Bertrand Russell once said that Democracy in order to be effective must measure its success in a distinctive way and judge itself by the character, achievement of the men and women who build it up and also the quality of lives they lead. Politicians in Nagaland who profess to represent the people need to seriously measure in real not rhetoric terms whether they have lived up to the oath they took while entering the high offices. The recent spate of allegations with regard to mismanagement of funds and abuse of power has led to debasement of our moral standards. This is true not only of the NPF led DAN government but even the Opposition Congress who despite bringing out the failure of the DAN coalition cannot be absolved either given their long stint of mis-governance.
Democracy in practice (in Nagaland) has led to oligarchy of the worst kind. Power falls into the hands of the demagogue, the grafter and the boss. Even the citizens are partly to be blamed. After all it is they who choose the more popular men based on his money and muscle power rather than able men to lead to. One thing usually leads to the other and in no time the evils of party politics get manifest in the form of the spoils system and nepotism which further debases moral standards.
As in elsewhere, politicians in Nagaland would claim that democracy is a government by the people. But is it really so? The voice of the people could very well be the voice of the devil. To assume that representatives always represent the will of the people is a misnomer and as we today observe in Nagaland, in the scramble for power and patronage the general well being of our State has been brushed off in order to satisfy and fulfill the whims and fancies of some vested interests.
If democracy is to remain genuine then there needs to be a high standard of honesty and moral soundness. Without clean hands and a pure heart democracy is bound to fail even if the politicians claim that they are all democrats. Eternal vigilance on the part of the people is an urgent requirement along with a strong and effective public opinion or else democracy will degenerate into mob rule.
If democracy is to succeed in Nagaland it should be able to bring about socio-economic benefits for its people. This includes social and tribal harmony, safe and clean drinking water, food, health services, electricity, shelter, education including free text books! Politicians in Nagaland must get it into their system that democracy is not only the right to vote but also the removal of other social and economic hindrances. Tall promises during election campaign are one thing but the real test to measure democracy is what happens after the elections?
