Kashmir: Towards ‘Elusive’ Peace

(An edited version of a write-up published in July 2019 issue of "Asian Affairs - In Focus"   ) 

 Indian focus in Kashmir needs to go beyond terror infrastructure in Pakistan and installation of credible and efficient administration in the valley. It is important to decimate subversive networks feeding this all-out covert war through logistics, resources and propaganda. Stronger governance capacity at home and diplomatic prowess abroad  are part of  the measures to eradicate and deter such wars on our territory
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In May  2019, a drive along the National Highway 44 from Udhampur to Srinagar via Ramban, Banihal, Verinag, Janglat Mandi and Anantnag, does not suggest, except for multiple security check-posts en-route,  that the state has weathered three decades of violent militancy. Uniformed men at the check-posts are courteous compared to what one may have encountered in the mainland or even during a trip on the same route nearly a decade back.

The entire landscape, both on the Highway and beyond, has changed over a decade. The process started when militancy acquired a downward slope sometime around 2005-06, the year since when the trend of decline in violence has sustained. Today roads are wider and well maintained. Traffic is smoother and construction work is visible all around. A variety of motels and eateries from Café Coffee Day to Pizza Hut to Rajasthani and Punjabi restaurants have sprung up on the route.

Shopping arcades and glitzy showrooms, including a few selling the latest automobile brands, were visible both on the outskirts as well as in cities and small towns. Janglat Mandi of Anantnag, whose only claim to fame used to be a modest civil hospital a decade back, is a vibrant town today with bustling markets. Its streets are lined with banks, ATMS and busy shops like any of the better small towns in Maharashtra and Gujrat. The civil hospital has a brand-new building with state-of-the-art infrastructure and well-trained staff. It boasts of an ambience that could be better than most of its counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai.

Not yet Close to Normalcy

However, an endurable peace and sustained tranquillity still appear far away from the horizon of the Valley. A mild upsurge in terror violence since 2016 has continued. Intermittent low-key infiltration and encounters are a reality even after conscience shaking Pulwama terror attack and subsequent aerial bombing of Jaish camps by Indian Air Force deep inside Pakistani territory.

Indian army has taken every possible care to avoid collateral damage for local population in all its recent counter-terror (CT) operations. These include the post-Pulwama ones in Kulgam, Achabal and Bijbehera etc where it lost its own officers and men. Army has also appeared to have refined its coordination with para-military forces and J&K Police, which has emerged strong local face, in both CT operations as well as in providing security to people and key installations.

Relatively low-key and incident free funeral of Zakir Musa of Ghazwat Ul Hind, who was killed in a  CT operation by security forces in May 2019, is a testimony of the resolve of the security forces to deny space to militants to orchestrate emotive propaganda.  Valley based groups have traditionally used such incidents to mobilise local sympathy and support to bolster their local recruitment. As part of its CBMs with local population, Indian Army has also accelerated its programme of sponsoring Kashmiri students to travel to different parts of the country.  Interestingly, recent years have witnessed a steep rise in number of Kashmiri youth joining the Indian army or security forces or even taking up employment in rest of the country.

Notwithstanding these, the component of local elements in the valley based terror groups has also seen a steady rise. Some national dailies assessed that the percentage had increased up to 80%  from an estimated figure of 60% in 2010. According to a credible Delhi based website, the total casualties in terror violence in first six months of 2019 stood at 218, including 72 from security forces and 22 civilians with the rest being terrorists. Kashmir has seen over 45,000 deaths over the past three decades including nearly 15000 civilians and over 6500 security personnel with the rest being identified terrorists, including over 3000 Pakistanis.

Anti-India graffiti are prominently visible at market places in most valley towns. Frequent suspension of internet services, necessitated as security countermeasure against terror communication, ends up inconveniencing locals. Many of them confirmed that incidents of stone pelting and provocative sloganeering against security forces had dwindled but these were still recurrent, especially on Fridays. The area around Hazrat Bal mosque is particularly known for this. Mosque functionaries consciously point out that they have nothing to do with stone-pelters and it were a few among shopkeepers in the adjoining area, who had lost their loved ones to militancy, could be sponsoring these. Even in other parts of the valley, stone-pelting appeared a well organised activity, that seemed clearly abetted, instigated and funded by some quarter.  

Hazrat-Bal appeared welcoming to all tourists, including non-Muslims and even security personnel. Mosque functionaries warmly show around the holy shrine to all, without any discrimination. During a detailed chat, some of them also expressed concern over rising number of Deoband trained Maulvis in the valley, including several from UP and Bihar, preaching a Wahabi - Deobandi version of Islam to supplant the local “Sufi” and “Pir” traditions.  

An interaction with groups of people both in Srinagar and Badgam suggested that many of the affected Kashmiri families, who had lost their loved ones to militancy, had moved on.  However, several among them are still struggling to reconcile to their loss. These only suggest that a lot of distance has to be covered to heal such wounds, which are inevitable whenever and wherever a diffused or covert war prolongs.

Unique Covert War

The Union government and defence experts have consistently maintained that what India has been facing in Kashmir valley is a complex covert war, through almost every possible means. It has an overlapping combination of terror, subversion, deception,  propaganda and radicalisation. Pakistani military establishment’s involvement in fuelling radical terrorism in the valley, or even beyond, has been well known. Of late, several impartial international entities including geopolitical analysts have emphatically acknowledged it.

While a large majority of Kashmiris have remained immune to radicalisation, even a small armed and organised gang is good enough to intimidate the rest into submission or passive collaboration. They automatically vitiate the security environment. It was under these circumstances that local security and administrative establishments had failed to prevent exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in late 1980s and early 1990s. Probably they are still not in a position to rehabilitate this community and provide them reliable security. Ethnic cleansing of the valley and subsequent radicalisation efforts  were steps towards to giving the identity colour to the covert war.

 History suggests that identity driven irregular wars have been the toughest to handle. These can potentially shore mass emotions to an extent that can destroy space for rationality and reasonableness in actions and thoughts of people in the theatre of conflict. Pakistani military establishment, having obstructed prosperity and dignity of its own people, may be least bothered about the actual plight of Kashmiris, whom it has treated nothing more than a tool to pursue its own larger agenda.

Indian state has been fighting this war from a position of disadvantage. All plural and liberal states have struggled to differentiate between religious freedom and radical propaganda. Probably none have the appropriate technical capacity to efficiently curb the latter. Such propaganda is the most dangerous fodder for externally sponsored diffused proxy war in the name of identity. 

      It is well known that security counter measures inevitably curtail civil liberties, making alienation of local population a natural outcome. The challenge becomes serious as the war prolongs. Possibility of alienation of local population increases further, when the state forces on the front-line of such war are not entirely local. In this context, Indian army has done a better job than probably all its compatriots, almost anywhere in the world. Providing a comprehensive security cover in such theatres of conflict, as well as retaining or regaining trust of the local population, probably requires such herculean efforts that exceeds capacity of most forces, especially if the local context is too adverse.

 United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) report in 2017 had highlighted that how all shades of organised crime varying from drug-trade to money laundering were used to fund insurgencies and terrorism all over the world. India itself has been a big market for such illicit activities. At a strategic level, the country shall have to push for greater efficiency and integrity of governance structures at a larger scale, beyond the theatre of covert war. At least those regions and  sectors, both within the country and internationally, that are being used to fund covert war in our territory need to be specifically targeted. 

Challenges of Managing  International Perceptions

Of late, a large number of Western countries have shown a better understanding of the Indian position in the valley. Nevertheless, intermittent criticism of Indian state by several international entities has been a reality. A relentless motivated propaganda often succeeds both due to: a) limited understanding of the finer nuances of the covert war even among the best statesmen; and b) inadequate international appreciation of the finer basic differences between the nature of Indian and Pakistani states. 

     Much of the West or even the West Asia continues to treat covert war in Kashmir as a territorial dispute between a Hindu majority India and a Muslim Pakistan. Hence, the moment Pakistan expresses concern at the plight of Muslims in the valley, it has an anchoring impact notwithstanding the fact that the same country has denied dignity, liberty and even security to vast majority of its own people. As late as on May 10, 2019, Washington Post carried an article on India and Pakistan, which states:  “partition of British India in 1947, …was largely driven by religion: Pakistan became primarily Muslim while India remained mostly Hindu”. This is outrageous not only to secular credentials of India but hints at so-called in-congruence of Muslim majority areas being part of India.

India needs to be more forthright in asserting that the founding fathers of the country had categorically rejected the “Two Nation” theory of Jinnah. During preparatory consultations with Mountbatten, for Independence of India Act,  they made it clear that they were acquiescing to the idea of partition only in deference to the right of self-determination of those who had voted for Muslim League in 1946 elections for the Constituent Assembly. Indian leaders had insisted that a secular India would remain home to all communities including those Muslims who chose to do so. 

Pakistan is suspected to have created a massive world-wide crime infrastructure for its all-out covert war against India in the valley and beyond. Media had publicised arrest of Ghulam Nabi Fai of Kashmir American Council in 2011 for bribing and attempting  to influence US policy makers through funds, amounting to millions of dollars, illegally pumped in by Pakistani ISI. Such episodes could be tip of  a much larger iceberg. Recent charge-sheet against Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali in the Indian Supreme Court, for acting as conduit in funding militancy in the valley, or disclosure of illicit funding by Pakistani state to separatist Hurriyat leaders, only corroborate such apprehensions.

Pak Military Establishment Unlikely to Relent

Noted American Political thinker Larry Diamond, in a recent write-up in Foreign Affairs, has reiterated what the world has known all these years. He has claimed that the army continues to wield all de facto powers in Pakistan even now. Military establishment is unlikely to relax its grip on Pakistani state, even though such phenomenon has pushed Pakistan to the bottom (150) of the list of developing nations on all parameters of governance, varying from Human Development Index to per-capita GDP. It used to be nearly at the top in 1950s in the same list that included ASEAN nations too, besides India and China.

It has been repeatedly assessed that Pak military establishment shall continue to foment trouble in Kashmir to retain its own control over levers of state power in that country. Facade of civilian government is there probably more to fool its own people than the international community. If we go by the conclusions of UNODC, they may also be involved in a lucrative global clandestine crime empire.  Otherwise, it is impossible to fund an expensive proxy war in Kashmir that has multiple propaganda centres and projects all over the world with massive infrastructure and logistics.

Road to Future

Despite a spurt in violence in recent months, Kashmir appears closer to peace than at any other point of time in the last three decades. People in general appear tired of militancy. An overwhelming majority express a yearning for peace and normalcy. Economic reconstruction has generated  its own momentum that needs to be sustained. However, the government has to guard against both alienation of local population and subversive propaganda in the valley and beyond. These have the potential to push the current covert war to a different trajectory, where violence and militancy may  lose  importance.  

Indian security forces have a tough task at hand. It is difficult to provide security to people in the valley and guard them from subversive propaganda. Nevertheless, it is indispensable for projecting Indian state as a stronger entity and reliable protector of local population. Simultaneously, India has to have a low-cost and yet an effective strategy to decimate, or at least immobilise, the entire infrastructure that  is being used to  wage this covert war. These may include the global crime empires that Pakistani military or security establishment may be running. In a globalised world, terror and subversive camps can be relocated even in third countries, if the adversary is determined and has the capacity to do so. 

Indian focus in Kashmir needs to go beyond containment of violence. Indian state has to bolster its overall governance capacity, both within the valley and beyond.  This will be crucial for not only eradicating and deterring covert wars but also denying space for such causative and ingredients that fuel and sustain these wars. These include subversion, propaganda, recruitment, funding, logistics, as well as  vehicles or avenues or tools that facilitate, support or encourage these.  Of course, security or governance measures must not lead to blanket suppression of civil rights or commercial initiatives but a much finer balance appears a necessity. 

Diplomatic offensives abroad without serious governance reforms at home shall be inadequate for this purpose. Watali case confirms that if money laundering and crime networks are allowed to flourish even in the mainland India, there will be no shortage of funds and logistics for the proxy war in the valley or for that matter anywhere else in the country.

Conclusion

The road towards normalcy in the valley is going to be tough and arduous one. There can be no substitute to, at least relatively, higher level of transparency and credibility in the governance process. A stronger bridge between the local population and the government shall be critical for this purpose. Like higher vulnerability of even a marginally infirm man to fatal diseases or epidemics, the Kashmir valley is also more vulnerable to Pakistani covert war in the prevailing dynamics within that country, especially given the higher space for covert war offered by present globalised world.  

Hence, there is need to go beyond stereotypes of cosmetic Western strategies like “hearts and minds” to institute a sturdier people-centric credible governance, with near zero space for subversion. Probably this is a necessity and not a prerogative if we aspire a decisive and permanent victory in a war that has prolonged far too much, draining our resources and destroying precious lives of our soldiers and citizens. The process may take more than a decade even if efforts are sustained and strategy is strong. Patience, determination, flexibility, and - most importantly – overall ‘integrity of approach’ shall be critical for this purpose.

 (With V S Deshmukh, Defence and Strategic Expert and a Corporate Security Analyst, who extensively travelled in the valley and interacted with cross-sections of people.)

For better appreciation of the subject, researchers and security practitioners may access author's concept paper on Effective Counter-Insurgency Strategy on website: www.wemakesociety.com; 

PM Modi Better Placed to Deliver in Second Term

           

PM Modi Better Placed to Deliver Now

At a time when cynicism is rising over the declining governance capacities of democracies and appalling world-wide crisis of leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the most statesmanlike statements following his emphatic electoral victory in the just concluded parliamentary elections. Spelling out a vision for stronger, harmonious, cohesive and inclusive India, he was magnanimous towards his political opponents and repeatedly assured minorities of equitable and access to opportunities.

Challenges are huge and so are expectations from PM Modi in his second term. Despite impressive growth over the last few decades, democratic India has been comprehensively outperformed by a politically communist China with capitalist economy on virtually every parameter of governance. Its five times bigger GDP, stronger public infrastructure, bigger share of global markets for its goods, better access to resources and superior technological advancements were considered a proof of governance deficiencies of democracy. Its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is yet another indicator of its far superior economic and technological prowess. PM Modi with a strong majority in Parliament and most major states is well placed to embark on structural reforms to build a stronger governance capacity to pursue the vision that he has spelled out.

India is one of the most unequal societies in the world. Oxfam rated it at 145 out of a total of 157 in its Global Equality index. History has demonstrated that unmitigated inequality has been the surest route towards disaster and decimation for even the most stable societies. No other economy of India’s size ever had such large number of billionaires – nearly 200 or more. The phenomenon is suspected to be the outcome of not only industry and enterprise but also unrestrained favouritism. There are serious structural imbalances and flaws in market economies in any case. Even the most powerful democracies lack the requisite capacity to regulate markets with their policies often coming under backdoor influence.

Deficient technical capacity of state to regulate markets beyond a certain point has been consistently highlighted over the years by economists varying from George Stigler to Jeffry Sachs in Western economies. These have often been confirmed by reports various Congressional Research Committees of the world’s most powerful democracy. One can only imagine situation in other parts of the world, where governance capacities have far more constraint.

India’s additional share of problems include the worst record of bad corporate debts among the top 10 economies which as per reserve Bank of India’s own admission early this year amounted to US $190 billion. Amnesty for wilful corporate defaulters cannot be justified nor will it discipline the industry. An ambience of fear can certainly deter legitimate corporate risks. There is a need to go beyond routine market reforms and restructure corporate governance norms to encourage leaders in this sector to partner in governance process through creation of jobs and generation of wealth through greater innovation and competitiveness.

Elections 2019 will go down as a trend setter in another aspect. For the first time in electoral history of India, national security emerged the focal point of campaign. The 1971 war or 1999 Kargil conflict may have had an impact on the outcome of polls. However, superior security strategy or war-making capacity of a political establishment never came in contention.

Modi’s bold gambit of air bombing of terror camps deep inside Pakistan emerged a major poll plank. The air strikes will certainly have a deterrent on Pakistan based terror groups but the security threat to India from the hostile neighbour is too complex to be resolved soon. Protracted proxy war in Kashmir has reached a different level with radicalisation of sections of local youth. Restraint and discipline of Indian security forces have kept the situation under control but continuation such turmoil generates its own momentum, alienating local population in the process. War theorists keep coming up with newer nomenclatures like “diffused war”, “irregular War”  or “hybrid war” etc to describe such conflicts. Nevertheless, capacity to address such conflicts efficiently is missing in security establishments of even the most powerful states.

It is well known that a specialised armed containment of insurgency is only a critical component of eventual solution, which is efficient, dynamic and acceptable governance, going well beyond the theatre of conflict. The government shall have to marshal all its capacities to not merely overhaul governance structure to make it more responsive but also use its global influence to push for de-radicalisation of Pakistani state and society. It may appear to be too far-fetched but probably it is essential for an enduring peace in Kashmir in particular and South Asia in general.

Universal access to a dependable healthcare regime is the biggest challenge that India needs to address to pursue its dream of great power status. At present, the country ranks 125 in WHO’s life expectancy index with half of the world’s wasted children being in India. The situation is extremely worrying as it erodes the dividends that one expects from a youthful population.

Ironically, healthcare is still considered an act of charity in the country, whereas it should be an integral component of national security. Universal access to healthcare in late 19^th century Europe was pushed by military generals following revelations of dramatic shortcomings in the health status and education of children, adolescent and young male population, which made large sections of them unfit for recruitment to the armed forces. Healthcare and social security were pushed as ‘vehicle for securing defence capability and military strengths.’ With diversification of the concept of national security, to cover industrial, agricultural  and R&D prowess as well as dynamism of governance institutions,  we have to see how much emphasis the new government accords to this sector. 

The biggest constraint for Prime Minister Modi in pursuing his vision shall be an archaic civil service which has often been accused of turning into ‘steel-cage’ from ‘steel-frame’. Most advanced countries have moved to performance oriented, technical and specialised civil service with a tough competition as well as incentives for leadership roles and performance. India continues with a generalist civil service of 19^th century vintage with little emphasis on performance and specialisation. Any meaningful change in this direction is not possible without a corresponding reform in political parties and corporate sector. The two remain perennially wary of a professional civil service with high level of integrity. Nevertheless, there cannot be better opportunity to embark on a comprehensive governance reforms in all these sectors in a manner that is least disruptive. A popular mass leader like Modi has the stature and capacity to force a public debate and build a consensus towards such reforms to chart a new direction for destiny of 1.3 billion people of India and beyond in an interdependent world.

 (Originally Published in "Asian Affairs in Focus" Vol 02, Issue 11, with minor editions) 

Identity Politics, Future of Democracy and India

                         With Professor Fukuyama in London, Oct 12, 2018 


Last week I attended a lecture by noted American political philosopher and author Francis Fukuyama in London.  The celebrity author was speaking on “Exploring Contemporary Identity Politics and the Struggle for Recognition”.  It was a ticketed event but the hall was packed largely with young people but a fair amount of senior elderly academics and a few wanderers like me had also found their way to the venue. We all wanted to listen to one of the most eminent political thinkers of our times. For me, it was a rare privilege to listen to Professor Fukuyama in person whose all books I have read religiously and often followed his lectures on You Tube.  

            Those who have been following Professor Fukuyama would have found his observations during this lecture on expected lines. However, the conversation and Q&A sessions offered an opportunity to listen to his perspective on several newer areas. The professor offered an over view of challenges facing democracy in contemporary era, which varied from rise of populism to attack on institutions but the worst could be rise of right wing identity politics in recent times. He defined it in terms of an individual’s beliefs, perception and outlook being shaped by his or her racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic identity at the cost of individual identity as a citizen of a state. He also dealt with threat to institutions in the wake of rising trend of leaders distrusting their own institutions and officials and creating confusion and unpredictability by relying on their own individual discretion. He also emphasized on divisive impact of identity politics that could derail the governance agenda and fragment societies. Both during the lecture and discussions subsequently, he explained the relevance of individual dignity in democracy and reluctance of some to accept the same level of dignity that was universally available to all in democracies. I am sure the lecture would soon be available on You Tube and hence I am avoiding greater details.

Prof Fukuyama certainly offered a lot of food for thought for someone like me who has been deeply interested in governance and democracy from ever since I could think of.  I did make a brief  observation during Q&A session and tried to bring in an Indian perspective on values, norms and traditions of people-centric governance with restraint on political authority, that constitutes the core of democracy, from Mauryan era in India (I have  written it on my blog earlier).  On my query whether the professor thought it was time for the democracy to transition to the next higher stage of evolution, the humility of one of the greatest minds of our times was simply touching. He said he would like to listen from me as he had not seriously thought on what could be a better form of government than the prevailing democratic one. I was indeed lucky to exchange a few words with him later. I am hopeful of presenting a futuristic perspective, whatever it may be worth, on the direction in which democracy can potentially proceed in pursuit of a greater people-centric vision of governance, combining some of the Indian and the Western ethos, values and traditions.

We as people and society in our times have enormous potential to create such physical and social spaces that can enhance the quality of our existence, productivity and ability to collaborate and compete with each other. A more secure, harmonious and stable world is certainly possible where each can have a better all round existence as well as be in a more harmonious relationship with our respective  societies and external world beyond that. The other alternative is a catastrophic destruction  with easier access to destructive technologies in the context of increasing space for conflict and eroding capability of institutions to address these. I shall soon be coming out with detailed and specific ideas in this direction.  

Subsequent post-lecture interactions with many of the academics and very large number of young people from across the world was quite interesting. A cross section of young students from different parts of the world were so courteous and discussion was so animated that some of them walked me up to the King’s Cross Station from where I had to catch a train. From perspective of youth, it was so heartening to see that they were making friends across their identity of race, religion and language, defying the so-called wave of parochialism that was being talked earlier. Many of them had seriously read Professor Fukuyama as well as other political philosophers and it was treat to listen to them. Their commitment and sincerity towards a fairer world reminded me of my own younger days when my friends I used to be equally passionate and sincere in believing that the world would soon change to be fairer and more humane with our own contributions in some manner.

Interactions with senior academics and even a few retired professionals suggested that people in the West were indeed worried at the prospect of erosion of democracy, freedom, liberty and even economic choices. While, conceding that world was never a perfect place, many expressed apprehension over growing might of non-democracies in the world and parochialism within their own societies, which together could cripple freedom of thought, expression, innovation and even overall progress besides undermining quality of all round security. Erosion of democracy at home and economic strength of democracies in a globalised world could negatively impact both the quality of freedom and choices. One academic (not naming him as I don’t have his permission) was emphatic that dictators with unfettered powers and absolute belief in their individual wisdom create an army of cronies who have the same illusion about themselves, except when dealing with their own superiors. Such people can create havoc in the rest of the world if their state wielded far too much of power.

When we talk of identity politics, and that too of a confrontational type, probably there would be few parallels than what we can visualise in the Indian sub-continent. These substantially vary in India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries depending upon the basic character of these societies and states. In secular and multi-cultural India, identity-politics has always been there but fairly subdued. Even these should not be tolerable given the original character of Indian civilization and outlook of modern Indian democracy. The partition of India must have been one of the most horrific episodes in the entire history of mankind driven by hatred for identity of large majority of non-Muslims in the sub-continent. Almost entire minority Hindu and Sikh population from newly created nation of Pakistan was either exterminated or forced out. In 1951, India had a registered number of over 14.5 million refugees from Pakistan, with actual numbers estimated to be much higher and reported deaths of over one million or more, mostly on the Western side of Pakistan. There were casualties, even though in few thousands of Muslims even on Indian side with total migration of nearly 0.65 million Muslims from North India to Pakistan, which too were certainly not acceptable for a secular India. However, steadfast commitment of India’s founding fathers to their secular vision of the nation and a particularly powerful Home Minister in Sardar Patel ensured that Muslims in India remained safe.

I remember during my younger days, one senior Muslim politician telling during a private discussion that how much conviction and strength the founding fathers of modern India- both Hindus and Muslims by identity- had displayed in secularism that they did not waver even in face of people coming in large hordes with most brutal and  vulgar tales  of mass massacre, loot, arson and violation of their women from what constituted Pakistan. It was equally brave on part of Indian Muslim leaders to avoid temptation of surrendering to identity driven hysteria at that time. Ironically, despite horrendous experience of partition and rejection of two-nation theory, identity of a different kind – in the form of Caste  - did seep in to Indian politics. Caste has been discovered as the most potent tool  for political mobilization during elections.

Experience with history suggests that identity is integral to one’s existence and it is a highly emotive issue that defies any logic or rationale. Most people are least likely to compromise on it and even a perceived affront to one’s identity has potential to be interpreted as a personal attack. It can unify, substantial, if not most, members of a community or group. With sustained effort and under certain circumstances, it can be potentially used to generate even a mass hysteria that can be destructive not only for democracy but entire society. Most of the terror movements and organisations, varying from Zealots and Sicarii to Hashishins (Assassins) to modern day radical groups have been driven by aggravated levels of identity consciousness.  

Democracies have been the best possible form of government to optimize pottential and output of any society or state. The under -performance or crisis of democracy stems more from its distortion  rather than its so-called inherent flaws. When elections or political campaigns become tools of verbal and psychological war between contentious group identities, governance gets down to lower priority. Exploitation of contentious identities not only fractures the idea of “people” as an indivisible entity in a democracy but also destroys social cohesion and integrity, without which no society can progress. A house divided is certain to fall. In evolving democracies, it retards the very process of institution building.  Elections are certainly not a war where rival groups have to capture power as a booty for themselves. Political groups and persnnalities are more obliged to offer their services to undertake responsibility of governance in the larger interest of people, society and state without undermining their indivisible identity.  Impartiality of governance processes with a degree of empathy towards the people as a whole are the biggest strength of representative democracy. It becomes a casualty in a fractured society marked by aggressive parochialism.

Hence, debate on democracy has to focus  on both integrity and efficiency governance structures and processes which require harmonious societies where religious, ethnic or linguistic identity of citizens have no relevance.  Democracy in the West has been saturating and India has the opportunity to demonstrate both strength of its civilizational heritage and vibrance of its inherently multi-cultural  and liberal identity evolved over the centuries or even millennia. This will be possible not by preaching but by performance as a society, economy and state. We need to build a culture of excellence that extends  to all institutions cutting across all barriers whether these are government sector or private sector or media or NGOs or even University and reserch instituttions or health sector. We certainly require a culture of genuine or great leadership at every level and in every sphere. 

What Differentiates A Democracy?

September 28, 2018

Amidst ongoing debate on the crisis of democracy, it becomes pertinent to pose a question: what differentiates a good democracy from the rest of the political systems? All democracies have not attained the same level of maturity and hence there would be multiple answers. Nevertheless, some of the essential features that differentiate advanced democracies from the evolving ones are the security of physical and social spaces and supportive or helpful approach of the functionaries of the state. In a democracy, people enjoy a higher degree of sense of psychological security that the state would treat them fairly and justly. Ironically, this trust has not gained much ground in most of the democracies in the developing world or at best this has been inconsistent.

Another aspect of an advanced or good democracy is the higher degree of trust enjoyed by elected representatives and un-elected state functionaries that they would act fairly, with integrity and to the best of their capability to protect all legitimate interests of the people as a whole or society or state. It’s a different matter that such trust quotient has started declining even in some of the most established democracies, which is a key challenge today.  Authoritarian systems, despite providing certain efficient public services fail to offer this sense of security to their people that a) the State would act with fairness;  b) the due process of law would be observed; c) their dignity, life and liberty are secure; and d) they can vent their criticism of functionaries of the state or express their views on any political issue. Today, many of these aspects are getting increasingly compromised subtly even in some of the advanced democracies and missing in varying degrees in most of the democracies in the developing world. If such a trend continues, there is a serious possibility that we could soon come to a stage where the difference between democracy and non-democracy could be reduced only in degree but not in substance.

Different watchdogs and similar institutions in different parts of the world, committed to the idea of upholding, promoting and building democracy, have been measuring and evaluating the quality of democracy and freedom in different parts of the world based on well-devised criteria. Many of these are fairly good indicators of prevailing levels of freedom and democracy in the societies they have surveyed. However, if the challenge is building high-quality democracy or enhancing capacities of democracies to provide optimal quality of governance, such evaluations or measurement of democracies offer very limited perspective. Basic freedom and rights of individuals and a high degree of media freedom, administered by an independent judiciary, are critical but not adequate or strong enough in themselves to sustain democracy. Democracy requires building such conditions and institutions which can thrive and evolve on their own to provide optimal conditions of life by mobilizing the collective energies of people. Optimal conditions of life include round security - including personal, economic, social and collective, apart from the dignity and equitable access to opportunities.

Hence, Democracy, at its most advanced stage of evolution, implies not merely selection of their representatives through popular choice but also a right to select the most suitable incumbents who can work without fear or hindrance in the collective interests of the entire citizenry. The spirit and objectives of democracy get defeated if people cannot select optimally good candidates who in turn are not able to create optimally good institutions.

Further, democratic political processes are expected to throw up wise men and women with integrity and commitment to represent people to optimise overall governance capacity of their society. Societies that have moved in this direction are certainly doing better than the rest. Political leadership requires not merely capacity, skills, and commitment to building institutions, but also broader acceptability and credibility to lead. In fragmented societies, where people divided based on their identities - ethnic, linguistic, religious or social etc- probably it will be nearly impossible to have broadly acceptable leaders. If the objective of democracy is to provide optimum choices to people to select the best possible government, the very mobilisation of opinion in politics on these lines strikes at the roots of democracy, undermining their overall governance output. Hence, the threat to democracy from populism is something that can potentially destroy institutions and create space for another form fascism or totalitarianism.

Further, any society can grow and evolve optimally only to the extent that they synergise individual liberty, freedom and initiative with larger social or group interests. This has been one of the key strengths of democracy that drove societies in the developed Western countries to higher levels of economic, educational and scientific advancements. Authoritarian systems suppress individual liberties of an overwhelming majority of the people for the so-called larger social or collective interests, democracies trust individuals to exercise their freedom in a manner that contributes to larger social interests while preserving their interests.

 In the contemporary era, human sensibilities disapprove of the idea of tyranny of the majority over the minority or vice-versa. Hence, democracy is expected to envision the larger interests of people as indivisible for purposes of governance. If multiple groups start vying for promoting their respective identity and interests at the cost of others, democracy may appear a war among contending groups through non-violent means. In reality, it is difficult to define peoples’ interests in indivisible terms, especially in larger heterogeneous societies. Issues like rule of law, good criminal justice system and good regulatory and enabling capacity of states in certain basic areas like healthcare, education, civic services etc are something that cuts across requirements of people across all dividing lines. Beyond these, people in different categories are indeed different and equity warrants that they are treated accordingly.

Most contemporary democracies, from developed to developing world, do extend special support to identified vulnerable groups varying from economically and physically challenged to other special groups like the aboriginal or tribal population to socially vulnerable groups. However, the extension of privileges or special status based on religious, ethnic or linguistic identity, rather than any need-based welfare objective identified with the welfare state, is a different issue. In many of the evolving democracies in both Africa and Asia, such discrimination seems a reality in practice. These puncture the idea of indivisibility of collective identity and interests of people as a whole for political gains. Freedom House, V-Dem or other institutions, which are committed to studying, evaluation or promotion of democracy, do consider it an aberration or a form of political corruption or vote-buying. Mature democracies have done better in reconciling such conflicting group identities and eliminating space for political exploitation of such identity-based discrimination. Strong institutional safeguards further help them in this direction, which remains a challenge in many of the evolving democracies, where at times institutions appear mute spectators to different forms of political gerrymandering, undermining both the quality of freedom and governance in these democracies. The counter-narrative to this proposition is forwarded by those who claim that most of the established democracies are fairly homogeneous societies, where smaller minority groups just didn’t matter in elections.

Democracy’s another strength, at least on paper, lays in its ability to build up the high quality of human resources and throw up equally high-quality leaders in every field.  The principle of egalitarianism in the era of welfare state empowers people by giving them a fair and equitable opportunity to grow and evolve. If this process is genuinely strong and sturdy, with an element of fair competition, then both the quality of population and quality of incumbents in leadership roles improves. This should automatically push up the very trajectory of all-round growth or progress of democratic societies to a much higher level compared to those in the authoritarian societies. At least, in theory, there are greater incentives and opportunities for people to excel in a democracy compared to non-democracies. However, one of the prime challenges confronting democracy at this stage is the saturation of some of its existing practices and procedures to take democracy to a higher level of governance.

DEMOCRACY IN OUR TIMES

 “Democracy” has travelled a long way from its medieval era ideals of minimal government interference and natural rights espoused by ‘social contract’ philosophers like Hobbes, Locke or Rousseau. Libertarian goals of freedom of speech, thought and expression as espoused by John Stuart Mill and others or the Bentham’s concept of ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number’ or so many similar ideas on democracy and Justice explained philosophers like Tocqueville, Rawls, Schumpeter or Putnam etc cannot explain contemporary understanding of Democracy entirely. Even Abraham Lincoln's  description of democracy as ‘government of the people, by the people and for the people’ appears inadequate to describe democracy in our times or at least the popular expectations from it. The idea of democracy has gradually evolved to a stage, at least in the model societies, where people expect their government, elected through a process of free and fair polls on the basis of universal adult suffrage, and supported by a large number of professionally managed autonomous institutions, to provide an optimally secure, egalitarian society with equitable access to economic opportunities and uniform access to ‘Rule of Law’. Democracies in different parts of the world are able to provide these to varying extents, depending upon the level of their evolution and maturity. At the same time, most democracies, both in developed and developing world,  are struggling to  address different forms of distortions and challenges, which threaten the very future of democracy as the most desirable  form of government.

    Individual initiatives, ideas and leaderships have played crucial role in evolution of Democracy to its current stage. However, it has not been a unilinear, consistent and well-defined process. Democracy has come to this form of elaborate structures of representative institutions through an exercise  of continuous trial and refinement and yet we cannot say with certainty whether the existing structures and formats of Democracy, anywhere in the world, have reached their optimum capacity or these  are adequate to meet popular aspirations. Further, contemporary representative democracy, despite all its common essential features, also has certain distinct traits in almost every region and every part of the world. These have been shaped by local contexts including socio-economic and cultural realities. Consequently, in certain societies or socio-cultural milieu, democracy has advanced to provide a higher level of governance as well as social harmony, whereas in many others, it is still struggling to take firm roots. Those from democratic societies shall always find representative government with free press, individual freedom and autonomous judiciary as the most credible form of Government. Its imperfections and flaws may appear only as aberrations requiring remedial measures. Hence, it is important to analyse understanding of democracy in contemporary context.

         Democracy in our times has different meanings in different contexts or societies for different people. In many parts of the developing world, it may just be a process of election and some degree of media freedom with some semblance of rule of law like mechanism, which need not be consistently and uniformly upheld. Whereas in some of the advanced democracies, it may be a comprehensive charter of obligations to ensure universal access to optimally good conditions for life. Financial elite in most countries, may interpret democracy as freedom to pursue their business and commercial interests with minimum interference, or if possible all the support from  state apparatus both within and beyond the country. In certain cases, it may be simply be opportunity to navigate their way to greater wealth by. For political elite it seems all the  opportunity to pursue political power, or if possible, unbridled power without any institutional interference. For media and civil society groups, it may mean anything depending upon their orientation, from influence, name, clout or in certain societies even easy wealth. Masses may different expectations. From economic security to transparent public services. However, the lowest common denominator would be all round security to live with dignity where state defends individuals from both internal and external threats besides providing fair and reasonable opportunities.  Elections and public accountability appear the best route to ensure such a system and hence these are integral features of democracy which are now upheld through elaborate structures of representative government.

        In the post second world-war era, when most of the post-colonial countries were adopting democracy, and in many of these places, democracy is still struggling to take firm roots, some  of the advanced nations of the West were transitioning to a welfare centric model with highly transparent and efficient public services, at least in most parts of the Western Europe, and particularly Nordic countries, North America, Japan and New Zealand etc. Consequently, all political systems - democracies or otherwise- have been under varying degrees of pressure to replicate citizen-centric welfare model, with efficient public services. It’s a different issue that most of  them have been struggling to varying extents of resource crunch or deficient institutions or pressure from alternative forces who wield far direct or indirect clout and derive their strength or power or influence from perpetuation of weak institutions. Nevertheless, most of the democracies even in the developing world have made varying degrees of attempts to move in the direction of welfare state model. However, their success has been limited. For example, all larger  stable democracies like India, Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil etc have introduced different forms of social security or financial assistance or unemployment subsidy or old age pension to their vulnerable population in respective categories.  Nevertheless, these are not comparable with the quality of impact that their counterpart schemes have made in advanced democracies. State support in social and healthcare sectors has come under pressure even in the advanced countries. A large majority of democracies in the developing world are struggling to provide universal access to some of the basic necessities of life like nutrition, healthcare, quality education, consistent and uniform access to even rule of law or rights guaranteed on paper etc. At the same time, they are also struggling to establish credibility of even their electoral processes and governance institutions.

         A democratic political order derives strength from its society, its wider social values and of course quality of leaders.  Hence, the quality of democracy in any society is directly dependent upon the extent to which the values like social harmony, individual liberty, individual integrity, industriousness and enterprise are shared and respected by people. Their incorporation in the structures and processes of governance institutions also depends on quality of leaders. Brilliance and follies of leaders also play a significant role.  Without stellar contributions from Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and of course Martin Luther King, the United States of America may not have been able to achieve what it has. Similarly, without the rise of Mahatma Gandhi and unwavering commitment of founding fathers of independent India, the shape of the world’s biggest democracy may have been difficult to visualise. Leaders can sometimes persuade people. Hence, it is always a combination of large number of factors that contribute to rise or absence of democracy in certain societies. This also explains uneven and at times inconsistent evolution of democracy, at times in the same region among people of same socio-cultural and economic background. 

We shall continue our discussion more regularly  and I do request champions of democracy to put across their views and suggestions.  

VICTORY OF DEMOCRACY IN MALDIVES

          Victory of opposition candidate Ibu Solih in the recent Presidential election in Maldives must be hailed as one of the  remarkable events in the history of democracy in our times. We are passing through an era, when democracy has been receding in most parts of the world and watchdogs of Democracy like 'Freedom House' to 'V-Dem' have been expressing concern over decline in civil liberties and political freedom at a wider scale. Under these circumstances, electoral outcome in  Maldives is a certainly a boost for democracy. Sadly, certain sections of  our own media have hailed  the electoral outcome as major boost for India, given pro-China inclinations of incumbent President Yameen. I feel that the world, and particularly  we Indians, need to see the development more from the perspective of aspirations of Maldivian people. We need to salute the brave people of Maldives who have endured everything and yet asserted in no uncertain terms that they stood for democracy, freedom and individual liberty. It is no longer possible for any autocrat to take them back to regressive era by hoodwinking them in the name of Islam or whipping up national jingoism. 

        Building Democracy is a long and arduous process, which can lose direction at any stage. Maldives had transitioned to multi-party democracy almost a decade back in 2008. It was one of the rare cases where an incumbent President - Abdul Gayoom, who had virtually ruled the country for nearly three decades, agreed to hold multi-party polls and gracefully accepted peoples' verdict to exit from power. The incoming Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)  too showed accommodation by refraining from any political revenge against the outgoing President, despite a previous history of acrimonious relationship between the two. However, institutions of democracy had not yet matured and President Nasheed was ousted in 2012 under the most unfortunate circumstances. Following weeks of protest by opposition parties, he had resigned and later alleged that he was made to resign virtually at gun point. Subsequent Maldivian Government pressed terror charges against him forcing him to jump bail and take refuge in the United Kingdom. He  was not alone in doing so as many other opposition politicians either fled the country or were put behind bars. 

            President Yameen has certainly been guilty of pushing this beautiful nation of multiple islands on a course of disaster. He had seriously derailed the process of institution building towards a sustainable and robust democracy. He also vitiated the entire political ambience by virtually forcing all his serious political rivals in to exile or in prison. For this, he interfered with autonomy of judiciary, curtailed political and civil liberties of people. He even undermined professional integrity of civil service and police institutions, by routinely interfering in its processes, used entire might of state to intimidate actual or even potential dissenters. He undermined even integrity of parliament by frequently changing and virtually subverting its procedures to pre-empt any No-Confidence Motion or pushing through parliamentary approval for Free Trade treaty with China in November 2017 with barely 1/3rd members present and voting. It was extremely sad and sorry situation for democracy in the country. 

        He had started antagonising longstanding friends of people of Maldives to bolster his own political fortunes. Maldivians have been practising a liberal version of Islam with their language Divehi having Sanskritic origins. He sought to introduce more orthodox and  somewhat Arabic version of stricter Islam. Worst was his efforts to walk into close embrace of China, ignoring even security sensitivities of India and violating even Indo-Maldivian Friendship Treaty.  He was risking long years of relations of trust and goodwill with India that had been assiduously built by President Gayoom and continued by President Nasheed. We must complement the incumbent Indian Foreign Secretary Mr Vijay Gokhale who remained unfazed, even under the gravest provocations and the Indian Government  continued to assure all concerned in Maldives of  its neutrality in internal matters of the archipelago nation. It must have been little disappointing for certain sections of opposition MDP, who kept demanding an Indian intervention. Right thinking Maldivians would  certainly realise now that unlike the extra regional powers, who may just use Maldives for their strategic and military goals, India has a long term and abiding stake in political stability and well being of people of Maldives. 

       President elect Ibu Solih has a difficult task at hand. Unless he  demonstrates mature leadership qualities, the process of democracy building may lose direction once again. He has to rise over personal aspirations and political differences to build rule of law, which  must be asserted in no uncertain terms. There is no space for condoning heinous crime but optimum degree of  political reconciliation and accommodation can help the process of transition towards an endurable democracy. Maldives would need at least another decade or more to stabilise its democracy and build a governance structure that is more suited to its own requirements.  Further, it is a small country with a somewhat egalitarian structure. It is more important  for leaders in the Government to preserve and improve upon the quality of social solidarity  and avoid temptation of royalty like trappings of power.  In such a society, it is difficult to conceal things and hence individual credibility of leaders become important. At the same time, there is need to reduce coercive character of Maldivian police systems. There is negligible amount of crime among Maldivian people. Probably they can take a leaf or two out of the concept of community policing to reduce the very space for crime instead of being used by the incumbents in the government for  political purposes. May be creation of strong inbuilt incentives and deterrents for any deviation from rule of law can help. Simultaneous measures to bolster both autonomy and integrity of judicial processes can  help prevent recurrence  of mistakes committed during President Yameen's era. Issues at stake would probably be building an amiable ambience of trust and goodwill between the ruling party and the opposition to avoid individual or political confrontation. 

      India and Maldives have shared a strong bond of history, culture and ethnicity. Successive Heads of the  Government in Maldives have always been receptive to India's diplomatic and security concerns, barring a brief aberration by President Yameen, who too occasionally reiterated the same stance at least in words. During its early days of pro-democracy movement in Gayoom  era, MDP leaders often used to visit Delhi and engaged  members of both media and  civil society groups. This was the time when Government of India was believed to avoiding any contact with them, given strong relationship with the then President Gayoom. During one of the interactions at India International Centre, the then leader of MDP- Mohammad Latheef - had made it categorical that even though the Government of India was avoiding them, while other non-democracies were willing to engage, MDP was avoiding  the latter as they had nothing to offer  a pro-democracy movement. He maintained that their group was fighting for democracy and their inspiration was Mahatma Gandhi. Hence,  they would wait for Government of India to engage and listen to them, instead  of having a truck with non-democracies in the region or beyond. 

       Political movements can have such liberty but not a state, which has to deal with every entity that can promote or help its interest. Maldives as a nation may have to  deal with all concerned who can help its national goals but pragmatism would always require a closer engagement with India and accommodation of the latter's sensitivities and concerns. From the Indian side, the government has always adhered to the norms of political correctness, the problem area has been a few corporate ventures entering the archipelago nation by virtue of bi-lateral diplomatic goodwill. It would be imperative that only those capable of adhering to the highest possible global norms of professionalism get such access. There is no doubt that popular verdict in Maldives has opened up new avenues for both promotion of democratic good governance and stronger Indo-Maldivian bilateral ties. It is time that all concerned join together to build robust institutions that are autonomous and yet uphold principles of 'Rule of Law' and 'Democracy'. India has a moral responsibility to help in the process of building such institutions wherever needed without being partisan or intrusive in any manner.   President elect Ibu Solih has a huge responsibility and heavy expectations to handle. Let us hope and wish that he emerges successful. Maldives can potentially emerge as a shining example of victory of  democracy in our times.

Democracy: From People-Centric Governance of Mauryan Era

The ongoing discourse on efficacy of democracy assumes a special significance today when the biggest democracy in the recorded human history celebrates its 72nd independence day. The entire world has marvelled that despite all its flaws, imperfections and at  times some extremely disturbing social and economic trends, Indian democracy has moved forward and become increasingly stronger. We are a model for peaceful transfer of power through a credible electoral process on such a large scale that the world has neither known in the past nor may see anywhere else in foreseeable future. While, there are serious concerns about the quality of governance provided by the Indian democracy, and we sincerely require urgent remedial measures in this direction, it would be a worthwhile exercise to look back in the past to trace values and ethos as well as examples of good governance.  We cannot, and must not, attempt to go back to the past but the ideals and ingredients of good governance, remain timeless. Our glorious  heritage of ancient era must inspire us to steer our democracy and quality of  governance to usher in greater prosperity, social harmony and higher quality of national security.  

        In our last post, I had briefly mentioned that the genesis of democratic values and ethos of contemporary India could be traced back to people-centric governance institutions and values of Mauryan era. Of course teachings of Tamil sage Thiruvalluvar around same era also played huge role in building a social culture for a harmonious, pacifist trust based society, where integrity among individuals was emphasised as the biggest virtue. Mauryan polity of ancient era is very often considered as one of the earliest examples where governance principles and processes incorporated principles of collective security as well as welfare of the vulnerable. Even though it was not an elected government, goodwill and support of the masses was one of the most critical foundations on which the entire political system rested. We must remember that the Mauryan polity thrived in an era that was quite close to that of the ancient Greek democracy. The notable distinction was that Greek city states were much smaller in sizes whereas Mauryan empire covered almost entire Indian subcontinent, extending from Afghanistan to Bengal and beyond, barring of course a substantial part of the Southern sub-continent. 

       When we study available records about Mauryan polity, as offered by Kautilya and Megasthenese as well as other sources, which have been interpreted and analysed by both Indian and Western scholars, it clearly emerges that King did not rule on the basis of divine rights. Kingship might have become hereditary but ‘duties of the King were well defined and he had no discretion to reject advice rendered by the most capable and wise men, who constituted the council of Ministers.’[1] One of the most well researched works on Mauryan Polity, written by Professor  Ramachandra Dikshitar in 1932 for University of Madras, states that the “The views of Council Ministers were not merely an advisory  (p 134) but mandatory, the king could lay down his opinion but could not impose and decisions were not taken by majority but by mature decisions implying by consensus.”[2] 

Professor Dikshitar  identified the following as the principal duties of the political sovereign[3]:    

            
    Enforcement of Svadharma, implying members of every profession or                        sections of society fulfilled their identified professional or otherwise role                  with integrity;

     protection of life and property of all citizens;

    State support to Promotion of trade and commerce, obliging the king to                  guarantee safety of trade and commerce routes as well as protection from          criminals and hostile forces;

Administration of Justice;

Protection of citizens from natural Calamities;

Administration of an effective foreign policy to safeguard all round security of         the empire.

Promotion of arts and education, health and sanitation, medical aid and relief  to the poor, and other charitable acts and deeds including donations and grants to learned men and maintenance of widows, the orphan and the helpless;

Close watch on “Sanyasins”, who were protected and honoured but any                    impropriety in their conduct was not tolerated.

It appears that Mauryan polity, under the wise stewardship of Kautilya,  was way ahead of the idea of reasonable restraint on authority of  sovereign. In fact, sovereign was obliged to promote, protect and uphold the highest possible principles of “people-centric” governance that combined well-being of citizens with, what we understand in modern era, the core principles of comprehensive national security. An elaborate administrative apparatus was in place to look after security and protection of citizens from both natural calamities and man made threats. Considerable emphasis was laid on promoting economic prosperity by creating conditions that were conducive for both agriculture and commerce. It was a highly welfare state in the sense that it had detailed arrangements to look after the vulnerable and orphans. 

      Professor Dikshitar has also emphasized on progressive taxation followed by the State and special care taken to avoid inconvenience to the people, by instituting safeguards against corruption by officials. At the same time, Sovereign was obligated to spend all its resources wisely and with a degree of austerity. At another level, it indicates a dynamic and somewhat mutually reinforcing equilibrium between the state and society, where both state or sovereign as well as people in general were guided by certain code of conduct to maintain high degree of social harmony and political  correctness.

      Professor Dikshitar wrote this piece in 1932. Wide range of sources that he has consulted, lends authenticity and integrity to his work. Virtually all eminent historians on the subject,  also share such description of governance in Mauryan polity, where royal authority was constrained to pursue welfare of the people as well as security of state and society. Interestingly, even at the time of publication of Professor Dikshitar’s research, neither the idea of modern welfare state  (envisaging support for the vulnerable and destitute) nor the idea of national security (enshrining a comprehensive and yet integrated concept of political, military, social, scientific and economic dimensions of governance to optimise strength and security of a state) had gained momentum. 

    The concept of welfare state gained momentum only after second world war, and many believe that it was in the aftermath of Marxist challenge to capitalist democracies. They argue that western democratic states were compelled  to incorporate the principles of welfare and egalitarianism in their governance policies to pre-empt any possible influence of Marxist ideology on the masses. Similarly, the idea of national security as such was first articulated by US Navy Secretary James Forestall during a hearing in the US Senate in August 1945.  Forestall had suggested a much ‘wider and comprehensive concept going beyond military strength to include almost everything linked with war-making potential or capacity of state. These included industry, mining, research and manpower and such other activities which also enhanced quality of civilian life’. [4] The Western discourse on national security also traces  origin of this idea only in the aftermath of emergence of modern Westphalian state in 17^th Century. It should not be considered an act of audacity when we claim that Mauryan polity seemed to combine both the welfare and national security dimensions of governance way before these ideas germinated in the West.

           It would certainly be unfair to scrutinise political structures and social order of Mauryan polity from the prism of 21^st Century Scandinavian democracies. Even the techniques and principles of warfare or conduct of foreign policy or collective security of Mauryan polity needs to be studied in its own context rather than comparing it with contemporary era. Subsequently, these systems might have degenerated or subverted or lost their vigour or failed to adapt to changing realities. Nevertheless, these do provide one of the finest example of people-centric governance that combined the highest principles of comprehensive security outlook. 

         Robustness and vigour of these institutions and their values can be inferred from their ability to provide stability and harmony in an empire that is massive even by contemporary standards. Barring China, most of the advanced civilisations, especially those in the West, during the same time were divided in much smaller city state like entities. Even though some had secured spectacular military victories, they did lack a comprehensive and detailed governance apparatus  of a welfare like state. It is unlikely that such a system and values would have emerged suddenly with wisdom of Kautilya  and valour of Chandragupta. It is more plausible that the values and processes that Kautilya was able to resurrect and streamline were widely prevalent, or at least known, much before Kautilya himself came on the political scene of the  sub-continent. Kautilya may have codified and refined these further. The concept “Dharma” infused a moral obligation both on the ruler and the ruled, enhancing the quality of social or political contract between the two.

        The concept of un-elected "Dharma" driven polity is neither feasible nor desirable in the contemporary era. However, observance of "Dharma" even by the elected representatives and masses can take our democracy and the civilisation to a new pinnacle. Popular accountability and representative governments by experts are inescapable necessities both for credibility and efficiency in governance. However, custodians of democracy need to appreciate that five key principles that can differentiate a high quality democratic polity could be summarised as : a) Centrality of people as a whole in the process of governance and politics, with their common and composite interests being defined in indivisible terms; b) Rule of law implying obligation on state, and all other entities in public domain,  from any arbitrary and unreasonable action, along with a credible mechanism to enforce, interpret and uphold the same; c)  Accountability of entire governance process to people (who should be represented by wise and virtuous men and women with integrity); d) Integrity, autonomy and efficiency of institutions of governance; e) High degree of social harmony with prevalence of wider values of trust and integrity among people, access to opportunities and instruments to cooperate and collaborate and forge a spirit of partnership. Efficacy of all these instruments and institutions lay in their ability to provide the masses optimum access to all round security and   dignity . 

Some may consider these ideas as utopia but an effort to move in this direction alone can bolster democracy and enable it fight the onslaught of both authoritarianism and populism.  Interestingly, the quality of governance in some of the non-elected regimes in certain areas like public services, maintenance of public order, access to healthcare, elementary education and employment are better than many of the democracies. Un-elected public functionaries are probably more accountable in these polities and they enjoy greater autonomy in their routine professional sphere. Many of these institutions are afflicted by sub-par output in most democracies. 

     If societies lack cohesion and institutions are clumsy, it is easier for smaller network of forces to derail the focus of governance in democracies. In absence of strong regulatory capacity and efficient criminal justice systems, democracy can become an arena for war among competing groups. They may use every possible means, including propaganda, deception and even some degree of violence in pure and simple pursuit of power. Despite an outward facade of democracy, priority shifts from collective  interests of entire mass of people to narrow interests of  cliques and syndicates. Outwardly, these institutions may still feign commitment to wider popular  interest and do a lip service to the same. Governance also seems to be suffering in democracies due to lack of inbuilt incentives, opportunities and support for incumbents, for high quality output with integrity, in different key institutions - like political parties, corporate sector, civil service, judiciary, research institutions, health sector, media etc. Many a times, one finds a gap or a contradiction between institutional goals of these entities and the larger governance objectives. 

        The idea of democracy is driven by the spirit of channelling collective energies and wisdom of people towards composite well-being of all. As societies are advancing, the idea of composite well-being  of the people becomes more complex. Simultaneously, it becomes increasingly difficult to build and manage institutions which can pursue these effectively while adapting and evolving to new realities. Hence, it is not sufficient to have some structures and processes of representation and governance. The underlying spirit of harmony, trust, collaboration and  opportunities or incentives for excellence are equally important. Without these, it amounts to having body without soul. We need serious re-focus and re-orientation of institutions of  governance in democracies. Mauryan polity does provide an inspiring example in its context. Its structures may not be relevant but its spirit remains worthy of emulation. We need to pose to ourselves:  are we ready to move in this direction? 

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[1] V R Ramachandra Dikshitar; The Mauryan Polity; University of Madras, 1932  Pages 115-119

[2] Ibid; P-134

[3] Ibid; pp-115-119

[4] Joseph J Romm; Defining National Security: Non Military Dimensions, Council of Foreign Relations Press, New York 1993 (p2)  [18.06.2016]S