AA Edit | Putin Dinner: Why Opp. Left Out?

India stood tall in the comity of nations from the very start, not because of its economic or military might, but because of what Dr Martin Luther King Junior would refer to as ‘soul force’. Dr King’s reference was to the moral standing of the Blacks that powered their fight for civil liberties in the United States. This standing comes from the ability to stand up to injustice even in the face of deprivation and great odds.

India has travelled a lot ever since its Independence 78 years ago. It has ceased to be an underdog and wants to be counted among the powerful. It wants to flaunt its democratic credentials despite being surrounded by neighbours who failed to protect their own. Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminds his listeners across global fora that India is the mother of all democracies.

Mr Modi is certainly correct in choosing to focus on India’s steadfast adherence to democratic principles in his speeches and must be applauded for it. However, it won’t be out of order to ask how much he and the government headed by him have contributed to strengthening these principles. Sceptics have ample examples to show how the present dispensation undermines democratic institutions and traditions, the latest being the propensity to exclude the office of the Leader of the Opposition from the itinerary of visiting foreign dignitaries.

It cannot be that only the first past the post is the stakeholder in a democracy, the government belongs equally to those who backed the runner-up as well. The BJP top brass must be mindful of the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, too: The party sought 370 seats in the Lok Sabha for itself which would be enough to pass a bill to amend the Constitution but got only 240 that was much short for a simple majority in the Lower House.

Indeed, democracy need not be a symphony orchestrated by a master; it may even comprise a babel. But that is its character, and the secret of its beauty. Which the true liberal democrat has no doubt about.