advertisement
There are prevailing tensions in the polity and challenges which, if not addressed, can lead to "disastrous" consequences, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday.
Speaking at the launch of a book, titled, Hope in a Challenged Democracy-An Indian Narrative, authored by former Union minister Ashwani Kumar, Singh stressed the need to remain alert by not giving up hope despite the tensions.
Stressing that one has to remain alert, Singh said that Kumar's book has reminded of those challenges which "we as a nation collectively face and must face".
"There are tensions but one cannot give up hope," he said.
Singh said that he was reminded of an example where Mao Zedong was asked by a western delegation of what he thought about the French Revolution, to which he answered that it was too early to pronounce.
Vice President Hamid Ansari, who was also present at the event, said in a country like India, and given its inherent contradictions emanating from diversities and inequalities, the operation of a democratic polity was always going to be "challenged".
He noted that despite the comprehensiveness of Part III (Fundamental Rights), Part IV (Directive Principles) and Part IVA (Fundamental Duties) of the Constitution and the immensity of changes since 1950, Ambedkar's apprehensions retain an element of validity.
The poorest 30 percent, meanwhile, had just 1.4 percent of the total wealth, he said.
Quoting sociologist TK Oommen where the latter said “independent India's penchant for passing legislations remains proverbial, but its incorrigible incapacity to implement them is abysmal', Ansari said,
It is a truism that all democracies contain within them tensions between societal constraints and individual liberties, dictates of state security and citizen's freedom, as well as between the divergent political, social and economic approaches, the Vice President said. He added:
Ansari noted that the principal themes of the book, (in the author's own word) are firstly on the 'incestuous relationship between wealth and power' and its impact on the credibility and moral authority of the government, and secondly on what he describes as 'an insufferable atmosphere of intolerance'.
"It is no exaggeration to say that these are reflective of a wider, developing, concern amongst many citizens," he said.
Join The Quint on WhatsApp. Type “JOIN” and send to 9910181818.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)