In baby steps, since independence the Indian democracy has created history and evolved to better represent its 1.4 billion citizens. Not all these changes have been necessarily positive or beneficial to the country. Yet, true to the proverb, “Every failure is a stepping stone to success”, India’s multiple failures have evolved a bureaucratic resiliency which few understand. Imagine the headache that goes into governing a billion people, ethnically, linguistically and culturally as diverse as the African continent. The bureaucracy and civil society needed to sow the seeds of commonality and unity amongst their eclectic citizenry. And in turn with the cycle of time, these citizens recently banded together as a cohesive whole, to force their government to implement a popular change in a corruption bill. Anna Hazare, a gandhian(follower of Mahatma Gandhi) and soldier of the Indian army was just a leader. He was not an idea, or instrumental. The reaction of the people and their ability to see a common cause, their ability to coordinate with other Indians is what made the strike a success.
No success can ever be attributed to one party alone, and the Government of India deserves credit. Throughout history we have seen cases where democracies often repressed popular movements by force or just turned a blind eye. India today is not the India of the mahatma. The idea of an old man on a hunger strike could have been met as a publicity stunt. It could have been shunned. That did not happen, the people reacted and their leaders took notice. For whatever petty or magnanimous reason the government despite its initial stoic position, effected change. This is where the bureaucracy comes in. Rapid discussion between the protestors and government agencies resulted in a change of a drawn bill. All this happened in 92 hours. Quick decisions and reactions such as these indicate that despite the dreary bureaucracy in India, certain matters can be handled fast.
It also shows that the democracy is attuned to popular demand. Individual bills do not need just the support of the members of parliament but the people. The media ensured this (Anna Hazare) voice was heard by effectively spreading the idea and protest of a relatively small group, all over the nation. If I am to be pessimistic about India’s future role as a global power I will always add India’s democracy to its greatest strength. India is aiming for global power status not in the next twenty but in the next ten years. As the hyper economic growth of China, starts cooling and the median age of the Chinese worker starts rising, I expect China to overheat. From there, India will have an edge. India’s democracy should allow for the creation of positive policies and allow social tensions to be dispensed through the mechanisms of freedom and liberty. At this I’ll close with another analogy. China’s economic policies has largely emulated America’s leading to a lot of similar socio-economic problems. What has India done?
