A picture is indeed worth a thousand words.

A recent edition of a morning newspa

per carried a telling photograph of a beaming A. Raja, hands upraised in a victo
ry. This was almost immediately after the incredibly corrupt and shameless Telec
ommunication Minister had been forced to resign his post. Raja had just returned
to Chennai and was being rapturously received by thousands of his “supporters”, who
were vociferously acclaiming him as a hero.
Raja’s myriad crimes and misdemeanours have been thoroughly documented in the medi
a over the past several days, so it is a safe assumption that the cheering multi
tude was well aware that his corruption was revealed to be of monumental proport
ions, even by already high mark set by Indian politicians. And yet, in their eye
s, he was still the “glorious leader” and a hero.
This apparent dichotomy is not hard to explain; and it also encapsulates what is
wrong with India’s much touted, but distressingly flawed democracy. A politician
is not given a ticket, or get elected, based on his integrity, past performance,
or even plain competence. Furthermore, the fact that he or she may have a prove
n criminal record and was virtually guaranteed to misuse his office is completel
y irrelevant to the people who vote for him.
So why does one group of people vote for him? The primary reason is that he belo
ngs to the same caste as them. Other considerations, such as false promises and
bribes in cash and kind also play a role, but the overriding factor remains cast
e. This is the reason why, even after 60 years of so-called freedom, Indian demo
cracy sputters along, but never fulfils its promise. The reality is that the vas
t majority of India remains a feudal system as is just not compatible with democ
racy in the true sense. The underprivileged need an overlord to tell them what t
o do; and the elite do not bother to vote.
The end result is that this Raja may have gone, but countless other of his ilk r
emain – and many more will inflict themselves on us in the future. In the final an
alysis, we get the government we deserve.