Where There Is Noise, There Is Democracy

Parliament has been having lots of fun with the Lokpal Bill. And that’s how it should be. The name of the game is ‘Make Noise’. Before you read any further, let me clarify right at the outset that I am not going to talk about the Lokpal Bill or get into the merits of the position of any of party or any version of the Bill – Anna, Congress, BJP or any other. All I am looking at is the noises that are being made in Parliament. And trust me; so long as the noises are being made, the democracy is intact. Democracy does not drown in the noise; it dies in silence, complacence and obedience. So, those who are talking about the death of democracy because Congress is not willing to the proverbial ‘extra mile’ to enact a ‘strong’ – whatever that means – Lokpal Law to curb corruption must take a deep breath and relax. Democracy is going nowhere. It is here with us. If somebody as hellbent to encroach upon our rights as Indira Gandhi could do little to subvert Indian democracy, the dwarfish minions of her party, or, for that matter, her family or descendants are not capable of doing any real harm.

So far as the multi-party noise is concerned, it doesn’t have much substance, for it is aimed at being visible. The more you make noise, the better you are noticed, the more you are noticed, the better are your chances of being in the public memory for the upcoming elections. People might not know the kind of nonsense you splashed around in Parliament, but they would remember that you spoke. Here is the guy who spoke in Parliament for ‘us’. Us? What us? Who us? But the guy who spoke in the Parliament is here looking for votes so that he could cause better ruckus the next time.

Now, I cannot really say it holds good with all Indians because India is one country, but is too big for anyone to make generalizations about the way people make their electoral decisions. In India, one is perfectly capable of saying that a certain person is honest and is both willing and capable of making some real changes, but one is still not willing to lend him support by way of voting in his favour because the fellow does not come from one’s caste.

Okay, I guess it’s time for me to stop. I am beginning to seriously denounce the Indian electorate, and electorate does not wrong, like the British Crown, thank you.