The Oxford dictionary defines 'democracy' as 'a form of government in which the people vote for their representatives to govern on their behalf.' But how many times has it happened that the political readers of our country are the true representatives of the public? A major reason for this could be that a large population of the public does not practise it's right to vote which ultimately results in the election of people who may not truly deserve to be the leaders of India.
Everyone has their own notion of what democracy is. In a popular mobile network advertisement, a man is troubling a girl on a bus-stop. When the girl asks him to stop doing so, the man says that India is a democracy and he can say whatever he wishes to. In response to this, the girl messages all her friends from her mobile asking whether she should just let him go or retaliate. Majority of her friends reply that she should get retaliate. So, she kicks him and tells him that this is what democracy is. Basically everyone has their own idea of what being democratic means.
When our country has a government that we ourselves elect, why is it that a few people take all the authority in their hands to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong? Is it fair for only a handful of people to decide what we must wear , we must do, the occasions we must celebrate, when and where we must go or even who we must talk to? Aren't we supposed to respect the laws of our country rather than making our own distinct laws? Laws are not based on personal opinions, but rather on the public's opinion. Let us take the " V-day controversy" for instance. such a trivial issue was exaggerated into a controversy for no reason at all because a few people wanted to decide what suits the Indian culture and what does not. Be it when actress Shriya Saran wore a knee length dress for the 175th day celebrations of her movie Sivaji, so many people found her dress to be inappropriate and burnt her effigies. Don't we even have the freedom to wear what we like anymore? Or for that matter we should now even think twice before talking to anybody as the daughter of a political leader in the south was attacked because she was seen talking to Muslim boy. Why is it that we cant just live and let live?
Political leaders cannot be the only ones to blame for the mishaps in our country.We, as citizens play a major part in it too. We keep talking about our rights and claiming them, but often fail to practise what we preach. We must all take an initiative to make democracy "of the people, by the people, for the people". This should be done before the true meaning of democracy is lost forever.......
