Some of the recent events and developments, however, do not indicate that we are a vibrant and thriving democracy in the true sense.

CREDIT MUST GO to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of advisors for latching on to any loose comment by opposition leaders, especially Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and effectively diverting attention from the other critical issues raised by the opposition.

The latest instance of this was the comment by Rahul Gandhi that if the BJP emerges victorious after “match-fixing elections and changes the constitution after that, it will set the country on fire”.

Picking up this sole line from the opposition show of strength during its massive rally in Delhi on Sunday, Modi sought to turn the tables on the opposition.

He recalled the imposition of emergency by former prime minister Indira Gandhi and said the Congress continued to suffer from the “Emergency mindset” and talks about burning of the country.

The prime minister and his advisors have developed mastery over changing or setting the narrative to successfully hunt the headlines and ensure that they make it to the headlines almost every day.

The conjuring up of the issue relating to the Katchatheevu island was another such instance.

Most would not have heard of the three kilometer long and 300 meter uninhabited island midway between India and Sri Lanka, but the issue was resurrected to show the Congress is a bad light and asserting that Congress had ceded the island in 1974 without any justifiable reasons.

There was of course no talk about China recently encroaching on a part of our territory in Doklam and other Ladakh.

But returning to the issue of democracy raised by the prime minister and how he and his government would ensure that democracy would continue to flourish in the country and how they respected democratic institutions.

Some of the recent events and developments, however, do not indicate that we are a vibrant and thriving democracy in the true sense.

Yes we have been holding elections on a regular basis with the sole exception during the Emergency when elections were postponed and term of Lok Sabha was extended.

Yet, on other the other hand, we have not been following the principles of democracy. This was also true in the past but the magnitude and scale of violations of principles under the current regime is gig-anti.

The issue of electoral bonds, which has no precedence, is a prime example of making a mockery of democracy. It is now more than obvious that central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax were blatantly used to extort funds for political parties of which the main beneficiary was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Investigations have shown how 23 top opposition leaders who had crossed over from other parties to the BJP, and were facing serious charges of corruption and money laundering, were provided a reprieve and how cases against some of them were dropped.

Similarly big business houses facing notices from the central agencies paid up huge amounts of money as electoral bonds mainly to the ruling party just after they were issued notices. The nexus is evident but the opposition parties and large sections of media are failing to take up the issue.

Supreme Court deserves credit for stopping this open loot and extortion although it took five long years for it to act. By that time most of the damage was done.

Arresting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who could have been a strong option voice during the election campaign, under what appear to be trumped up charges, is also no good advertisement for a true democracy in action.

Kejriwal has been arrested on the alleged statement of an accused whose close relatives have now been given the BJP ticket to contest Lok Sabha elections. No illegal money have been recovered or any trail has been established even though Kejriwal’s deputy has been behind the bars for over a year.

This column doesn’t have enough space to enumerate all what’s wrong with our democracy. To summarise, here are a few points :

Uttar Pradesh government under Yogi Aditya Nath has introduced a new concept of instant justice – bulldozer justice – under which houses of members of a particular community are demolished for alleged participation in protests despite the matter pending in the courts.

Political opponents or critics are arrested under stringent laws on suspicion that they might deliver a controversial speech or make fun of politicians as stand up comedians.

Journalists are arrested on way to cover a brutal gang rape and arrests are made on the basis of a four year old tweet regarding a song in a film released decades ago.

A 22 year old girl was charged with sedition for raising slogans against the government while an octogenarian was put behind bars for alleged anti national activities and denied medicines which led to his death.

The prime minister has been assuring his continued faith in democracy and has been saying this at the international stage as well as during his speeches in the country. However actions must match words and we all need to remain vigilant as it is said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

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Also Read:

Hai, Modi kitna bura hai! (Agreed. But…)

Three New Criminal Laws – Some Flaws That Are Prone To Gross Misuse And Abuse

The effect of religious polarisation in India 

Congress – Where is it heading? 

Kejriwal and Hitler – The Striking Resemblances

A great judgment by the Indian Supreme Court 

Shilanyas was a mistake, but Rajiv was not aware of unlocking Babri

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