India a Democratic Country: Reality Check

India had a rich heritage as a Democratic nation, but in the recent times it has been on a downward trend. Wondering if it has to do with the mindset of people or the segregation of people by the political parties with entirely opposite ideologies.

Take the case of recent rule passed in Maharashtra by the Government which bans killing of Cattle animals especially Cow. This clearly is a violation of personal freedom which is one of the basis of Democracy. This rule in my opinion is being out in place to protect one group of people who does not eat Beef items, but at the same time restricting other set of people the freedom of eating something that they like. So why put a rule in place if it’s not ethical in a Democratic process. The set of people who does not want to eat the Beef will never try to eat it in any circumstance but at the same time the other set of people feels like deprived of the freedom to eat something that they like. Instead of this kind of discrimination by a democratically elected government, we should find a common ground where everyone’s freedom is protected in the right sense. Already there are many Vegetarian restaurants which only serves very delicious Veg foods, so why should they bother about killing Beef and eating by other set of people be banned. This is some kind of way to impose one set of religious beliefs to the rest of the people, which is not the way a democratic country should work. Everyone has their own rights to practice their religious beliefs in a democratic country. So is India slowly becoming a non-Democratic country now?

Let’s take another example of banning something because a set of political parties think that it will defame India. At least banning Beef is restricted to a state, but this one which I am talking is about Central Government of India banning a Documentary titled “India’s Daughter”. The Central Government took an extreme step by banning this documentary by filling First Information Report (FIR) through Delhi police, against the filmmakers under Sections 505 (Statements conducing to public mischief), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505(1)(b) (With intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service). This documentary was based on a 2012 Gang Rape that happened in Delhi and the events that took place after that. After the incident whole India united in condemning the act and lots of rallies and silent protests were held throughout the nation. The reason given by Government is as follows, "Our government condemns the incident of December 16, 2012 in the strongest possible terms and will not allow any attempt by any individual, group or organization to leverage such unfortunate incidents for commercial benefit. The respect and dignity of women, constitutes a core value of our culture and tradition. Our government remains fully committed to ensuring safety and dignity of women." And another comment was made, "We can ban the documentary in India but there is a conspiracy to defame India and the documentary can be telecast outside. We will also be examining what should be done.". But is this the reason for banning a documentary which is shedding light into the fact that India as a nation rose to fight against the incident and people irrespective of their caste or political parties stayed united in giving a strong message out to the world that India as a nation is rising against such kind of acts and that we will not stay quite till we get justice. So what is wrong in showing this fact to the world so that other nations where these kind of incidents occur can take India as an example and fight against it? This is another way of suppressing Democracy.

So my question here is why India which is predicted to be a super power in the near decades to come is having its core values erode as a Democratic Nation. In my opinion now is the time to rise against and stand united under one roof so that we can give a safe and secure India for the generations to come.