The voice of dissent is also the voice of democracy, but those who boldly express their opinion always face many challenges too. Political commentator and observer Adv. A . Jayashankar, who always faced bouquets and brickbats alike for his blatant political comments, was equally vocal in the solo session dealing with the importance of the voice of dissent at the fifth edition of MBIFL at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

“Democracy means the freedom to disagree, and if that freedom is there democracy will be successful,” he said. At the same time, the reality is different, and the society here is not equipped yet to embrace democracy, according to him.

“It is very interesting to talk and hear about the definition of democracy – for the people, by the people, of the people – but the reality here is not all the same,” he said. Though we have a democratic setup here, and the government is elected democratically, things get changed once they assume power, pointed out Jayashankar, who opined that most of the bigger nations face this problem. However, the democratic system is successful here because of our diversity here.

“Democracy can sustain only in the smaller, developed, capitalist nations such as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, and the gulf between the rich and the poor is also very less in these places,” he said. 

When caste and communal equations call the shot in choosing the candidates in the elections, what is the meaning of democracy, he asked.

The increasing level of corruption, and disintegration at the political front will have a cascading effect on the entire system and the issues with the judiciary, police, and other sections should be seen from this perspective, according to him.

At the same time, even though you can criticize the leaders, your voice would be sabotaged if you criticize the business people because they have the money power, he added.

Talking about human rights, he said the police face the highest level of human rights violation here, and the increasing number of suicides among them underscores this. He also pointed fingers towards the undesirable tendencies in the judiciary, and also the problems faced by the judiciary in the nation, which again affects the fabric of democracy.

“Whenever there is a problem with democracy we should raise our voice,” he asserted, adding that we should struggle against the undesirable tendencies that affect the meaning of democracy. 

It is not necessary that every struggle would be successful, but we should not stop fighting against the elements that destroy democracy, he opined. He was also equally critical of the way the projects for the Dalits and Adivasis are implemented in the state and said unambiguously that these people are often denied justice. “The welfare measures for them are on paper, it is not properly executed,” he said.

At the same time, our kids should be taught that no man is above or below another man and all are equals. Children should be told that they should learn to question before obeying.

Further, the problem with the religions is that every religion glorifies itself while staunchly criticizing other religions, said Jayashankar, who repeated that democracy is passing through a dangerous situation in India.