The biggest threat to Bharat is the flawed democracy that she has not adopted but has rather been imposed on her by the Constituent Assembly constituted in December, 1946 in the form of Constitution of India. We are told that the Constitution of India is the certificate of a democratic state which Bharat claims to be and is it considered that the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 (by way of which the term “secular” was added in the Preamble) is a glorious example of this claim. The constitutional discourse at present seems to be more of an emotional and utopian concept rather than a pragmatic and realistic blueprint of a nation’s governing model. The term “democracy” is not defined in our Constitution however the etymology of the term is from the Greek word “dēmokratía” which means “rule of the people”. But the question to be asked is “which people”?
Can democracy survive if the people determining the rules have no adherence towards democratic or constitutional values? Can democracy survive if those who have no respect towards a nation’s territorial sovereignty and indulge in slogans like “Bharat Tere Tukde Honge Inshallah Inshallah!” are allowed to determine the policies of the nation? Can democracy survive if a segment of the population openly claiming that their religious laws and rules will always prevail over laws or rules of the democratic nation is allowed to have a veto in the national and constitutional discourse? I don’t think so. If democracy in a nation is to survive the population needs to understand, cultivate and adhere towards democratic values and principles. Religion or faith should not be an impediment to such values.
But in Bharat we have seen over the last many decades that segments of population have displayed rent seeking demands towards democracy instead of accepting and cultivating the true nature of democratic values. They are more interested in having their own way rather than reaching a consensus to proceed further. Unfortunately, the establishment in Bharat has encouraged and fuelled such rent seeking demands resulting into a major threat to the national security and integrity of our nation. The independence movement of India was very clearly rooted in the Hindu value systems as described by Swami Vivekanada and Shri Aurobindo. Mahatma Gandhi too donned the attire of a sadhu in order to reach out to Bharatiyas.
However, from 1947 it seems as if the Constitution has deliberately discarded such principles and has adopted a jumbled up concept of Western liberal thought and democracy thereby making the nature of the Constitution as non-Bharatiya. We have not created a state on the lines of separation of state and religion but rather a state which has excluded Dharma from its strategic framework. An Adharmic state has been created in the name of an egalitarian society which doesn’t even understand the challenges it faces from within or outside and never found its true path.
The idea of democracy cannot merely be restricted to elections for public office. The idea needs to transcend the boundaries of our minds so that we can analyse and decide the path our nation will take to decide its future. We need to understand that a democratic state will only survive if the state remains protected from threats arising from within or outside the nation. We cannot have democracy without a democratic state and hence “rule of the people” should mean rule of those people who believe in the concept of democracy and will fight to protect it. This brings me to the second part of my article i.e Why Pakistan is not Bharat’s biggest enemy?
The most dangerous enemy in a war is not the one who charges at you with a sword from the front but the one who stabs you in the back even if it is with a small knife. You will never be backstabbed by the enemy but it is your friends (or those who you think are your friends) who will backstab you resulting into your loss or death. It is my firm belief that Pakistan has never backstabbed us. They have surely used deceptive tactics on us but such measures have always been part of Pakistan’s tactical strategy. Pakistan has never claimed to be a friend or well-wisher of India.
In fact Pakistan has always been extremely forthright about its intentions and core values vis-à-vis India i.e Ghazwa-E-Hind and elimination of Hindu culture. The biggest enemies of Bharat are the ones who reside within her borders and are attempting break her from within for the past many decades. These enemies may take the form of politician, bureaucrat, journalist, artist, academic etc. but just like in Ramayana they are Rakshasas in the guise of sadhus and hence it is imperative that we the people of Bharat must recognize them and play our part in defeating such evil forces.
We all must be aware of the phrase “keep your friends close but your enemies closer” but in the present context of proxy war we must practice “keep one eye on your enemy and the other one on your friend” as macro civilizations tend to be vulnerable and brittle from within. Our democracy is partially blind and has no way to distinguish between nationalism and rent seeking behaviour and this is where the society must step in to fill the gaps. Hence, I believe we need to modify our democracy and our Constitution so that the core values therein can be protected and preserved. We need to list out those who use our nation’s democracy and Constitution to further their personal agendas and remove them from electoral process to begin with.
Lastly, I would only like to state that our nation is in danger and our flawed democracy is the reason behind it. Let us correct those flaws and identify the real enemies that reside within Bharat.
