Tahrir square has been the battleground for the last 18 days for the Egyptians who fought tooth and nail to overthrow the autocratic Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of virtual dictatorship. The fact that they succeeded despite non – violent protests though over 300 died in clashes with pro – Mubarak supporters and the police, shows the pressure building up across the entire Arab World where rulers occupy the seat of power to never leave it again. From Yemen to Algeria to Sudan to Syria, these regimes have flourished because their leaders and their supporters have occupied the seats of power as if it were covered with Fevicol. From corruption to price rises to poor wages to lack of democracy, the problems are in plenty.
Recently many people have voiced that such a movement could start in India too. But there are many reasons that such an uprising won’t occur in this country. First things first, how bad our democracy may be, in the end it is still a democracy. A democracy which at one time had a Muslim President, Hindu Prime Minister and a Dalit speaker in the Parliament House.
There are numerous problems from price rises to corruption to black money to whatever you can think of. But then interestingly we Indians are always prone to forgetting whatever happened the next day and still move on. Obviously much of that can be attributed to the chalta hai attitude we have grown on over the years. But then the good thing out of all this is that people have the voting power in their hands and therefore any politician’s ambitions are not pre – decided.
Industrial growth, India shining, growth of economy, 8.5% growth are still buzzwords for probably 40-45% of the population in the country. But the remaining 55-60% more than cover up for that inadequacies with growth in per capita, infrastructure, education, medical sector etc. This may have resulted in two different India’s being created – The Bharat and India. But the gap is falling drastically. Today if you go into any village, you have the regular TV channels, brands of shampoo, food products etc. So its just a perception that the rural dwellers don’t get the basic facilities what we get.
With a functioning democracy, high GDP growth (2nd fastest growing economy in the world), stable society in terms of security and political scenario comes the benefits of increasing FDI to the country. Though the foreign investment has fallen over the past year due to scams and black money and all the crap which was being dished out in the market, India is still one of the topmost attractive destinations for FDI.
Yes we have problems with the government. Yes Kashmir, Arunachal and many other places are problems. Yes there are terrorist attacks and Maoist issues in India. Yes we have corruption, black money issues, bribes, nepotism and what not.
But at the end of the day, despite all the bitching around and statements in Kashmir and Karnataka about an Egypt still revolution, India is still one of the most stable countries in the world in every way.
And that’s the reason I don’t see any revolution of the Egypt sort happening in this country in the near future!
Rajeev Srivastava
Certainly, agree on the part that we Indians have the tendency to forget what wrong happened with us and we tend to move on. Every Indians individualist issue(s) doesn’t let us to take a decisive action. Secondly, in our democracy, we still don’t have the privilege to “Re-call” our mandates on periodic basis. Certainly, the size of our democracy doesn’t allow Election Commission and the constitution to induce recall option in our democracy. With recall a voter could be equipped to review his past poll decision on a periodic basis. This means a review of mandate before next election itself.
This is a major flaw of our democracy. Sadly, our diversification when it becomes integration at the centre makes the government ill-equipped to take prudent decisions. The unstable equilibrium of government at the centre is seen in a compromising mode and becomes a breeding ground for corruptions and associated evils.
Also, in our democracy, we haven’t yet achieved proper representation of people on ideological basis. Except communist party, I don’t see any ideology being represented by any political party. Even, CPI like parties are not at part in complying with their core ideologies. Sadly, all other political parties are following some false ideologies powered by corrupted motives.
This has to end somehow.
Still agree, an awakening of the mob first to realize misleading of our constitution and then the drive to correct is very unlikely in Indian context
anita
Let us see that how long Indian public can quietly watch the corrupt political scenario with so many scams. I sincerely wish the public awakening in this regard.
Ahmed Faiyaz
I think a revolution of sorts is much needed, particularly around the political environment. As someone pointed out correctly, a lot of the parties represent region, class or race and not an ideology, this is extremely worrying. You can sit in a cabinet, do nothing, and serve your voter base by doling out subsidies and other freebees, and be elected again and again. Ours is a set up of compromise. None of the coalition partners have anything in common except staying in power; there is a lack of common framework on education, health, environment, child/ women’s rights, development for the minorities and backward classes. You have tall personalities, image managers and spin doctors across the system. What you see as a result is a growing divide. Isn’t it the same in the US? What really is the difference between Democrats and Republican? It’s all about the leader and lobbying interests. It’s the same in India. The media – political establishment – large corporate interests are in sync, and nothing can be done as there is no safety net in a country like India. If you decide to fight for change, who will educate your kids? or pays medical bills? In Europe, Australia /NZ, the Government does. Thus you see by far better governance (with some exceptions), lesser poverty and more liberty and justice. People in India try to survive and grow, and create a safety net for the future. You see a marked difference in the kind of people entering public life, and doing so with a reason to drive focus on development. Sure, these countries have their problems too, but you see these countries doing a lot more for the environment, education and health, a focus on which is lacking back home. The focus remains on 8% or x% growth and performance of the stock market and some big business houses and their business plans. Who benefits from it?