Wither Democracy!

This piece is sadly inspired by a very poignant poem, 'Iraq War : 5th Anniversary', by my dear friend and fellow CP Orchiolum (Larry Burke). His poem is by far the most eloquent cry of anguish of outraged, sorrowing and unfortunately muted Americans. The United States is reeling under the tragedy of a fake war imposed on a sovereign state. This was much against the protestations of the United Nations and a disbelieving world. President Bush 'ruling from stolen throne' and his business cronies have played every dirty trick in the book, to cover their tracks of deceit. The world could see the writing on the wall - that there would be nothing like 'Mission Accomplished': Good has prevailed over Evil and now 'Come on guys, let's pack up and go home!" This just didn't happen. Nothing was learnt from the Viet Nam War, from where the Americans had to make an unceremonious retreat. The 'Bushmen' have got their nation into a situation, where 'Damned if you withdraw from Iraq and damned if you stay put'. In the meanwhile, innocent Americans and Iraqis suffer and just about nobody is accountable to them! When dead lives turn into mere statistics, the country loses its soul. The question then arises 'What sort of democracy do we have and what does it stand for?'

Both the Americans and we Indians frequently indulge in diplomatic back-slapping: 'We are natural friends. America is the strongest Democracy in the world and India is the largest Democracy in the world'. But to what purpose! Does Democracy start and end with holding elections, as specified in our Constitutions and then leaving the politicians to their own devices? This seems to be the bane of both our countries. To make matters worse, the all powerful American media went along with the President's Great American Lie, thus betraying the trust of American people. The common man generally takes the printed word and TV as gospel truth, and therefore the media has a great moral responsibility towards its readers and viewers. An independent media is a very necessary and a strong adjunct of Democracy. Nobody has defined 'democracy' better than Abe Lincoln - 'Of the People, by the People and for the People.' I do not find any stalwarts in our respective countries, who can mobilize their people against the self-serving establishment. We cannot wait every five years for the elections, to apply the desired course corrections. Too much is lost by then. Have we lost our collective conscience, to address day-to-day issues concerning administrative dictatorship, unconscionable concessions to the rich, reckless concessions to the heavily polluting coal-based thermal plants, etc? And gross violations of Human Rights against the prisoners in Gitmo!

Similarly in my country India, the elections are routinely held. Very efficiently administered and largely without any fixing of ballot boxes. A real marvel and role model for the world! Just imagine, one billion people going to polls and handling all that without any major hiccups! But that is where the democracy begins and ends. The politicians once comfortably ensconced in office, lay foundations for dynastic rule in their fifes by dividing the people of India along regional, caste and linguistic lines. There is blatant disregard for the directives of even the Supreme Court and there is rampant corruption, commandeering of public spaces and plundering of our natural resources. Here, the tyranny of the British Raj has been replaced by the tyranny of the local politician. This is not the freedom the Founding Fathers of our respective nations had struggled for.

It is a truism; that we get the government we deserve. The buck stops with us. As Shakespeare would say, 'The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings'! At least, in the case of the Iraq War, the English had the good sense to give the order of the boot to Prime Minister Tony Blair, for having sheepishly taken orders from President Bush and playing ball in perpetuating the Great Lie. I wonder, when such accountability will arrive in the US and India. I personally believe that most of us have found our cocooned comfort zones in a self-centered consumerist paradise: flashing our credit cards, with the malls, multiplexes and spas catering to all our hedonistic cravings. At least in India it is so, with the rich and the creamy layer of middle class having a total disconnect with the rest of the country. Our collective conscience towards the common good is totally lost. We deserve the government we get, if we do not have the will to sacrifice a bit of our comfort and raise our collective voice and struggle towards what is good for the nation. Both our countries once again need the likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Perhaps, this collective will has been exercised by Obama winning the nomination. If he is elected and turns the tide against the arrogance of the ruler and the apathy of the ruled, then there is some hope!

Larry, your poignant poem needs to be published on the first page of every newspaper in the United States. I am sorry, I am responding so late to your great poem, due to my wife's hospitalization.