leader as ‘weak’.

It’s appalling then, the state of the nation is in shatters and we are cheering for an election and for a democracy which is clearly compromised. Indira Gandhi did it in her time, Modi is doing the same in his; the Election Commission of India will always tilt in favour towards the party in power, ED and CBI will be used to ensure that opposition is stumbling on each step and the Police is always going to be used as a personal militia for the state. In these times, the striking figure of ‘common man’ portrayed by the great cartoonist R.K. Laxman comes to mind. Whatever might happen in the political landscape, even if it is a spring of joy up there, it is always a nightmare for the common man. Winds might sway from Congress to the BJP or other way around, the use of state machineries will always be against the common man. R.K. Laxman knew this very well and he portrayed it cleverly through his art, bringing a spotlight on the most important, yet totally forgotten part of election; the common man. It’s striking that those cartoons hold truth even today- after nearly 40-50 odd years. Yet, the sad part is, today the common man is not asking for jobs but a mandir which does not help him in any way. It only boosts the nationalism, pride and ego which is terrible for a country whose philosophies are based on non-violence and humility. He does not understand the scriptures which talk about psychological wanderings, the existential quests of man and not actual wars. That’s where he has lost his battle - wanting to have a strong hold over one religion or other castes. That’s where he has surrendered his freedom - wanting for the king to bring home national pride which is totally meaningless in his daily life.

Unless we do not manage to spread awareness of what democracy actually means to the last standing common man, we are likely to head down this road where parties will come and go, but democracy will keep on suffocating. None of the elections will mean anything if we keep on accepting this flawed system of governance. For that, we’d have to be independent, not following any party lines, which say this today and that the other day. We’d need to stop following leaders and netas who only think about their good. We must educate ourselves and come together when the state turns too powerful- then and only then can we truly live in a democracy as independent citizens of it.

All the illustrations/cartoons in this article were made by late R.K. Laxman. You can read more about him here.