Indian democracy faces some serious challenges in the coming times and unless the political parties learn to play by rules the country is in for serious trouble which can pose a serious threat to our democratic institutions. Democracy gives us certain rights but they come with certain duties, responsibilities and norms of behaviour. Unless these norms are respected and observed, the democracy can come under threat which in turn will not only destroy the system but also deprive us of the rights which we enjoy under such a set up.

The first rule of democratic behaviour is that we should allow others also to exercise their rights and not infringe upon them under any circumstances. In a democratic system particularly in a parliamentary system the majority rules but minority has a right to speak and express its opinion. The party in majority talks while minority speaks and find faults with the decisions of the majority.

Problems arise when minority is denied its right to criticize or express its opinion. At the same time it also becomes difficult to govern if minority does not accept the right of majority to rule and not only criticizes their decisions but resort to unconstitutional means to force their will upon others. Such means include resorting to violence, calling for hartals, bandhs and other forms of violent agitation.

In recent times opposition has often resorted to tactics which have no place in a democracy. It includes disruption of proceedings in legislative bodies, calling for hartals and bandhs as well as use of violence in public protest. All these fall outside the parameters laid down in a democracy. The question asked is why adopt such methods be adopted when legitimate forms of protest are available under the constitution of the country and public forums like media and legislative bodies are in place to take care of voices of dissent.

More so every five years the country as well as States go to polls to elect public representatives and everyone has the right to choose their representatives or throw out all those with whom they have disagreement. But political parties either lack faith in democratic methods or they lack patience and thus resort to short cuts which disrupt normal life. The courts in country have often spoken against such tactics and tried to curb the politicians, but these attempts have met with limited success only. A time has come when the country should have serious debate to decide why all those who fail to observe norms of democratic conduct should not be denied the right to exercise privileges given to them under the system.

At present a large part of country is in the grip of elements who are forcing their will on citizens through unconstitutional means. They include elements like Naxilites who have no faith in the constitution of the country or democracy. There are also political elements who are using force to stop setting up of industries, duly sanctioned by elected Government under rules, or organized retail trade. In addition to them there are some lunatic elements who are disrupting life on the plea of use of a particular language on sign boards, or the issue of grant of land for providing facilities for the facilitating pilgrims. The list of actions on such flimsy pleas is endless and common people are suffering as the parties agitating on their behalf are working for their own agendas and not the man in the street who continues to suffer when normal life is paralyzed. If a proper study is made we will find that a big chunk of national wealth is lost in this process with no gains for any citizen.

The issue before us is how to make all those who swear by democracy to adopt legitimate means only to propagate their thinking or philosophy. Any political party which refuses to abide by democratic means should be denied its right to contest or take part in elections. We have an Election Commission to enforce a code of conduct for parties and candidates contesting elections. Time has come when a common code of conduct should become binding on political parties if they wish to function in the country.

Agreed such a code will not be easy to impose, but a time has come to administer a stiff dose of corrective medicine as otherwise all those who swear by democracy will destroy the same by their acts. A country like India has serious problems which offer no easy means to resolve and irresponsible behaviour by our politicians is compounding the problem. We are among the handful of countries which have adopted democracy as form of governance knowing fully well that it is not easy to adopt or practice.

But with large areas of country under the spell of violence, uncertainty and unlawful forms of protest, serious doubts have arisen about our ability to make the democracy work. This task will become more and more challenging with passage of time unless corrective measures are taken before it becomes too late.

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