Democracy or autocracy? Decide now!

By N. Arunkumar *

Sad to say but perhaps true, that our civilization is menacingly threatening to return to the barbaric times before our ancestors had begun the process of building up a culture based on fair play and justice.

They went through terrible times no doubt, in order to refine and fine tune a society of mankind that will contribute to the process of sophistication by and by. The truth is that we are apparently creeping deeper and deeper into a morass of confusion from which it seems only the barbarians will win.

Civilized cleverness appears comfortable as just words in prose and poetry, to be brandished when man wishes to clothe his acts of barbarism in glowing robes of fantasy. That is what makes it suspiciously ambiguous too.

This phenomenon is sorrowfully true of our present times more than ever. Gandhiji had often repeated in his prayer meetings that if every wrong is set right by the dictum 'an eye for an eye' then the entire world will go blind. It is more than true today than ever before.

We regularly come across people or groups of people today, who do not hesitate to take law into their own hands, claiming that they have the consent of the people to do just that. What is the validity of such a mandate, is subject of grave debate and deliberation.

Mostly, it is a directive forced on people on the basis of coercion and threats of dire consequences if they are not indulged in their efforts. So, we have a perfect recipe for mayhem on the streets. Fear is not an element of democracy, and is really far from it.

Democracy should be a tradition where reality and the peoples resolves are aimed at making the society that we live in grow gradually, overcoming obstacles that will unavoidably come in the path of progress. Growth therefore cannot be achieved in a society that lives in fear of the gun.

Unhappily, that is what we are facing today in our beloved Manipur. The tenet of the gun rules supreme and people are mere tools in the path of this berserk reasoning. They are to be punished randomly on the flimsiest grounds. Consequently, we are likely to hear and see all round disapproval and disbelief at such state of affairs from around the globe.

The world watches with stunned silence at these events that are unfolding everyday before us. We look ahead to good times at taking on the world, notwithstanding every kind of Damocles sword hanging precariously on our shoulders. The conclusion is only to be anticipated by our own intelligence.

As a matter of fact, that facet of our life needs praise too. We are the most tolerant and submissive people on this planet, in the face of our own handicaps. We submit easily to the tantrums thrown by different organizations that dominate our social fabric, without as much as questioning their basis of existence or clout to dictate terms on our behalf.

What they say and how they say it does not matter to us, as long as it serves some dogmatic purpose of even a few vested interest groups. That it is not for us to question or doubt their righteousness of purpose seems to be the assumed code all prevalent in our daily life.

Another important element of democracy is the willingness to do some self analysis and truthful introspection, by the collective awareness of the society. Where criticisms are essential, it must be accepted maturely and responsibility acknowledged for our mistakes.

If and when we do that, we give our problems a fair chance to amend for the better. It has to come as a voluntary act though, and not forced on us. When anything is done voluntarily, it occurs from the base of the heart, and one is ready to go to the length of the wire to see it to its natural conclusion.

I must make a special mention of some editors of newspapers in Manipur though, for some very biting and truthful analysis of topical problems. Their pens say it candidly and without malevolence but with good objectives.

Such healthy outlooks augurs well for a vibrant democracy where the actual will of the people are given preference over pseudo intellectual doses of rights and wrongs that dog us.

Let us accept or reject democracy maturely. Diktats do not mean democracy. It means autocracy.

Otherwise, it won't be sensible for us to shout a round of cheers for democracy and its benefits, unless we decide what form of government we really need and want.

Right now, it is a free for all everywhere, anyway! So why not muse on it?