Why democracy is unsuited to India

By Justice Katju

Why democracy is unsuited to India

By Justice Katju

Many people have asked me why I am against democracy in India, especially when the Indian Constitution has provided for it ?

My answer is simple. The test of every political system and every political activity is one, and only one : does it raise the standard of living of the people ? Does it give them better lives ?

From that standpoint it is evident that democracy cannot be an end in itself, but can only be a means towards an end. That end must be raising the standard of living of the people, and giving them better lives.

If providing democracy to India had abolished or considerably reduced poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare, lack of good education for our masses, price rise, casteism and communalism etc I would have been all for it.

But our experience since 1947 is that these great evils continue unabated in our society even 77 years thereafter, and many say have become worse. How then can I support democracy ? What good has it done to India ? Many say it has increased the misery of Indians.

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In Book 6 of Plato’s ‘The Republic’ the great Greek philosopher Socrates has a conversation about democracy with a man called Adeimantus. Socrates compares society with a ship setting out to sail into the open sea, which may be stormy. He asks Adeimantus whether anyone on the ship should be made its captain and in charge of it, or only the person most skilled in seamanship ? Adeimantus had to answer that the latter alone should be the captain.

Then Socrates gives another example. Suppose there is a choice between voting for a sweets shop owner or a doctor. The sweets shop owner will say to the voters ” Vote for me, because I will give you a lot of sweets, which will delight you, whereas the doctor will give you bitter medicines, and perform painful operations on you ”.

The voters, who are short sighted and often silly, will vote for him, forgetting that politicians rarely keep their election promises. And even if the sweets shop owner does give them sweets, that may give momentary delight, but may be bad for health in the long run. On the other hand, the doctor gives bitter medicines and operates on them to save their lives, that is, for their own good.

Many people have asked me to enter politics and contest elections. But if I do, I will be sure to lose, as I will be like that doctor which Socrates mentioned, who prescribes bitter medicines and operates.

Who will vote for me ?

Hindus, who are 80% of India’s population, will not vote for me as I have said several times that there is nothing wrong in eating beef, and I eat it myself ( where legally permitted, as in Kerala and Goa ). Almost the whole world world eats beef. Are they all wicked people, while we Hindus alone are sadhu-sants ? I have also said that those who call cow ‘gomata’ ( mother cow ) have ‘gobar’ ( cow dung ) in their heads, for how can an animal be a mother of a human being ? Some say cow is gomata as she gives us milk to drink. But humans drink milk of goats, buffaloes, camels, yaks, deer, etc. Are all these animals to be worshipped and regarded as our mothers ?

Muslims, who are 15% of India’s population, will not vote for me as I have said several times that sharia, burqa, madarsas and maulanas should be banned, as these are feudal practices and institutions which must be suppressed if India is to progress, as the great Mustafa Kemal did in Turkey in the 1920s.

That leaves only Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains etc, and these too may not vote for me, knowing that I am an atheist

But if I turn around and suddenly become casteist or communal, and start inciting caste or religious hatred, I will get a lot of votes, as 80-90% Indians are casteist/communal, with ‘gobar’ in their heads, and I may then even win the election.

So is democracy suited to India ?

Democracy cannot be regarded as an unambiguous good in all societies and all cirumstances. It is only as effective as the system and quality of education which prevails in society. In India the education system is mostly very poor, and the vast majority of our people ( 80-90% ) have feudal ( casteist and communal ) mindsets. When they go to vote they do not see the merit of the candidate, whether he is a good man or bad, educated or uneducated, criminal or not, but just see his caste or religion ( or the caste or religion his party claims to represent ). That is why there are so many persons with criminal backgrounds in our Parliament and state legislatures.Therefore democracy is certainly unsuited to India.

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US President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as rule ‘ by the people, for the people, of the people ‘. In other words, he said that in a democracy the people are the rulers.

But everyone knows that India is not ruled by its people but by a handful of crooked politicians, who have no genuine love for the people, but only seek power and pelf, and are experts in polarising society and spreading caste and religious hatred to secure their vote banks