Has Indian Democracy Failed?

http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/portal/2007/08/1099

HARDNEWS
August 2007
Has Indian Democracy Failed?

We take pride in that defining moment in 1950 when, despite a recognition of the enormous challenges of knitting together a 'nation' out of a staggering diversity of communities, ethnicities, languages and disparities, we decided to take the bold political step by pledging India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. What remains today of this pledge?

Smitu Kothari Delhi

In a dictatorship, censorship is used; in a democracy, manipulation.

Ryszard Kapuscinski, political commentator

the level of indifference the nation now shows to the fate of its poor calls into question not only the justice of its fiscal policies but also their legitimacy.

Ronald Dworkin, in Is Democracy Possible Here?

Democracy requires citizens to stay alert, to open their eyes and their mouths to understand that societies of sheep typically beget governments of wolves. It (democracy) facilitates criticism of power.

John Keane, political philosopher

From whose vantage point do we assess our democracy? The minority that celebrates our 'economic miracle' and has found the means, both legitimate and devious, to enhance its comforts and privileges? Or the over 70 per cent who live on less than Rs 80 a day, some striving to improve their lives against grave odds and others living a life of penury and humiliation?

Why is a vantage point important? After all, people have regularly exercised their electoral options, sometimes changing governments who have let them down. But, apart from a few exceptions, have they not elected another set of leaders who are more or less the same? Have they had any power to hold the bureaucrats, who exercise enormous power, accountable?

Compared with many countries, we do not live under an authoritarian regime. We can organise protests and write freely. Unlike China, we have achieved over nine per cent growth with liberal democracy. We take pride in that defining moment in 1950 when, despite a recognition of the enormous challenges of knitting together a 'nation' out of a staggering diversity of communities, ethnicities, languages and disparities, we decided to take the bold political step by pledging India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic.

But, what remains today of this pledge? Integral to democracy was the commitment to strive for social and economic justice. Any assessment of our democracy must start with an assessment of that commitment.

This essay is not to assess the failures of our political elite to steer democracy in ways in which it could accommodate the aspirations of the people of states and regions like Kashmir, Punjab, and the Northeast or its contentious maneuvering of 'higher' and 'lower' castes. Nor is it my intention to assess the success of the Congress party in representing the plurality of the country or in analysing its decline and the growth of other political forces representing regional and ethnic aspirations, including the rise of the BJP.

My intention is to illuminate how the dominant political, social and economic interest groups have consolidated their control and managed democratic aspirations without conceding their power. Of course, there are instances of dalits becoming presidents and sarpanches, of lower caste/class members demonstrating remarkable entrepreneurial spirit. However, those who have been able to build secure livelihoods are a small proportion of the economically and socially discriminated in the country. This reality highlights many questions. Here are a few.

n   What can we say about our democracy when an explosive amalgam of Hindu Rightwing politics, organised religion, and powerful capitalist leaders actively collaborate in a pogrom, shield the perpetrators and walk free to reinvent their game to corner huge gains from economic globalisation? This distortion of faith and nationalism, and the fear among secular parties to challenge these forces is a commentary on the state of our democracy.

n   Can we call our country democratic when, in the past few years, there have been a hundred thousand farmer suicides - a hundred thousand families devastated? These figures, spread in small digits over time, have a numbing effect. The numbers hide the millions of others who live at the edge of survival, away from the gaze and concern of the growing middle classes.

This reality points to our being integrated into an undemocratic global economic system dominated by institutions which are silent when the US and Europe heavily subsidise their farmers undermining the very survival of millions of farmers in countries like ours - one of the reasons for the suicides. These institutions seek the liberalisation of policies to facilitate the accumulation of private wealth, not its democratic redistribution. They legitimise, even assist, predatory finance capital as it penetrates deeper into the country, appropriating and profiting from our resources.

n   What can we say about our democracy when the most predatory of hedge funds and finance institutions in the US and elsewhere are descending in India speculating in and capitalising on India's land? Over 26 per cent of FDI in the past year has been in real estate. In the process, laws are being violated with impunity and entire chains of illegal deals are the norms.

n   Is it not a mark of failure when fertile agricultural lands are carved off into Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that further privilege the rich, give them tax-free shelters and greater opportunities to indulge in speculation in land and property? The Union finance ministry's own internal assessment in 2005 suggests that in the period 2006-2009, the government will have to forgo Rs 90,000 crore in direct and indirect taxes on account of the SEZs. These zones will become corporate city-states where the Indian State will just be a rubber stamp. Is this the maturing of a democracy or a violation of its spirit?

n   How democratic can our society be when our rulers compete to attract more foreign investment by diluting or deregulating a wide range of protective democratic legislation and policy - from labour laws and environment impact assessments to land ceiling acts - legislation that was won after decades of political struggle?

n   Our democracy is reflected in the crippling neglect of our agriculture. We are witnessing an expansion of contract and corporate farming, industrialising and corporatising agriculture. Prominent NRI economists like Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya acclaim these developments. Addressing the Chambers of Indian Industries recently, Panagariya said, "There is a need to pull a substantial chunk of population from agriculture into labour intensive sectors." This arrogant recommendation, if implemented, would condemn most of those 'pulled' to a life of crippling labour at the bottom of the economy. Is such social engineering democratic? Are no lessons learned from the massive social and environmental harm that the present path of consumer capitalism is causing, including changes in the climate - a reality that urgently calls for a dramatic rethinking of our patterns of consumption and development?

n   Transnational and domestic private capital (and their academic apologists) are playing a powerful role in shaping the direction of the economy. This is not globalisation but an internationalisation of finance and corporate capital, undermining our democracy and eroding our sovereignty.

n   Should we admit failure when the police or the army fire on democratic protests often in the presence of district collectors and senior members of ruling parties? Are the firings and repression in Nandigram and Kalinganagar scattered incidents or are they part of a pattern where 'development flows from the barrel of a gun'? Even a cursory look at what is unfolding in the Northeast highlights how projects ranging from uranium mines to scores of large dams are being implemented with minimal public discussion using lies, subterfuge, armed force and blatant bribery. An illustration of this is the announcement in early July by the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) to give over Rs 300 crore to the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh as an 'advance' to build large dams.

n   Despite nine per cent growth, less than one per cent of the national budget goes towards public health spending? We have child malnourishment levels that are higher than sub-Saharan Africa. Highlighting this, a recent government of India-UNICEF study found that 56 per cent of women and 79 per cent of children below three years old were anemic - a situation worse than seven years ago. Even a leading government consultant had to proclaim that this reality was, "-a matter of national priority and shame".

n   Growth was meant to benefit all. Only select sectors have experienced rapid growth and only a few have benefited. Most governments have failed in democratising more equitable access to the processes and benefits of the market. So you have a classic situation of widening expectations created by a populist image of resurgent India and a reality of disenchantment. It is inevitable in this situation that Maoist movements are finding resonance among despairing populations. Vast areas in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa are now under their influence.

n   The iniquitous development has seen a huge growth in private security agencies. The elites live inside gated communities guarded by high walls and fences. We see the growing use of corporate resources to support State roles. Routinely now, private corporations provide vehicles to ferry police to break up democratic protests as has happened recently around the proposed POSCO plant in Orissa or at the site of the Maheshwar dam in Madhya Pradesh.

n   How democratic are we when corruption has been standardised, institutionalised and its scale is staggering. Visit the state of Jharkhand or Chhattisgarh. Routinely, you will hear of projects where 70-80 per cent of the money has been pocketed by a triumvirate of contractors, politicians and bureaucrats. Personal and/or party gain takes precedence over the effective implementation of socially and economically empowering projects.

There has been a boom in those sectors needed for the global economy. Uneven development has intensified. The wealth gap has grown. The IIM's and the IIT's are flourishing, with a virtual explosion of private management and IT institutions. However, we see an appalling dearth of teachers and facilities in an overwhelming majority of our primary schools. Even within the parameters of a 'Liberal Welfare State', the Indian State's record has become dismal. Privatising education and health sectors has meant that 50 per cent of our people can no longer afford adequate education and health care.

We are entering a phase of intensive predatory capitalism. The most that our governments are willing to reluctantly concede are steps to humanise this invasion - safety nets, employment generation sch-emes, micro-credit programmes. In no way do these create an equitable, democratic, ecologically secure society, in no way is there a recognition that people need more than a culture of materialism to lead a fulfilling life, and, conversely, that a fulfilling life does not need an immersion in rampant consumerism.

It is important to acknowledge that there is much to be grateful for. Our constitutionally protected institutions - like the Election Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) -have performed their roles with diligence. Democratic struggles have led to progressive State intervention creating small but crucially important gains for dalits, tribals and women.

There are countless efforts of people with conscience, those who care, resist, speak out. They are the keepers of sanity, the true defenders of our democracy. It is their hand and their spirit that must be strengthened.

This may sound utopian, given the seemingly overwhelming odds. But, look at Latin America. After decades of authoritarian rule and massive US and IMF/World Bank-led economic adjustment, we are witnessing the dramatic collapse of regimes and policies that privileged the rich, diluted national sovereignty and destroyed millions of livelihoods.

As American historian Howard Zinn says, "-if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

The writer is Director, Intercultural Resources, and Visiting Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai