The "maximum city" of India, Mumbai, had civic elections last week. The voter turnout was meager, 45%. The richest civic body in India, the financial hub of the country and the absence of voters in such large numbers makes the predicament difficult to comprehend. What happened in Mumbai last week in the civic election is often seen in many other parts of the country during several elections. Why are we Indians so callous about our right of voting?
I interacted with some people who had preferred to stay home/go for movie/shopping instead of voting and the varied, enervated responses I received were, "I am too lazy and tired of going out and wait in the queue and go through the rigmarole of voting procedure. It is a holiday, why waste time on voting that does not make any difference to our life." "What difference does my one vote make?" "All the candidates are equally bad and I don't like any of the political parties either." "All parties are corrupt and politicians care hoots about common people like us." Every time, I listen to such lackadaisical, cliched remarks, I cringe and am deeply saddened! I bemoan lack of will to adhere to our civic duty and responsibility of voting.
The excuses mentioned above are from people who often complain about corruption, atrocious governance and bad politicians yet when it comes to bringing change, they shy away. No matter how justified peoples' anguish and frustration is, it makes no sense to abstain from voting. For any democracy, it is very important to have more voices out in open to question with erudite judgment as to what is wrong with its system and participate to create necessary change and awareness.
The frustration regarding profile of some candidates and ideologies of political parties is a huge challenge to cope with. I voted for the candidate who belonged to the political party whose ideology I don't agree with. The only reason I opted for it was that the candidate was highly educated while most of the candidates were barely educated and some even had criminal records. Constitution gives us right not to vote for any of the candidates under section 49(0). That way, we can reject candidates and bring better, deserving candidates.
Change can't be brought with some magic wand. We need to do our bit in creating change that we all are so eagerly awaiting for.
"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles." Abbie Hoffman
I interacted with some people who had preferred to stay home/go for movie/shopping instead of voting and the varied, enervated responses I received were, "I am too lazy and tired of going out and wait in the queue and go through the rigmarole of voting procedure. It is a holiday, why waste time on voting that does not make any difference to our life." "What difference does my one vote make?" "All the candidates are equally bad and I don't like any of the political parties either." "All parties are corrupt and politicians care hoots about common people like us." Every time, I listen to such lackadaisical, cliched remarks, I cringe and am deeply saddened! I bemoan lack of will to adhere to our civic duty and responsibility of voting.
The excuses mentioned above are from people who often complain about corruption, atrocious governance and bad politicians yet when it comes to bringing change, they shy away. No matter how justified peoples' anguish and frustration is, it makes no sense to abstain from voting. For any democracy, it is very important to have more voices out in open to question with erudite judgment as to what is wrong with its system and participate to create necessary change and awareness.
The frustration regarding profile of some candidates and ideologies of political parties is a huge challenge to cope with. I voted for the candidate who belonged to the political party whose ideology I don't agree with. The only reason I opted for it was that the candidate was highly educated while most of the candidates were barely educated and some even had criminal records. Constitution gives us right not to vote for any of the candidates under section 49(0). That way, we can reject candidates and bring better, deserving candidates.
Change can't be brought with some magic wand. We need to do our bit in creating change that we all are so eagerly awaiting for.
"Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat but it's something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles." Abbie Hoffman
Your points are well taken.
ReplyDeleteBut why doesn't anyone talk about why people are tired of participating in a democracy. Everyone who has even a little power wants to show it off....but why do so many educated people knowing fully well the power of their vote prefer to waste it? It is a serious matter.
Asking people to vote...and vote with responsibility is very easy....but when it comes to choice I don't quite see much...
Zohraji, that is a valid point you made. How many of us own up to our country as "my country" and feel truly proud of it? A person littering public places, public properties without iota of guilt or shame is seen flashing Indian flag on the dashboard of his car on 15th August and 26th January! We expect government to take care of country and run it smoothly but evade taxes. I don't even need to give you more examples as you are very well aware that our society has nurtured decadence since ages and what we see now is the result of that.
ReplyDeleteIndia has unique challenges with its 114 distinct ethnicities. There are many political, social, linguistic and regional layers that create further divisions at state, district and taluka levels.
What needs to be done is to create awareness right from the bottom of the pyramid. To attain that, we need to educate people. I would say, eternal vigilance is the right approach for achieving that goal.
Sadly, when we inherit something without paying its price, we don't value it. I would say it applies to Indian democracy also. We have enjoyed all the blessings of democracy and taken it for granted. A school going child knows he can get away with anything by just paying some money. Who is responsible to create that mindset? It has certainly taken ages of misuse of power and money for the sake of one's greed and convenience to create the mess that we are faced with today.
Good people don't wish to join politics. Why? Nations can't be created overnight. It needs participation of its people who are aware and are willing to learn to live with fatigue of supporting it. When educated people who are capable of critical thinking shy away, the majority of other class get an excuse not to think at all. We are at the brink but its a process. The day we connect with our country as "my country" and own it up things will start to change. But we must participate irrespective of the state of affairs or the filth in our system and do our bit. Then change would not seem as distant. I am very positive on that Zohraji!