India and Its Liberal Democracy - Essay Example

20 August Democracy in Asia Democracy is the most prominent form of governance which exists in the world today. Democracy is the form of governance where the people elect the government directly and the government is directly accountable to the people for its actions. The people are the one who form the government and its form on a periodical basis where at every 5 years or under the conditions prescribed in the Constitution the government is re-elected. The electoral is given a chance at periodic intervals to vote for the people who stand for elections, and that is how the accountability of the government is maintained. Following are the essentials of democracy as it is: 1. Election 2. Constitution 3. Free Media 4. Strong Opposition 5. Accountability Let us now analyze each and every concept in detail. Election is the most important factor in running a democratic form of government. It is through this process that the leaders get elected into the government and thus carry out the functions of the government. Constitution is another instrument which carries out the functions of democracy. For any democratic form of government to run in a judicious and accountable manner it is imperative to have a strong Constitutional law which may be referred when the government goes beyond the duties given to it. It is a check on the functions of the government and is also a rule book as to how the government should carry out the authoritative functions. Media is considered to be the fourth pillar of democracy. It is an essential tool to criticise and keep a check on the negative aspects of the government. It is imperative to have a free media which has the right to voice its opinion and inform the people as to what exactly is happening with the government in the country. It rates the performance of the government and gives an outline as to how the government has been functioning during the course of its powers. Strong Opposition is another piece of instrument which is instrumental in keeping the government on its toes. Opposition is the group of political parties who are in direct opposition with the government and have failed to come to power, thus working as the opposition to foresee the functions of the government. Accountability is the most important factor which exists in the democratic form of government. It is the process which identifies the weaknesses and the strong points of the existing government and also gives the other political parties a chance to come into power if they can prove that they have the mettle for the same. India and its Liberal Democracy India took the path of liberal democracy after it attained independence from the tyranny of the British rule. It entered into a new era of governance which was characterized by the democratic form of governance. This liberal democracy marked the beginning of the definite structure which had everything put in the right place to carry out proper form of governance. Let us now analyse the reasons why India had established a liberal form of democracy. After gaining independence there was a lot of chaos and confusion with regards to the functioning of the country. Against all odds, a liberal democracy was setup in India. It marked the scene of jubilation and happiness within the territory of India. “Liberal democracy is a form of representative democracy where elected representatives that hold the decision power are moderated by a constitution that emphasizes protecting individual liberties and the rights of minorities in society, such as freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of religion, the right to private property and privacy, as well as equality before the law and due process under the rule of law, and many more.” “a political system that has free elections, many political parties, political decisions made by an independent legislature, independent judges, and law enforcement by the state” Understanding from the definitions mentioned above, we see that liberal democracy is based upon a solid Constitution. It is the basic framework within which the government functions. Liberal democracy is one democracy which envisages the idea of free and fair elections as well as guaranteeing certain rights to the people of the country so that they might lead a healthy life. After gaining independence, the country was in turmoil. There was a lot of hatred among the people and the structure lacked a solid foundation on which the ideas of the freedom fighters could have been built upon. Due to the insistence of the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and the father of the Indian Constitution Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, the country ushered into the era of democratic liberalization. The leaders of the country were keen to have a democratic form of governance established within the scope of the country to avoid any chances of a foreign rule in the future. It was a major decision to allow the people to lead a proper life with full respect and dignity. Fortunately for the people of the country, the Constitution was drafted keeping in mind all the needs and requirements of them. It took a while to frame the Constitution, but when it was done the people of the country were extremely happy and satisfied that an order was put in place for them to be governed by the rulers. Liberal democracy calls for an independent judiciary where the emphasis is laid on the checks and balances of the judiciary on the functioning of the State and the legislature. An independent judiciary is one of the hallmarks of a free and liberal democracy where people have the right to approach the courts if and when required to get their rights back which have been taken from them by the State. Now, as the country is ushering in the new age with the second fastest growing economy in the world it is important to note that the fruits of such liberal democracy are paying dividends. Let us now analyse how Pakistan has not been able to manage a liberal democracy. Following are the aspects in which the contents of the research will be divided and analysed: 1. Islamic Emphasis 2. Powerful Army 3. Lack of Strong Political Parties Let us first analyse the first aspect of the problem which is the Islamic influence and how it conflicted with the Constitutional laws in the country. Islamic emphasis has broken the back of the foundation of democracy in Pakistan. It has been a leading cause of the downfall of the functioning of the democratic system which had been put in place in Pakistan after they achieved independence from India and the British rule. The Islamic laws, which are also known as Sharia laws, have conflicted with the Constitution of Pakistan. When the first Constitution was drafted in the State of Pakistan, a lot of points were taken from the archaic sharia laws which are still prevalent in the State of Pakistan and other Islamic countries. There was a major problem for the Constitution practitioners to carry out the functions of a fine democratic system where all the laws would be governed through the process of naturalization. Unfortunately for Pakistan that never happened. The country has been experimenting with democracy over the past many years but had failed to realize the true potential of the same due to the over importance given to the old age system of Islamic laws in the country. The people had lost faith in the function of the democracy in Pakistan and this gave rise to Islamic fundamentalism within the fractions of the State. Due to this many leaders erupted in the mid-60s and 70s who had the foundation of Islamic fundamentalism deeply burrowed in their hearts and souls. At the turn of events during the early 50s there was rampant corruption in the State of Pakistan which the people had not been able to deal with in a proper manner. There were a lot of problems arising and the people and the leaders thus lost faith in the Constitution which lead them to have the archaic Sharia laws leading to more and more degradation of the society of Pakistan. Let us now analyse the other concept which is the existence of a powerful army and the ability of the army officials to call for coup. Unlike India, the army in Pakistan played a pivotal role in the destiny of the State over the past 60 years. It has been a charismatic structure within the administration of Pakistan, and there is no denying that at times the army was considered to be more powerful than the State. Once the Army was established in the State of Pakistan, there was a lot of optimism among the people of the country with regard to the security of the State. People were quite worried about the safety of their families and themselves. The partition was a terrible blunder on the face of humanity existing in the days of India and Pakistan. This lead to a widespread paranoia among the people of Pakistan, who were very insecure about the future of themselves. The army managed to bring hope in the minds of the people. It reached out to people of Pakistan in a better way than the Government had ever done before. The idea of Pakistan was understood from the point of view of the army. And the army went ahead with a strong determination to dominate the appeal of the masses. The army believed that it was representing the colour of the people, and so it thought it did when it went against India for the first time in the 1960’s. The identity of Pakistan finds its origin from India. The argument remains true that there was a conflict among the people of India, which was distributed on a mass level culminating into a disorder in various parts of the country. The Muslims and the Hindus was a tough match for each other, leading to the separation, even though many Muslims stayed back which means that the partition could not be attributed to a comprehensive tussle between the Muslims and the Hindus. The social nature of Pakistan which has erupted from a negative act of humanity has faced traumas and chaos fuelled with acts of terrorism which eventually have embarked along with such other facets of the society. Ironically though, India has maintained a steady growth while Pakistan, born out of the same land and comprising of the same culture which was once envisaged as India, has fallen down the drain quite dramatically. The thought process of the masses has been controlled by a few devils that have destroyed the idea which was once characterized, however negatively, by none other than Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the preacher of a holy life. He was not the smartest of the men they had during the freedom struggle, and by no means was he a Muslim in nature or practice, although one might argue that it is extremely tough, if not impossible, to find one who would have otherwise taken this cause for the people of Islam. The democracy in Pakistan still has a chance to save itself from the ashes of the fire of terror. They need a strong individual who is devoid of any influence from the religion, and has the will and the determination to lead the country in an age of emancipation and higher thinking. The men who believe in this path of life shall be able to eke out a direction to which people could follow. The middle class is totally shattered in pieces and does not have an able place to develop. The change can happen, but the time is running out fast enough for it to not happen. Works Cited http://www.politicsdictionary.com/definition/liberal-democracy.html http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-liberal-democracy.htm Read More