One of the favourite anecdotes of Ramchandra Guha about Indian democracy and elections.
In the first weeks of 1967, the Times of London dispatched a reporter to cover the Indian elections. Travelling around the country, he saw - or thought he saw - a mood of apathy and helplessness. Some Indians he talked to had expressed a “readiness for the rejection of parliamentary democracy”.
The journalist himself was dismayed by the conflict and the corruption. He could spy “the already fraying fabric of the nation itself”, with the states “already beginning to act like sub-nations”.
He concluded that “the great experiment of developing India within a democratic framework has failed”. Indians would thus soon vote in “the fourth - and surely last - general election”.
Well, that prophet of doom has been proved wrong and India is upon its fifteenth general elections now. It is incumbent upon all eligible Indians to go forth and vote.
Voting is our right and we must exercise it or should stop wailing for Sampoorna Kranti as we have discussed in previous blogs. We have got one of those workable options which can make a difference if we avail them.
In the first weeks of 1967, the Times of London dispatched a reporter to cover the Indian elections. Travelling around the country, he saw - or thought he saw - a mood of apathy and helplessness. Some Indians he talked to had expressed a “readiness for the rejection of parliamentary democracy”.
The journalist himself was dismayed by the conflict and the corruption. He could spy “the already fraying fabric of the nation itself”, with the states “already beginning to act like sub-nations”.
He concluded that “the great experiment of developing India within a democratic framework has failed”. Indians would thus soon vote in “the fourth - and surely last - general election”.
Well, that prophet of doom has been proved wrong and India is upon its fifteenth general elections now. It is incumbent upon all eligible Indians to go forth and vote.
Voting is our right and we must exercise it or should stop wailing for Sampoorna Kranti as we have discussed in previous blogs. We have got one of those workable options which can make a difference if we avail them.
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