When the new Gujarat governor signed the bill that mandates voting in local bodies, I do not see it as a law confining to the borders of a state that I have not even visited. There is a larger frame to this picture. And that frame is made out of the wood from the forests of Authoritarian-lands. This picture does not smell of any flavor of democracy.
Authoritarianism does not rise up as a tsunami on one bad morning. It always works itself up as a destructive hurricane- starting with a mild pressure variation, building up slowly, steadily and stealthily in some remote vastitudes of sea before climaxing to its ferocious form right before the landfall.
Marx wrote Das Capital in 1849, Lenin took power in 1917 before Stalin could bring the Socialist dictatorship to climax in 1929 in Gulags. Marx never envisioned a Gulag, neither Lenin. Yet, there it was. Like the seed of a poisonous plant making itself fruitful over years & decades.
The law from Gujarat is the first glimpse of the hurricane of Authoritarianism that is beginning to grip India. Just like Marx, the Chief Minister who brought it up five years back may not be envisioning an Authoritarian state. But, he does not understand the principles of a Secular Democratic Republic. Neither does the people who support him.
Democracy implies the freedom to choose without compulsion. If you hold a gun to my head and ask me to choose between Vanilla & Chocolate & No Ice-cream, it is not freedom. Freedom implies the decision making capacity for a kid to walk away from a ice-cream factory without tasting anything, as much as his capacity to jump in and grab anything. (In reality, the analogy should be something else, like the choice between a knife, gun & poison to kill yourself. But I am assuming that the names of the people in the ballot are like ice-creams).
A citizen has both a right and a duty to vote is a logically incoherent argument. If you grant me a right, I don't have a duty to make use of that right. If so, then everybody should be talking about everything all the time, because we have the right to speech. Just because we have a right to religion, it doesn't mean that everybody should pray to some God.
As a parent, I have a duty to feed my children. It is not my right to feed my children. They have a right to ask me food, but they don't have a duty to ask me food. In the cacophony of pseudo-intellectual blabber prevalent in the country today, duty and right are confused.
Voting is either a right or a duty. By passing this law, the state of Gujarat has essentially made Voting as a Duty. This means that my Right is taken away. It is as simple as that.
The form of political power that confuses Rights and Duties is Authoritarianism. Today, it could be vote. Tomorrow, it could be something else. Like the freedom of speech. Today, it is my Right to elect Modi. Tomorrow, it could be my Duty to elect Next-Modi. Today, I have the Right of choice to write for or against a leader. Tomorrow, I may have a Duty to write for him.
Writing this here today before my Right becomes a Duty. For posterity.
Authoritarianism does not rise up as a tsunami on one bad morning. It always works itself up as a destructive hurricane- starting with a mild pressure variation, building up slowly, steadily and stealthily in some remote vastitudes of sea before climaxing to its ferocious form right before the landfall.
Marx wrote Das Capital in 1849, Lenin took power in 1917 before Stalin could bring the Socialist dictatorship to climax in 1929 in Gulags. Marx never envisioned a Gulag, neither Lenin. Yet, there it was. Like the seed of a poisonous plant making itself fruitful over years & decades.
The law from Gujarat is the first glimpse of the hurricane of Authoritarianism that is beginning to grip India. Just like Marx, the Chief Minister who brought it up five years back may not be envisioning an Authoritarian state. But, he does not understand the principles of a Secular Democratic Republic. Neither does the people who support him.
Democracy implies the freedom to choose without compulsion. If you hold a gun to my head and ask me to choose between Vanilla & Chocolate & No Ice-cream, it is not freedom. Freedom implies the decision making capacity for a kid to walk away from a ice-cream factory without tasting anything, as much as his capacity to jump in and grab anything. (In reality, the analogy should be something else, like the choice between a knife, gun & poison to kill yourself. But I am assuming that the names of the people in the ballot are like ice-creams).
A citizen has both a right and a duty to vote is a logically incoherent argument. If you grant me a right, I don't have a duty to make use of that right. If so, then everybody should be talking about everything all the time, because we have the right to speech. Just because we have a right to religion, it doesn't mean that everybody should pray to some God.
As a parent, I have a duty to feed my children. It is not my right to feed my children. They have a right to ask me food, but they don't have a duty to ask me food. In the cacophony of pseudo-intellectual blabber prevalent in the country today, duty and right are confused.
Voting is either a right or a duty. By passing this law, the state of Gujarat has essentially made Voting as a Duty. This means that my Right is taken away. It is as simple as that.
The form of political power that confuses Rights and Duties is Authoritarianism. Today, it could be vote. Tomorrow, it could be something else. Like the freedom of speech. Today, it is my Right to elect Modi. Tomorrow, it could be my Duty to elect Next-Modi. Today, I have the Right of choice to write for or against a leader. Tomorrow, I may have a Duty to write for him.
Writing this here today before my Right becomes a Duty. For posterity.
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