DOES INDIA NEED A DICTATOR?
- Kritika Singh
TY A (3093)
As we cross over 65 years of our Independence, with each year passing by we talk about our achievements, developments, and the progress our nation has made since 15th August 1947. But the plight of the common man in India is inevitable and increasing. He is the one who is bearing the pressure of inflation, crisis, discrimination, price hike, petrol price rise, corruption, policy malfunction, and social turmoil ultimately leading to disruption of harmony in the nation. The question to be answered and pondered upon is that who is responsible for all these? Who is to be blamed? Our representatives who are running India, their self interests, the structure of our economy or ourselves! If we actually think, there exist loop holes and faults in all of these. The best possible solution would be putting all these into order and adjust them for concrete development.
The society is full of dire incidents with rape cases and crime against women increasing at a startling rate. We all get furious even with the thought of the gang rape of an intern in Delhi last year which I believe was the pinnacle of cruelty. A juvenile who did the maximum injury was set free just because of our so called ‘ stringent’ laws. Why? Again, recently a 51 years old Danish woman was raped in Delhi. She was our guest, “ atithi” as we call it. She forgot the route to her hotel, but instead of guiding her three Indian men looted her and raped her continuously for three hours. Where is the immediate punishment? This is the condition of security and level of women safety in our Capital City. India really needs a new mentor who can completely change the society. The society needs a change in thought/mentality even if it has to be enforced.
India may have the best set of Law and Order on paper but when it comes to the implementation we stand nowhere. This responsibility of implementation has to be discharged by an able leader who is strict with his decisions. Corruption is further aggravating the situation.
Is the solution to this, the ever discussed democracy versus dictatorship debate? The shift from democracy to dictatorship is a very risky step. Dictatorship has its pros and cons just as two sides of a coin. Let us examine these two parallel thoughts.
One side of the coin shows that dictatorship will lead us to development through straightforward and unambiguous decision making. A dictator being the all mighty head of the country will not face any disagreement and questioning from other parties as in a democracy. A democratic country is for people who not only work for their self interest but in the interest of the society or country. It is meant for a country where in each individual cooperates in any way possible for the implementation of a policy/decision for public/mass benevolence. Today, India falls not even close to a country which can be called selfless. A Dictator is the only individual who can save the country from the hands of such ‘ selfish’ people; he can exercise control and work for the people.
As history shows under dictatorship people are exempted from liberty, but this allows the implementation of laws without retaliation. With dictatorship comes the idea of control of discipline. If the dictator is a diligent man any country can be diverted to the path of progress and development, for example the ruling of Kemal Pasha helped Turkey to achieve the path of glory. Hitler’s dictatorship is the biggest in the history. Despite of his terror and brutality towards the Jews, he brought up Germany from a terrible position. Dictatorship will bring order, regulation and discipline in our country. In simple words, dictator should be kind, a deep thinker with the quality of farsightedness and a quick decision maker who can catalyze the speed and perfection of implementation of his decisions. Presently, our system of democracy is not even close to what it should be delivering. Everyone is just behind securing their seat and no one bothers about the progress and prosperity of the nation. A dictator with an optimistic approach will surely bring about change which will be for good. In fact, for efficient working of dictatorship the dictator must be under constant surveillance of a group of honest ministers. India leading the league of corrupt democracies, really needs discipline which can only be brought in by a powerful and moral dictator. Talking about the economics of both these systems, Dictatorship seems to be a more economic institution. Poverty tops the list of the immediate problems of our country but it is luxury to spend millions on elections. The need of the hour is a selfless, diligent and a knowledgeable dictator who is well versed with his responsibilities. When he will have absolute power in his hands and knows what they are worth, he will surely change India.
The other side of the coin depicts an entirely opposite story which refutes to believe that dictatorship is better than democracy.
“ Dictatorships historically have only been able to find legitimacy in fast paced economic growth (especially in our secular world)”, says a student on a discussion forum. Hence forth, the outcome is an influential government that misleads people to ignore the problems rather than solving them. This would lead to civil wars after the end of dictatorship witnessed by Yugoslavia, Somalia, Russia, etc. Dictators just create a false impression in front of us that the social problems are getting resolved, whereas democracies silently release social and cultural strain through even development and will power to coexist in the world around.
Indians being impatient with the sluggish growth of the Indian economy and delayed actions of the Indian government to resolve issues, it is likely that the citizens would consider a dictatorship as a feasible option. Looking at countries like USA, they wonder “ why isn’t our government so efficient?” The simple answer to this is that western nations have shorter history. India has its problems trailed back to its vast history. It is thus not easy to resolve old social problems as people are very fond of their culture and history. Dictatorship always helps in short- term development. A country like India having such a huge population and such diverse cultures and communities can’t be ruled by a single leader. For a vast country like India, to follow republican rules and norms is equivalent to achieving a milestone. Not to forget, our foreign policies will be at stake again because we don’t know what type of policies and reforms will accompany the new leader. It is evident from the condition of Germany and Italy that dictatorship cannot exist in this world of rapid growth and globalization. The shift of political system from democratic to dictatorship cannot assure development. The development of any nation totally relies on the advancement of each individual which comes through freedom to think and implement new and innovative ideas leading to development of individuality. History shows us a clear picture of the condition of people under dictatorship. It is terrific to imagine the repercussions if such a vast country is single handed. It is thus right to get a doubt that the leader may turn into another Hitler, with covetousness in his blood and selfishness in soul.
Every argument in the favor of democracy has a counter argument for it and vice versa. In case of India, changing the political system completely may lead to dire consequences but leaving it as it is will further lead to the aggravation of the economy. Hence, I believe that India needs a democratic dictator. India should be governed by a democratic system but the prime minister of India should be very responsive and magnetic enough to take decisions just as a dictator would have taken. This may sound very theoretical but in my opinion it is a reliable and quick measure to deal with the situation. The dictator doesn’t have any pressure on him; similarly our prime minister should also lead us fearlessly. There should not be 10 different people trying to influence him. He should not take decisions standing at the tip of a knife. So in short we need to have a democratic setup in which the chosen leader (the prime minister) should function as a dictator. Practically, whether it is a dictatorship or democracy, it hardly matters, provided that the one who running the whole system should be able to make right decisions and have skills.
