By N.S.Venkataraman(March 28, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Most of the countries in Asia now claim that they practice democratic governance. However,it is not uncommon to see the politicians in these Asian democracies all the time abusing one another, trying to undermine the opponents often by unethical methods and even coming to blows occasionally. The proceedings of the assemblies and parliaments in these Asian democracies portray the quality of the prevailing politics and the caliber of the politicians.
It is often said that a citizens get the type of the government that they deserve. One is not sure as to whether this view is correct in the Asian democracies, since most section of the citizens in the Asian countries are extremely disappointed and frustrated about the behaviour of the politicians and many think that they can better do without them. But, the situation appears to be such that they cannot get rid of these politicians, as they have become essential part of the process of democracy and democracy still appears to be the only form of civilized governance atleast from the point of view of its objectives and philosophy.
Somehow, the democracy has developed in such a way over a period of time in Asian countries that the people who are often not the best of citizens and who cannot think about the country beyond themselves have obtained a stranglehold over the governance of the country. In the process, the well meaning citizens and people qualitatively superior to most of the politicians have been relegated to the background and are forced to watch helplessly the unfolding scenario, as the politicians corrupt the government machinery and the society and lead the country towards anarchy and instability.
Obviously, the time has come when some method must be found to preserve the process of democracy and at the same time ensure that the democratic governance would not go down under the control of the people who have made politics into a lucrative profession and not as the means of serving the society.
It is often said that good people committed to the cause of probity and uncompromising patriotism should step into the public life and political stream of the nation and displace the corrupt and dishonest people now holding control of the political system. But, this is easier said than done. In recent times, several educated persons and people committed to honest methods have tried to get into politics by contesting in the elections but have been hopelessly defeated. They do not get the support of the common men when they go to the polling booth against the current breed of politicians, who play with money power and muscle power and bribe the voters and adopt any kind of dishonest methods to win the elections.
The problem is that most of these Asian countries are still deep in poverty with large section of the population living below poverty line, without adequate opportunities for education, literacy and employment. Millions of people lead hand to mouth existence , have no personal savings and are in desperate need to meet even their minimum requirements. Their poverty conditions are such that they often fall to the temptation when politicians try to bribe them with their ill gotten money , free gifts like television sets etc.. With vast segment of the population living below poverty line, and without adequate educational level, the knowledgeable, well meaning and concerned citizens who want to get into politics to cleanse the public life have no chance of success against the scheming and corrupt politicians.
The conditions in most of the Asian democracies are now so chaotic that exploitation and unequal distribution of income and opportunities have become the order of the day. Sadly , even the media and judiciary in several of the Asian democracies do not any more have the standards that are expected of them.
One wonders as to whether such conditions can go on for ever and where it would ultimately lead to.
Someone will have to bell the cat and start the struggle in a peaceful and civilized manner, braving the extremely difficult conditions to restore the democracy and civilized governance.
Certainly, the current situation in Asian democracies is ripe for confrontation between the committed and quality citizens and the corrupt politicians. The battle has to start which may look hopeless for the concerned citizens in the present conditions but the battle has to go on by the committed citizens to fulfill their duty to the nation and stand by their own conscience. They need to wage this struggle at every opportunity and at every level and rise themselves as role models, so that many in the country would get confidence to join the battle , that could be a silent battle but nevertheless a strong , noble and purposeful one.
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