Thank you dear subscribers, we are overwhelmed with your response.
At the end of the day Democracy is just a power game. It is an oxymoron. How can the ruler and the ruled be the same people? “Of the people, for the people, by the people” – just a vicious circle. Democarcy is a cool concept for Nation states like Athens between 1068 and 322 BCE. As the Nation state grows into a Nation, democracy is bound to fail in its essence. “People” who want to govern “the people” will go to all extent to get power. In a young, diverse and large, demographically and geographically, democratic state like India, the problems get compounded. For instance, when a dispensation gets a majority, it is faulted as a majoritarian Government. Then there are the minority Government who have no business to govern vide norms of democracy, and the dampening coalition governments (a conglomeration of disparate parties who can’t get power on their own) mostly catering to parochial demands, in the garb of minimum common programmes. By implication, in a coalition there is a binding and a boundary for governance. All part of the game, each with their own plusses and minuses. It is naïve of the people to expect politicians in a democracy to be the classical gentlemen (or ladies) – a minister can be. But the question is, if not democracy, what? A dead end for a 75-year Nation, in the infancy of Nation building as a polity.
In a democracy, the political parties, without exception in a multi party system, at the first opportunity, will drive wedges into cracks to split opposing parties, stoke the embers to instigate and perpetuate violence in the states and across the country, disrupt parliament proceedings, cater to parochial and selected groups to retain voter bases and often shamelessly solicit help from forces inimical to the Nation. Ah! People ruling over people.
Yes Governance (by whichever government) is not all politics. In a democracy, politics can be flavoured into any event, view or incident and when it is done the main theme is eclipsed. It is important to distinguish policies from politics. There may be a political spice in a policy. It will do the Nation good if discussions are confined to the merit/demerit of the policy and not the abstract matter of politics mixed in it. For e.g. “Is distribution of freebie a sustainable method of equitable wealth distribution”. A discussion on this is economy and not politics. A discussion on the reasons for prolonged destructive unrest in a state or area and possible remedies is governance and not politics.
Discussions are not arguments. Discussions afford opportunities to express different viewpoints and if the decision-making authority is part of it, the discussion may help them in making decisions. Obviously, none of us in this forum is directly authorized to take decisions at the National level. So, say your piece and that is it. Do not get into protracted discussions; it will lead us only deeper into the wilderness.
An argument is to decide who is right – such as in courts of law. That is why the lawyers “argue” and the judges preside over the proceedings. This here is NOT a court of law. As such we may not indulge in arguments in this forum.
Then there is the matter of civility in the use of correct language and avoid attacking individuals and/or character – by this I mean ANY individual in the forum or outside it. These serve no purpose at all except generate animosity. That is exactly what we do not want among the band of brothers.
It is too late for us to try and influence others to think differently on major issues. So, say your piece if you must and leave it at that. This is not a canvassing platform.
And finally, forwards, especially videos such as from YouTube and other sources to reinforce a point or otherwise should be mostly avoided. We do not yet have the capability to discern the fake from real. In the event, when we “forward” something which we “feel” conforms with our line of thought, we become part of the ecosystem aiming to promote that particular video/article. In other words, inadvertently we become part of the much despised “Whatsapp university”. And ah! Any discussion on any abstract like ideology etc. is pointless, so what is the point (pun intended) in wasting time?
Tailpiece: Once again the politicians have succeeded in making the electorate puppets yet again. First it was I.N.D.I.A. and then Bharat to counter it. The media and of all hues and shades are discussing / arguing India v Bharat. Wonder why we, including the media, get fooled all the time. Maybe it is because, we want the entertainment. The puppet shows.