By Airpeace Rani
‘Democracy’ is a familiar word for the vast majority of people, especially for those who have reached the upper primary school level. All know that democracy means ‘rule of, for and by the people’. If one asks a high school student about democracy, there is every likelihood that he/she would recite Abraham Lincoln’s definition that democracy is “Government of the people, by the people and for the people”. Thanks to Lincoln for this beautiful and easy to remember definition. Right from its inception in the Greek city-states, democracy always puts people at the centre of governance, meaning it allows people to decide what is best for them. It is for this reason that democracy is the most preferred system of governance the world over. In fact, democratization is an ongoing process in many parts of the world today. It is the deepening of democracy which is work in progress. India adopted democracy post independence. It is based on the Westminster model which Britain had nurtured for two centuries (1688 -1884). As of today Britain has 500 years of democratic experience whereas democracy in India is only 60 years old. While India has celebrated the diamond jubilee of democracy, it is yet to see the silver lining of this form of government in many crucial areas. ‘Rule of the people’ will materialize fully only when ‘role of the people’ is ensured to the best possible extent.
Meghalaya is also part of this experience for 41 years now. It is to be noted that India embraced democracy with the precondition of giving power to the people and in search of economic development. While introspecting on democracy vis-à-vis these preconditions, there arise a number of questions such as whether we really have the power to decide what is best for us? Perhaps yes, because we do that at least during the elections. But how is this playing out? Are we in Meghalaya a democracy, a plutocracy or an oligarchy? It is we the people who are confronting the day to day problems be it rape, influx, border disputes, corruption, economic under development etc. In what way has democracy helped us to solve such crises? We hear of so many rape cases in the state but we never know what happens to the rapist after he is arrested. We may have laws to deal with such cases but it seems as if the judicial process has failed to deliver justice. Is this the ambience that democracy has produced? The problem of influx is aggravating in Meghalaya and we still don’t have an effective machinery to curb it. If the problem of influx is not solved, Meghalaya may undergo turbulence sooner than later. The ugly incident of April 4 is a clear indication of that. While one can condemn the act of the students on that day, one cannot also ignore its causality. Corruption is a virus which is a serious threat to democracy. How far can the anti-virus mechanisms such as the RTI and the new Lokayukta be able to detect and bring a check on this menace? It is said that real laws live in the heart of men/women and thus if good laws really live in our hearts then we may not need to resort to anti-corruption laws.
According to the survey on Inter-state Disparities in Socio-economic Development in North East India, Meghalaya has been placed at the last position. This indicates that democracy is worse here. The kind of economy existing in the state today is government driven – government employment, government contracts and selling off raw materials. Who is operating this economy? The vast majority of our youth are not only unemployed but also unemployable. Can democracy come to their rescue? However, it is wrong on the part of the people to expect that the government will solve all their problems. The government is there to facilitate and provide equal opportunities and support for all. If people want to see change, they must also start acting and work hard for it themselves. Can we admit the fact that many of us in Meghalaya are lethargic and not working to our potential? Though criticizing the government is considered a good practice in democracy but that is just one side of the coin. Crucifixion of the government cannot clean our sins. What about the civil servants or employees in a democracy? These are the people with authority and responsibility to achieve the preconditions of democracy. But it is sad to say that one of the reasons for backwardness in our state is the non-performance of these people. Many enjoy the power and perks of an officer, director, executive engineer etc., but the way they perform their tasks and the manner in which they direct and execute plans invite a lot of questions. If one wrong person is in the job then he/she will spoil the career of the state for not less than 25-30 years. If democracy in Meghalaya has failed in the last 41 years, then officials who were corrupt and non-performing should share the blame.
Who will decide the long pending border disputes of our state with Assam? Just because the historical approach and the States Re-organisation Act 1969 have failed, is it justified that people in the border continue to live in fears and uncertainties? Is there political will to find an answer? Land is a place to live not a playground of ethnic battles. We want to reap its benefits not bloodshed.
Despite the deficits of our democracy identified above, we cannot say that democracy has failed us totally. Some achievements have been made. However, democracy in our state has operated only at the procedural level and is yet to sink its roots. The electoral system which is intended to give power to the electorate has only created a winner-takes-it-all system, making democracy a comet appearing once in five years. The problem with the system is that it becomes easier for certain groups to become entrenched in power and makes it difficult to bring democratic changes. This is why a new version of Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy has evolved saying “democracy is the government off the people, buy the people and fail/far the people”.
Democracy is an evolutionary process which needs to improve itself to meet the requirement of the times. There is a saying that democracy like whisky improves with age. Sadly, in Meghalaya we don’t see this happening. Rather we witness democratic decay. In a democracy, players of the game are supposed to be democrats but Meghalaya is setting a trend where plutocrats tend to eclipse the democrats. If plutocrats dominate in a democracy, one may call it a plutocratic democracy. This is not a problem if plutocrats operate on the lines of democracy. The problem will definitely arise if democracy is replaced by plutocracy both in form and character. Plutocracy is not a system of government but simply a ‘rule by the wealthy at the cost of the poor’. Going by the records of the recent state Assembly elections, Meghalaya witnessed 113 ‘crore-patis’ contesting the election and 36 of them managed to get elected. This means that 60% of the present MLAs in Meghalaya are plutocrats. It is alleged that these candidates spent a huge amount of money to woo voters during elections. If election is an expensive process for the Election Commission, it is even more expensive for candidates. It is also alleged that the rich businessmen and contractors of the state are interested in politics not because they care for the people but are guided by self interest. They want to take control of the government contracts, the MLA schemes and other facilities. They don’t mind spending during elections because that is investment for them. What can the people expect from them now? They seldom speak in the Assembly. And what they will speak about anyway? The best they can do is to distribute the MLA schemes, allot contract works, visit the sick and attend funerals. We are not saying that these things are not important and noble but if the job of the MLA is just to do all these, then don’t we think it’s better to outsource the same to gram sevikas and church elders or priests?
However, this is not to denounce that the rich are not capable of anything good in a democracy but they need to perform and deliver. Abraham Lincoln had foretold the rise of plutocracy in America in these words, “Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” Today, his vision has come true. The richest one percent of Americans now takes home 24 percent of U.S. income. This trend has arrived in Meghalaya too. In the Bible Jesus rebukes the rich not because of their wealth but because of their attitude towards money and materialism. Jesus said that love for money is the root of all evils. A person who is guided by the love for money can sacrifice anything at its altar. If uncontrolled sexual desire leads to rape; uncontrolled love for money may lead to annihilation of humanity in multidimensional ways.
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