PM Modi calling India as the mother of democracy in the world builds criticism during a time when democracy is failing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a function to mark the end of the centenary celebrations of the Bihar Assembly on Tuesday said India was not only the world’s largest democracy, but it was also the mother of democracy. He called upon all elected representatives for discharging their responsibilities well to inspire others to make the country strong and vibrant.
Greater responsibilities on lawmakers for India to become strong says, PM Modi. He said, “Our present set-up of the democratic structure is based on the vision enshrined in the Vedas”, he stressed.
“When some parts of the world were taking smaller steps like a toddler, Vaishali and Lichhvi had matured democracies,” the Prime Minister said that a misconception was created by foreigners that India was only the “largest democracy”. But the fact is the country was also the mother of democracy in the world.
It was our responsibility to propagate consistently that India was the mother of democracy and only then impression created by foreigners would fizzle out. Bihar had been the soil of rich and mature democracy which also strengthened the democratic character of the country,” he said. Modi said both during the pre-independence period and the post-independence era, Bihar stood strong in protecting democratic values.
Even after a request from the erstwhile British government, “the great leader” Sri Krishna Singh had agreed to form the government in Bihar on the condition that there would not be any interference in its functioning by the British government.
The Prime Minister said Sri Krishna Singh had strongly objected to the decision of the British government to push India into World War 2 without taking its consent. The Shri Krishna Singh government had resigned in Bihar in protest against the colonial ruler “unnecessarily” pushing India into the war, he said.
Mr Modi said even in the post-independence era, Bihar had strongly protested against the attempt of the then government at the Centre to crush the democratic values. Under the leadership of Jaiprakash Narayan, Bihar had sent the strong message that no attempt to trample democracy could be tolerated, he said.
Morarji Desai also said in the past, “People forget that democracy is more natural to India than any other country. Because there was democracy in India before any other country in the world even dreamt of it. It is there in the Vedas, described so fully and firmly”.
In 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, at the International Parliamentary Conference to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Parliament of India, said, “Democracy has deep roots in India’s national ethos and our ancient culture, which teaches respect for divergent and even dissenting points of view.”
Government is Trampling on Democracy
This comes at a time when India across the globe is being criticized for slipping down on the scale of democracy by other democratic nations.
Firstly, central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), and the Income Tax Department are being used to “target, harass and corner political opponents across the country for vendetta. All this is to weaken the Opposition parties. Without a strong Opposition party, democracy will die.
Lynching and killing of Muslims are becoming commonplace. No one even raises an eyebrow when it occurs anymore. Laws made against minorities to suppress them is increasing under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The World’s First Constitutional Democracies, Greece, France, Iceland, Finland
The commonly accepted belief is that the ancient Greeks were behind the first democratic institutions in the world.
France took it to a new level and actually formed a democratic form of government, unlike one the world had never seen. The storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution bore a rich heritage for the peoples of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth century because it was the first revolution movement that adopted the ideals of ‘Liberty, equality, and fraternity. ‘ These ideals became the basic tenets for democracy for every nation in the 19th and 20th century
Iceland or Finland also are considered the longest democracy ‘Every citizen can vote and apply as a candidate for any position, prime minister or president.” This precludes all constitutional monarchies as candidates for the world’s longest democracies.
India has always maintained a monarchical government over the hundreds of centuries ruled by kings and rajas while Brahmins, Thakurs, and others ruled over the poorer classes. Perhaps the rich diverse heritage of India inculcated tolerance over time, but the records of history also register caste violence and kingdom Raja rule rather than electoral democracy with equality, liberty, and fraternity.
Don’t forget to read this fantastic article by Dr. Yameen Ansari https://hamslivenews.com/2020/12/13/ouch-too-much-democracy-in-india/