“…in which, not the law, but the multitude, have the supreme power, and supersede the law by their decrees. … The demagogues make the decrees of the people override the laws, and refer all things to the popular assembly. And therefore they grow great, because the people have all things in their hands, and they hold in their hands the votes of the people, who are too ready to listen to them.”
Can you guess when and who wrote that and about what? Well! These were written about two thousand three hundred and fifty years back by Aristotle about what in simple language can be called extreme democracy. The sheen of democracy is certainly fading. I have always believed that Lincoln was a dreamer and like a normal person who believes the whole world consists of people like him he made an emotional comment about democracy which we all read about in school or college and which is absolutely false because democracy has never been like Lincoln described or wanted it to be. In India supposedly the largest democracy in the world in fact in history, there is little democracy on the ground or perhaps too much of the same but most certainly it has failed to live up to the high ideals of so called fathers of democracy like Lincoln. From its inception democracy in India has been plagued by nepotism, elitism, regionalism, communalism, casteism and well so many fatal flaws.
It seems that worldwide the demons, the anti social elements have started to take unfair advantage of the gentle and intrinsic pro social elements of democracy to bring about unforeseen and uncontrollable devastation. Two incidents come to mind regarding the aforementioned first the anti CAA riots and the second the BLM riots. Going back to what Aristotle said and one can find the same exemplified in the two incidents, democracy has been reduced to a mockery by demagogues. These demagogues need not be in power, it is enough that they are able to brainwash and mobilise large sections of people and make them believe in lies. In case of anti CAA demonstrations cum riots in India the law that people were demonstrating against was very simple though what was the intent behind it may be disputed; the law did not at all concern Muslims in India, it was simply enacted to enable large number of stateless, poor, defenceless and persecuted Hindus living illegally in India to become citizens of India. I say again with what intent such a law was enacted can be a matter of discussion but my primary concern is that a democratic set up in India allowed a very violent series of events in which a lot of people were hurt by brainwashed mobs who trusted their leaders fully without bothering even once to check the facts. This is the nadir of democracy and in Delhi made more evident by sweeping victory of a candidate exclusively on basis of religion who later played a significant part in aforementioned demonstrations.
BLM riots are no different and they too seem to point to the fact that we have reached the nadir of democracy. While I believe that so called ‘blacks’ must be given a lot of concessions in US particularly because they did not go to that country of their own free will but their ancestors were dragged in chains on slave ships away from their homeland in Africa: at the same time conditions in the US at least to a distant observer like me look much better for them than in Africa of today. It would be crazy for anyone to say that democracy does not work in US. I think it overworks in US! One of the differences between BLM riots and anti CAA riots in India is that the latter were suppressed effectively by India, I say effectively and not brutally because considering India’s past the government has been remarkably muted in its response at least initially. In the US however riots are still going on and with much more ferocity than in India. There seems to be too much democracy in the US for government to effectively curb the criminals who want to burn the country that gave them everything, to the ground.
Mass media and democracy are intertwined in our times and where democracy is vibrant mass media too has more freedom: however mass media has a fundamental flaw it too depends upon numbers like politicians in a democracy. In a post truth world mass media has tossed truth into the sea and with lots of media houses taking money from politicians or their minions or owned directly by politicians or businessmen this is something which is going to get worse. It seems mass media will give democracy the final push that will make it reach its true nadir. I am chuckling to myself as I mention the two words mass media and truth in the same sentence; the two words are now more like two poles of earth they can never be together anymore!
What is the way forward; I was tempted to say I don’t know but I think I do know a little bit – the way forward seems to be a digital government, some kind of software or artificial intelligence – don’t laugh! Even in a poor country like India and in its poorest state Uttar Pradesh it has started although in a very ‘primitive’ manner and by, hold your breath a monk in robes! I personally feel like Victor Hugo who said ‘...not even the most powerful armies can stop an idea whose time has come’ this is the future it seems for in the last three thousand years most heads of state and their courtiers have largely failed the people worldwide and democracy too seems to have hit the nadir.
