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Smit Pujara
Marcia Gottschall
ENG 101
11/20/2017
Democracy: Myth vs Reality
Democracy was introduced to the world centuries ago. Today, most countries have
adopted democracy. India is world’s biggest democracy, which has the second-largest population
in the world and where the largest number of voters exist. The Indian constitution, like other
constitutions, allows natural and civil rights that safeguard all citizens, but this does not
guarantee perfection. The socio-political system of India has been divided into various segments
based on caste, religion, age or sex. This division perhaps leads to several faults in the Indian
democracy including casteism, religious discrimination, gender inequality, and suppression of
minorities. The negligence towards these issues by the government has corrupted the democratic
system of India.
Several factors play a part in degrading Indian democracy. One is casteism, Indian caste
system gives birth to differences among people based on history, religion, and occupation.
Among all the existing castes, the most marginalized castes are often termed as “Dalits,” which
is unconstitutional and often used to abuse these castes. To solve the issue of calling those
socially backward class people as Dalits, Mahatma Gandhi popularized a term for them: Harijan
which means people of god, a fact most of the Indians know. Harijans often have occupations
such as street sweepers, bathroom cleaners, and laborers. Even after decades of independence
and being prohibited from discrimination by the constitution, several wealthy and high-borns
keep on oppressing Harijans. Economic and Political Weekly states, “The collision of the
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judiciary and the legislature is common because most policy interventions meant for India’s
lower caste are not supported by appropriate data and mostly pursued by governments
presumably sympathetic to their causes.” It is ironical that a constitution written by a Harijan
(Dr. B.R Ambedkar) cannot defend Harijans.
Various laws have been passed to protect minorities however, ignorance by the
government and social clashes forbids the constitution to implement the laws. Once, when I was
in my middle school, a Harijan got killed in a hit and run by an upper class and rich teenager in
front of my house. The driver didn’t even bother to take him to the hospital just because the
victim was Harijan. On the other side police didn’t take any immediate action against the
teenager for two reasons: first, the victim was Harijan and second, the killer was rich and high
born. The killer is still roaming free even after six years of the incident. Despite being known as
