[Reader-list] Democracy and Elections Lessons from the J&K Experience
Zainab Bawa
coolzanny at hotmail.com
Tue Oct 15 10:19:52 IST 2002
Democracy and Elections Lessons from the J&K Experience
The recent election results in J&K have evoked elation among many people
including Kashmiris, human rights activists, well-wishers of Kashmir,
several other people and institutions. The jubilation is euphoric and to
everyone, this is the victory of democracy. Couple of days ago, I was
attending a meeting on Kashmir where someone very rightly pointed out that
elections in Kashmir were a means to express dissent and protest against the
hegemony of the Abdullah clan and National Conference. But they are by no
means a solution to the Kashmir problem. I absolutely agree with this. The
question I have on my mind is: Was democracy a clear victor in these
elections?
Last week I had mentioned that the situation in Kashmir gets me to think
about the deeper meaning of democracy. Democracy is a lofty term in todays
times, a theory and feeling which becomes vibrant only when elections are
on. Is democracy only about elections? When I ask people what is the
meaning of democracy, the obvious reply is For the people, of the people,
by the people. This definition has become a convenient way to indicate
that we know enough about democracy. It is almost suggestive of the fact
that we have taken democracy for granted and this is what it has become
today a slow and a corrupt system!
Let us consider the case of the elections in J&K. Kashmiri people were very
angry with National Conference and they wanted to teach it a lesson and
overthrow it. They voted for parties like Congress and PDP as alternatives,
not because they have great love or faith in these parties. In some
constituencies where NC won seats, it was because only some cadres of people
came out to vote and since they were the only ones who voted, obviously NC
won there. This is not to take away from the fact that people have also
voted for candidates who were eligible and who did good work in their
tenure, including candidates from NC. The fact also remains that people
voted for their local candidates and not for candidates who were absentee
representatives.
I have serious doubts about linking democracy with the electoral system we
have or for that matter, electoral systems throughout the world. When India
attained independence in 1947, Congress was the only majority party. It
kept winning elections till such time when there was absolutely no
opposition. Yet, in all these times, India was a democracy, with only one
major party in the Parliament. What meaning did elections have in such a
scenario? Coming down to a closer, personal experience, I was part of an
organization where a President who would head the organization had to be
elected every year. Throughout the history of the organization except on
one occasion, only one candidate contested elections. This system continued
well till such time when there were good Presidents. Couple of years ago,
there was a Presidential candidate who was strongly disliked because s/he
had not done well in his/her tenure. When s/he contested elections for a
second term, s/he won unopposed although s/he received only 50% of the
votes. Did the dissent then expressed against him/her make any difference
at all? If there was no one to stand in opposition to him/her, how did the
dissatisfaction expressed against him/her make any difference? In this
respect, at least the recent elections in Kashmir were better because other
political parties agreed to participate in them.
The function of democracy actually begins after elections are over. We
elect representatives in elections, not rulers. But this is the culture
practically all over the world where people elect their representatives and
forget about them till the next elections are around the corner. The
responsibility of development, accountability, etc. is placed completely on
their shoulders while we, the lesser mortals, will continue with our jobs,
families, etc. And then of course, on several occasions, we will sit back
in our armchairs and criticize them for the corrupt people that they are and
the corrupt system they have created. Well, honestly, this one-way traffic
does not work at all. It requires responsibility and accountability on the
part of the elected and the electors to run the system, or else, we are only
perpetrating autocracy in the form of a redundant democracy.
Zainab Bawa
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