A million mutinies are brewing across the country. People are protesting in Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal over land acquisition, in Orissa's Kashipur they are opposing mining, the fishing community in Mundhra, Gujarat, is agitating against a special economic zone that threatens their livelihood.
What is common to all these protests is that the target of the protestors is the government mafia raj. The reason is that state governments which are acting as facilitators for private companies setting up projects have failed to take the people into confidence.
The great sepoy mutiny of 1857
There is a shroud of secrecy over project details including land acquisition and compensation. Land acquisition is a thorny issue and protests are inevitable when such projects are initiated. Such confrontations could be avoided if the government were to keep people in the loop, rather than force sarkar's decisions on them.
This is unacceptable in any civilised society. Democracy is about informed choice. Government ought to provide adequate information to the public on all policy matters to enable people to make their choice.
Execution by British cannon of Indian soldiers who participated in the Indian rebellion of 1857
Men holding office believe that the janata(people) is an ignorant lot and should be treated as such. The mere fact that a government is elected doesn't make it democratic; it is the participation of people in governance that makes for a democracy.
The case of political parties is no different. A healthy democracy is possible only if political parties have within them a culture of debate and discussion. Unfortunately, most parties in India ignore political education of their cadres.
Even communist parties like the CPM, which claim a culture of in-house debate, refuse to discuss public policy among their cadre when in government.
They also believe that a mere show of force is enough to silence any critics
but it has been seen that protests are acquiring more and more militant
overtures.
If the present state of affairs continue then India could
see a major nationwide uprising soon.
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