Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Speaking Tree I February 15, 2015Democracy is a highly evolved form of government and it is fortunate that India has adopted it just as some others have. But, it requires great wisdom to avail properly the boon of democracy for it to be in the best interests of the people.In a democracy, if you win one term in office after the elections and your concern becomes to also win the second term, then you will 'lose' both terms. That is, you will fail to avail of the opportunities presented by the current term, because your sights will be set on winning the future term.A historical example illustrates the point. Charles de Gaulle became the President of France in 1959. At that time, France was the problem country of Europe. The French leadership needed to take some bold decisions to give a fresh boost to their homeland. However, this decision was a risky one for the government, as there was the fear of losing the next term. De Gaulle set himself the target of availing of the opportunities of his first term by ignoring the second term. He took several bold decisions, as a result of which he lost the second term. But, it was because of his initiatives that France later emerged as a new, strong country.In present-day India, the sphere of education and employment is vitiated by favouritism. But if the government in power were to take decisions which were merit-based instead of favour-based, the class of people who reaped benefits from the favour culture might become discontented, thus making the government's second term doubtful. But, the result would certainly be the coming of a new culture in India, which would usher in an age of quality education and services. Thus, a process of sound development would be initiated.[Highlight1]India's basic problem is the lack of quality in education, services and administration. The only reason for this is favouritism, which inevitably thrives at the cost of quality. This policy may benefit some individuals, but because of it the nation as a whole suffers. Quality in work comes into evidence when everything is based on merit. Those who make the second term their concern will only take popular decisions. But, one whose concern is the nation will take realistic decisions.The issue facing Indian democracy is not who won the elections. Rather, the losers should willingly accept defeat, while the winners should make the availing of present opportunities their sole concern. In such a situation, the present party may lose the second term, but because of its efforts, the country will have been set in motion along the path of progress.In developed countries, the principle of 'compete or perish' works in every field. 'Compete or perish' is not a negative concept. In fact, it means 'stand up through competition and save the nation from perishing.'When the government takes bold decisions, certain people may have to suffer. But, the person who suffers today will develop a strong intention to achieve his goals as a result of his suffering. Thus, tomorrow, as an achiever, he will be able to rise. Development never comes in the total sense. Thus, whenever there is development, there will, at the same time, be the voicing of complaints or grievances, which have to be dealt with. Otherwise, the process of development will come to a standstill. The concern of democratic administrators should be the nation rather than the immediate wishes of the voter community. The real issue for them must be whether or not the nation is moving towards holistic development in the long-term.
Related Articles
Article
Times of India | June 04, 2024
Winning and losing are common phenomena in politics. During the age of kingship, the man wearing the crown used to say, ‘I am here to rule the land,’ while in a democracy, the winner has…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Speaking Tree I May 18Democracy has changed the concept of victory and defeat. Elections bring in change, albeit temporarily. The winning team is now here to serve for a period of five…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Speaking Tree Website | April 09, 2017
In the age of kingship in previous centuries, kings held some in favour and others in disfavour. They wanted to crush those whom they thought were not…
Article
THE answer is in the negative. Islam itself is a system of democracy, not only in political matters but also in other social matters. There is a clear direction in the Quran in this regard. The Quran has this to say —…
Article
PEOPLE generally believe that religion and secularism are quite opposed to each other—religion is anti-secularism and secularism is anti-religion. However a deeper study shows that this kind of thinking is completely…