Will of the People Must Prevail

On 19^th November 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke about 273 words that eventually became the bedrock of the concept of democracy. Lincoln said:

 “…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”[i].

Some 46000 soldiers from Unionists and Confederates had given up their life in the Civil War at the Battle of Gettysburg and President Lincoln called upon the nation to immortalize their sacrifice in the cause of democracy with the above words.

President Donald Trump, some 157 years later, on 7^th January 2021 said, ““If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,”[ii] Incited by his remarks, a crowd vandalized the hallowed premises of the Capitol Hill, a symbol of American democracy for 250 years now. Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the assault on the Capitol was "fomented by Mr. Trump," writing that "his use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice. Our Constitution and our Republic will overcome this stain and We the People will come together again in our never-ending effort to form a more perfect Union, while Mr. Trump will deservedly be left a man without a country," Mattis added[iii].

Four protesters died on the Capitol giving up their lives to undo what President Lincoln hoped America will become – a nation that is prepared to shed blood to defy, deny and brutalize the representational character of democracy just because one man believes that the system has not favored him for re-election.

America will never be the same again - a nation that has stood as the beacon of democracy, albeit forging its democratic credentials through fire. The Capitol incident is also a worrisome indicator of the nature of politics for power that is surging its head across the globe. A development that ordinary people everywhere must take note of owing to its effect on the fundamental freedoms that are at stake.

There is little need to discourse the merits of democracy. People have a fundamental right to choose the government of their choice through the ballot. It is people will that renders democracy possible. America’s own Constitution so loftily proclaims:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America[iv].

The Constitution of the largest democracy in the world, India, also proclaims:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:

 

JUSTICE, social, economic and political; LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

 

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

 

and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation[v];

 

It needs no convincing to understand that the people are the reason why governments exist. When governments, more specifically the elected representatives of the people who are in power defy the very fundamentals that are necessary for peaceful transition of such power, democracy stands in peril.

The incidents in Capitol Hill may have been brought under control. The pristine environs may be restored in a short while. Vandals may be brought to justice. But the faith of people in democratic process that has been damaged would not be easy to restore. More importantly, the faith in polity that has suffered will take generations of politicians to reinstate.

America is standing at a crucial juncture in its own history. As the sole super power, in a geopolitical climate that is potentially explosive, in a world that is fighting a pandemic of mammoth proportions, in a world economy that needs little encouragement to slide down further, the choices that American people will make would determine whether America will retain its moral supremacy as a democracy.

We must believe that the will of people would prevail. The future of democracy across the world depends on it.  

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[i] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/abraham-lincoln-birthday-gettysburg-address-civil-war-us-president-trump-a8206946.html

[ii] https://time.com/5926883/trump-supporters-storm-capitol/

[iii] https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-us-capitol-secured-dc-protest/

[iv] https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-constitution/#:~:text=We%20the%20People%20of%20the,for%20the%20United%20States%20of

[v] https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/preamble

Learning from Rwanda....

Twenty years ago, it started n Rwanda and the mayhem that played out over 100 days continues to shock the conscience of humanity. BBC recently showcased a program that highlighted the pain that Rwanda lived through and how the country has managed to heal the wounds and set its course on re-building its life. See: www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26875506‎

In the twenty years that have gone by, Africa has shed much blood - Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and now Nigeria. There is plenty of debate that vested interests abroad would like to keep Africa this way because, if Africa lives in peace, the potential of its people would surpass any other region in the world. So, helping Africa to remain divided in the name of tribes, religion and region helps to keep it down. It also makes good business sense because the fighting will help other countries sell huge amount of weapons to Africa. Impoverished nations will spend whatever little they have on arms, letting their people rot in poverty and in the process remain oppressed and divided. I do not know whether I should be writing like this in RG. But as we watch the horrors unleashed by Boko Haram in Nigeria by bombing bus stations and kidnapping school children, it is difficult to maintain an academic nonchalance.

Centuries of brutal colonial exploitation perhaps has given a wrong lesson in sovereignty to many countries in Africa. The leaders in these troubled countries perhaps think that colonial style exploitation and subjugation of people is the meaning of governance. A quarter century ago, there was an apt description of the politics of the elite in South Asia by Ponna Wignaraja and Akmal Hussain:

"The ruling regimes, unable to find a fundamental solution to the problem of poverty and inequality, unable to provide a political framework and an intellectual vision within which the diversities of culture, language and religion can enrich rather than undermine society, tend to show a knee-jerk reaction to the crisis. The knee-jerk reaction consists of seeking an external bogey and, on the basis of this fear, seeking to mobilise and unite their own people". This seems so relevant even today in Africa as well.

Multicultural, multi-ethnic societies coming together as one national identity must learn to accept each other first as equal citizens before working out a power sharing formula for governing the nation. Until this principle of accommodation is recognised as fundamental to building a national identity, there would be no peace in any society home to diverse communities.

There is a time to Pray!

LWe all have faced those little moments in life when things do not look bright and the world around seems to spin out of control. This is one such moment in our history as humans, when we find a huge tract of humanity from Tunisia to Iraq seem to be in turmoil. The agitations that are spreading across these nations are an apparent calling of their conscience to bring home governments that would help them achieve their aspirations that have remained suppressed for decades. The economic disparity that seems to have widened between the haves and have-nots, growing unemployment and lack of responsive governance in countries of this region seems to have added fuel to the fire.

There is a huge lesson in store for every country in the world in the happenings of the Middle East. People today are not as tolerant to misrule as they were in the last century. People want good and responsive governance that would help them achieve their rightful aspirations. In other words, people want to control their destinies! The time has come for democracy everywhere and to uphold the rule of law!

Let us pray that these aspirations come true. Let us pray that democratic values find themselves embedded in all countries and that peoples everywhere get to enjoy their rights (as well as fulfill their duties) and live harmonious lives! Let us pray that violence and bloodshed are not the paths that the world takes to anymore and let peace prevail across continents!