A Constitutional Democracy Degenerates into an Electoral Autocracy

 

The 72^nd anniversary of Indian Republic

A Constitutional Democracy Degenerates into an Electoral Autocracy

The founding fathers of Indian Republic provided Constitutional Democracy. They shaped their own version of Westminster, what the constitutional historian Harshan Kumarasingam called as ‘Eastminster’- the first of its kind.  In contrast to the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom, India’s constitution, the lengthiest in the world, was driven by the need to explicate rules and provide firm and detailed guidance for effective functioning of institutions. It was an indigenous answer to the problems confronting a massively poor, illiterate and a vast backward traditional society.  It created a State explicitly committed to social revolution, protecting the fundamental rights of citizens. The stamp of Nehruvian vision of India was clearly evident. The Preamble of the Constitution is the most eloquent enumeration of that vision in its conception of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, upholding the dignity of the individual.

 

However, as Indian Democratic Republic celebrates its 72nd anniversary, we are witnessing democratic backsliding- autocratization, democratic decay and de-democratization, resulting in weakening of political institutions that sustain the democratic system. The V-Dem Institute (Varieties of Democracy) claims that democratic backsliding is taking place in India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing the passage of the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the government's response to the protests. It accused the Modi government of attempting to ‘stifle critics in the media and academia’. A foreign policy commentator  Jonah Blank has described the 2019  revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir  as an example of the ‘slow transmogrification of democracy’.  In its Democracy Report 2021, V-Dem lists India as an electoral autocracy, the Modi government using laws on sedition, defamation, and counter terrorism to silence the critics.

 

The autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularised mechanisms of popular control. Neera Chandhoke, Centre for Equity Studies, writing a review titled ‘The rise of absolute power’ (The Hindu 23/01) of the book Tryst with Strong Leader Populism by P. Raman, makes scathing observations on the Modi regime:

 

“The projects of the ruling party are certainly ambitious…by introducing a political language that cares two boots for propriety, and by superciliously dismissing the contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru to democracy… we are back to where modern political theory began- the right to life and liberty in times of mob lynching and police atrocities. How did the political mood turn around so quickly?... one man’s rise to absolute power answers the question … He would institutionalise Hindutva … His commitment to liberalisation and to the corporatisation of the economy went against Swadeshi…He was backed enthusiastically by RSS supreme Bhagwat. He was also openly supported by top corporate leaders… a deadly mx of hard Hindutva and unadulterated neoliberal framework. Economic liberalization was conjoined to political illiberalism. The former was secured by corporates. They placed their economic funds, their media houses, PR agents, digital engineers and survey agencies at the feet of Modi regime. Political illiberalism was secured by Hindutva that relentlessly subordinates individual citizens to the nation conceived of in purely majoritarian terms. “

 

And “…we witnessed the quick degeneration of parliamentary democracy into autocratic populism. Under the Modi regime, elected ministers have been reduced to nothing.  They have little visibility and even less voice. The PM chastises them as if they are school boys. They are not invited to meetings he holds with their bureaucrats. Civil servants are responsible directly to him. All decisions of ministers have to be cleared by the Prime Minister’s Office.”  

 

It is a total concentration of power in the hands of one individual to the detriment of the nation, as in an  autocratic system there can be only one all powerful supreme leader. 

 

On 8 November 2016, Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Indian currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denominations in a national telecast with no advance notice. On 24 March 2020, he announced a Covid-19 lockdown in the entire country without notice through yet another telecast. Both these decisions, that proved most devastating, are seen as Tughlaqi farmans or ill-thought, with no prior planning, nor concern for consequences. The Modi rule is marked with many other similarities to feudal statecraft. Like feudal monarchs punching coins in their name, crores of Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued by the government of India carry his visage as a reminder of his benediction to citizens.

 

The symbolic form and manner of the Modi regime’s actions may sound feudal, but their content is autocratic. The imposition of black laws such as the UAPA and the NSA against those who oppose its policies, its use of police, CBI, and the Enforcement Directorate against political opponents, devaluation of parliamentary procedures, and subversion of the autonomy of the judiciary, election commission and the like are the most visible authoritarian actions of the Modi government.

 

In a recent interview with Karan Thapar, Gregory Shanton, Founding President and Chairman, Genocide Watch, said that there are lot of warning sighs of genocide in India.   Symbolisation, Propaganda for love jihad, laws against religious conversations, which violate the right to freedom of religion, lynchings, asking the Bangladeshi immigrants, who came to India in 1971, to prove their citizenship, persecution and attacks on churches, masques etc. are some of the warning signs of genocide. According to him, there are signs of geocide in Kashmir and Assam. Any incitement to genocide is a crime under the International Convention on Genocide. And Modi’s silence on bloodcurdling calls for genocide of Muslims in a religious congregation at Haridwar is deplorable. Shanton wants the US Congress to pass a resolution asking Modi not to allow genocide to occur or else the US should reassess the whole gambit of its relations with India.

 

If India is degenerating into electoral autocracy, blame the people. Majority of Indians prefer strong authoritarian leaders, not democratic leaders. The people are willing to condone Modi’s misgovernance, and his failure to address their real issues. For instance, in a trend unprecedented since economic liberalisation, three decades ago, the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households plunged 53%, India slipping from 94 rank to 104(out of 116 countries) in the Global Hunger Index. As per the World Inequality Report 2022, the top 10 % of the population of India garners 57% of the national income and the bottom 50% only 13%, while more than 46 million people pushed into extreme poverty. The real issues - high unemployment; profiteering in sale of petrol, diesel and LPG leading to sky-racketing prices; emerging corporate monopolies and crony capitalism etc.- do not seem to bother the people. The jobs crisis is acute. In January-March 2021, only 34% of the youth was employed, with roughly the same proportion of men and women dropping out of the job market. The economic inequality and social discontent are all visible. And yet Modi is still the most popular leader. The people "are voting for autocracy as if the grotesquely feudal forms of Modi’s rule do not put off the citizens of a democratic republic", says Prof. Sanjay Kumar, St., Stephen's College, Delhi. .

 

Another disturbing trend is the young, educated hatemongers, promoting and sustaining the authoritarian political structure.  The social media platforms are used for communal divide. The two -apps -Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai- created by young students sought to silence Muslim women by putting a price on their dignity. Niraj Bishnoi, Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh, among others, are arrested by the Mumbai Police for defaming Muslim women, creating an ecosystem of hate.  It was an attempt to target vocal Muslim women who speak truth to power, seek justice and amplify voices against hate crimes. Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai are not the only such apps. There are ‘Trads’(Traditionalists), who label anyone who opposes them as ‘Raitas’. The ‘Trads’ are so extreme that they even abuse BJP and RSS leaders for being not hard enough on Muslims.  The ‘Trads’ are against Muslims, Liberals, Dalits and all castes other than Brahmins. They are everywhere: on Twitter, Reddit, Telegram.

 

Modi and the ruling party have been smartly exploiting the young people’s psyche to carry their political agenda.  It is because of the support of these young people- indoctrinated by the extreme right-wing ideology- who fall prey to misinformation and falsification; the Godi Media and the Hindu militant organisations, that the constitutional democracy has degenerated into an electoral autocracy. This is a disturbing development, posing threat to the Indian Republic. As Ambedkar argued in the Constituent Assembly, “the constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top dressing on an Indian soil which is essentially undemocratic.” The failure to learn the constitutional morality, even after three-quarters of a century, explains the democratic backsliding and the rise of leaders like Modi.