We have seen various reactions in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, some extreme, like the call for military rule. We have no alternative to democracy and all other alternatives have failed or will fail with huge collateral damage. It is easy to understand that all the problems in our country are due to the absence of good governance and large scale corruption. We hold our politicians responsible for these ills and if that is true, the citizens are ultimately responsible as we elect them or they get elected because we don’t participate in the democratic process. It is a fact that a majority of those who have access to information of all kinds — the middle class and the elite — do not participate in the democratic process either by voting or getting directly involved in politics. This gives a lot of room for electoral corruption like buying votes, voting on caste and religious lines etc. Even the fact that around 30 to 40 per cent of our income goes to the government by way of direct and indirect taxes does not motivate us to put the right people in power so that they spend the money wisely.
It is an irony that a lot of us still prefer to sit in front of the television watching some old cricket match instead of doing something which will secure the future of our children. To quote an example of this non-participation, take a look at the 2004 general election result of south Mumbai constituency — of the total electorate of 6.20 lakh only 2.70 lakh bothered to cast their vote. A meager 44 per cent which is very close to the Naxal-affected Bastar (45 per cent) or insurgency-affected Baramulla (36 per cent).
An excuse popularly given for non-participation is the lack of able candidates. Hence a never-ending wait for the right candidate to drop from the sky.
Sree Kumar, Chennai
