Prowess…!

हनुमान सरि गरुड़ समानां ॥
सुरपति नरपति नही गुन जानां ॥२॥
Beings like Hanumaan, Garura,
Indra the King of the gods and the rulers of humans –
none of them know Your Glories, Lord. ||2||

– Sri Guru Granth Sahib Page # : 691 of 1430

The term Democracy could be traced back to 5^th century BC to denote the political systems then existed in Athens, to mean “rule of the people”, in contrast to aristocracy which meant “rule of an elite”! Although the definitions of Democracy and Aristocracy are seemingly opposite in letter and spirit, in practice those characteristics have been blurred throughout the course of history.

Democracy, by definition means ‘Rule of the People’ by which in a governing system of the state, people exercise their right to vote. There are types of Democracy like Direct Democracy – in this type of system people form a governing body and vote directly for every issue of their interest. In Representative Democracy people elect their representatives who meet to form a central governing body. In a constitutional democracy, like the one that we have here in India, the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits the majority and protects the minority, usually through the enjoyment by all of certain individual rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association.

Democracy is a system of processing conflicts in which outcomes depend on what participants do, but no single force controls what occurs and its outcomes.

American political scientist Larry Diamond describes four key elements of democracy as

1. A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections.
2. The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life.
3. Protection of the human rights of all citizens, and
4. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.

Democracy contrasts with forms of Government where power is either held by an individual, as in an absolute monarchy, or where power is held by a small number of individuals, as in an oligarchy. Nevertheless, these oppositions, inherited from Greek philosophy are now ambiguous because all contemporary governments of the world have mixed democratic, oligarchic and monarchic elements.

Karl Popper defined democracy in contrast to dictatorship or tyranny, thus focusing on opportunities for the people to control their leaders and to oust them without the need for a revolution.

“Rule of the majority” is sometimes referred to as Democracy. However, a ‘majority’ is the greater part, or more than half, of the total. In elections this total would be the total number of votes cast and not the number of eligible voters. This makes all the difference! In the ongoing General Elections 2019, with the average percentage of voting all around the nation reported till the moment turning out to be only about 60%, this becomes a grave concern for Democracy. Let us understand how.

Let us consider that our population is 100. Out of it 60 people voted leaving out 40 people who did not vote. Now for majority in the voting, any party with just one more vote than the half could claim majority. This means out of 60, 31 would be the Magic Figure for winning the election by Rule of Majority! Even the passing marks in any type of examination at any level anywhere in the world are considered to be 35. Score of 31 out of 100 is a clear ‘Fail’ by any measures, at any standards, let alone winning with flying colors! This has been happening for all these years in the largest Democracy of the world and the culprit are not those Politicians who have set their intentions clear; it is us, We The People, who have failed the Democracy time and again. It is our absolute Power, the potential of which we have neither realized conscientiously nor unleashed fully…

According to Ramayana, when Rama reached the Sea shore at the Southern tip of Bharata with his army of monkeys, a messenger needed to be sent to Ashoka Vatika in Sri Lanka on the other side of the Sea to understand the whereabouts of Sita and Ravana’s army and strategy. The distance between the shores of the Sea in between was about 100 Yojane (approximately 1500 KM) and no trooper from Rama’s Sena was confident of covering that much distance in a single stretched flight. Everyone was deliberating on the issue at hand while Hanuman sat quietly on a rock at a distance. Rama was wondering what Hanuman is thinking at such a crucial time when Jambuwnata approached Rama and said,

“My Lord, it is only Hanuman who could cover this distance in a single flight but he has forgotten his powers as a result of the curse by Indra in response to Bal Hanuman’s mischief of blowing the Sun assuming it to be a sweet red fruit and sending the world in darkness. When everybody pledged to Indra about the powers of Hanuman with which he can serve Rama, and the Humanity, better than anybody else, Indra offered a wherewithal that if somebody reminds him of his prowess, he will be able to remember and use them as desired…”

Jambuwanta then went to Hanuman and reminded him of his enormous prowess and unmatched abilities. Hanuman, upon remembering who he was, took the flight and landed in Ashok Vatika on the other side of the ocean in Sri Lanka – the territory of Ravana and rest, as they say, is History!

Today on the auspicious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, let us remember our incredible Power of Voting that can do miracles if used to its full potential and used meticulously without any influence [read: curse]! If we fail to use it conscientiously, Rama will never ever be able to win over Ravana and will standstill on the sea shore for the eternity…! It’s Your Voice, it’s Your Choice… Go vote and save the world’s largest Democracy, because if you fail it one more time, it will fail you forever!

Way to go…