[Reader-list] Democracy and Elections - The J&K Experience

[Zainab Bawa]

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 today’s 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 unopp!
osed 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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