This country has been world’s oldest democracy, born more than two hundred years ago, out of a revolution against the rulers from a faraway land. The leader of the revolution himself could have become a dictatorial emperor, but he chose the path of a democratic election by his fellow newly-independent citizens. They would show their deepest gratitude and respect towards the leader, thus electing him the first president of the country. Since then, the democracy, though not always perfect, prevailed even surviving a civil war from within. The country always welcomed immigrants from all corners of this earth to build the nation as well as advance the human civilization. Recently, with the covert intervention of an arch enemy, the country elected a racist, and xenophobic demagogue as its new president who is bent on destroying nation’s founding principles. Old evils have been sprouting throughout the nation, tearing the fabrics of the society. The ugly heads of these poisonous serpents recently would appear in Charlottesville, Virginia. One of them would plough his car in full speed through the peaceful protesters marching against the current dictator’s shameful bigotry. The crowd heard a chilling scream. There lied motionless Ms. Heather Heyer on the middle of the road, murdered by a speeding thug influenced by the hateful ideology preached by the dictator throughout the past electoral campaign. Later, friends would describe Ms. Heyer as a passionate advocate of the poor and disenfranchised, always standing up against injustices. And that’s what she had been doing at that very moment.
The other country is world’s most populace democracy winning its independence, only seventy years ago, from its colonial power. But, it was more like an overnight “transfer of power” from the rulers to the country’s elites. Still, the country had adopted democracy since its birth, giving citizens the power of “one voice, one vote”. However, the journey so far has not been an easy one. Poverty, corruption, caste-system along with many other societal ills effected the country’s forward advancement. But the democracy persisted along with country’s becoming a regional super power. Now a new, tech-savvy leader, under the guise of modernizing the country with technological innovation, unleashed the members of his right-wing nationalistic religious base to turn a secular country into a religious one. Ms. Gauri Lankesh, a fierce and independent woman reporter and a staunch critic of the current government had been watching the development and speaking out against the injustices in her own newspaper. On a recent evening, she was returning home when a motorbike sped past her. Citizens of another democratic country in a different continent heard a similar chilling scream. Ms. Lankesh’s bullet-ridden motionless body was lying on the sidewalk, just in front of her home.
As the citizens of both America and India, world’s two strongest democracies introspect, they are coming to realize that only constant vigilance will shield their precious democracies, for not to be imploded from within.
The other country is world’s most populace democracy winning its independence, only seventy years ago, from its colonial power. But, it was more like an overnight “transfer of power” from the rulers to the country’s elites. Still, the country had adopted democracy since its birth, giving citizens the power of “one voice, one vote”. However, the journey so far has not been an easy one. Poverty, corruption, caste-system along with many other societal ills effected the country’s forward advancement. But the democracy persisted along with country’s becoming a regional super power. Now a new, tech-savvy leader, under the guise of modernizing the country with technological innovation, unleashed the members of his right-wing nationalistic religious base to turn a secular country into a religious one. Ms. Gauri Lankesh, a fierce and independent woman reporter and a staunch critic of the current government had been watching the development and speaking out against the injustices in her own newspaper. On a recent evening, she was returning home when a motorbike sped past her. Citizens of another democratic country in a different continent heard a similar chilling scream. Ms. Lankesh’s bullet-ridden motionless body was lying on the sidewalk, just in front of her home.
As the citizens of both America and India, world’s two strongest democracies introspect, they are coming to realize that only constant vigilance will shield their precious democracies, for not to be imploded from within.
