On May 27, 2019, the result of the world’s biggest general elections came, and Narendra Modi won with a comfortable majority for a second time in a row. Since then a question has been on my mind, “Is there something left that can save our democracy?” The answer is ‘no’. There is nothing in our Constitution or culture that can immunize a democratic breakdown.
What is a democracy? India has regular elections, and a government that is highly popular amongst people gets elected. Even China, which is not a democratic country, can make that claim. The litmus test for a democracy is not its policy decisions, but whether those policy decisions are made through a democratic process.
1975–1977 was a period viewed as a dark chapter of an independent India. We experienced a political catastrophe under the then-Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. Indian democracy was about to be morphed into an authoritarian society, but fortunately the judiciary helped to recover the damage. The judiciary is recognised as the strongest pillar in a democracy like India; but in the contemporary political scenario, this pillar is going through an unprecedented credibility crisis.
In an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Justice Madan B. Lokur said, “The Supreme Court is not fulfilling its constitutional function adequately,” adding, “The Supreme Court is capable of doing a great job.”
Justice Lokur is a retired justice of the apex court of the country. According to his statement, the judiciary of this country is facing its biggest challenge.
This raises a very serious question — if not the judiciary, who is going to protect the rights of the people? The Supreme Court is a safeguard in the Constitution, having the power of judicial review; if they fail in recovering the damage, then nobody can stop Indian democracy from sliding into an authoritarian state like China. It won’t be wrong to say that the Indian democracy is in the ICU.
The reason behind the current circumstances are very clear. Two years after the election of Narendra Modi as Prime minister, we started seeing symptoms of authoritarianism in the country. Symptoms like demonetization in 2016, which further metastasized and put the country in a condition much severe.
Since 2016, the Modi government has also emerged as a populist government which is harmful for any democracy. History tells us that a populist government always assaults the democracy and democratic institutions. It even tries to transform a democracy into a dictatorship.
Harvard University political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt studied the prospect of the democratic system in a holistic approach and gave some key indicators of an authoritarian behavior in their book, How Democracies Die. Below, I have quoted some key indicators of authoritarian behaviour and calculated it in the context of Indian politics.
First indicator is the denial of legitimacy of political opponents. Narendra Modi always tries to delegitimize the Congress, the biggest opponent of the ruling party, in every political speech. He always mentions a “Congress-mukt bharat (India without Congress party)”.
Second indicator is encouraging violence. We have seen some leaders from the ruling party, provoking their followers to be violent against a community in the name of gau raksha (cow security). Union Minister Jayant Sinha gave garlands to people who were accused of mob lynching. Nevertheless, Narendra Modi did not take any action against him, and said in a rally in Jharkhand that the people who were protesting against the CAA (citizenship amendment act) could be identified by their clothes. These type of statements clearly show that the ruling party encourages violence.
Third and the most important indicator of authoritarianism is the readiness to curtail the civil liberties of opponents including the media. Sadly, the Indian media has been complicit in the BJP’s assault on democratic and secular values by actively promoting their narrative. There are still some journalists and intellectuals who have maintained their integrity and work to uphold the democratic ideals of the Indian constitution. Repression of such journalists and intellectuals is the biggest indicator of an authoritarian leadership.
Recently, an arrest warrant was issued against three young Kashmiri journalists: Gowher Geelani, Masrat Zahra and Peerzada Ashiq, under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act). The government’s cruelty turned a darker corner when a 27-year-old PhD scholar Safoora Zargar from Jamia Millia Islamia university was booked and sent to jail under the same Draconian law, despite the fact that she was 3-months pregnant.
All these incidents are key indicators of authoritarianism, and it raises the biggest question — whether our democracy, which gives us the freedom to speak, write and express our voice against atrocity, is dying?