Opinion | Modi shows how India’s ‘boisterous democracy’ can be used to benefit the few
- The BJP’s defeat in recent state elections may signal a belated awakening of the majority Hindu voters to the party’s cynical and backward vision of the nation
- The larger problem, however, is how vulnerable voting-age Hindus are to ideological manipulation
After spending 21 years abroad, I returned to India with my family in 2018 hoping to spend more time with ageing relatives, rebuild once-strong friendships and revive rusty professional ties. It did not take long for me to realise that, during my years abroad, not only had I become a different person, but India, too, had become a different country.
So, I said my goodbyes and relocated to Dubai. But, like the millions of other Indians who have left their country in search of a better future, I am under no illusion that voting with my feet will solve any of India's problems.
Being a boisterous electoral democracy is impeding Indians' intellectual evolution as well as sapping the dynamism of its young population. That is the conclusion I have drawn from my frequent visits to India, my year-long stay in Delhi and discussions with former bureaucrats.
What many political scientists believe has kept Indians together as a single nation in the face of daunting challenges has degenerated into a dysfunctional system urgently in need of reform.
