As India celebrated its 75th Republic Day four days after inaugurating a temple to the Hindu God King Rama, built after decades of a movement to erase a mosque, the turn of events raises the question: What is the link between an ancient dynastic ruler and a modern democracy?
The magnificent 26 January parade at New Delhi, which was witnessed by visiting French President Emmanuel Macron tried to answer that: in concept, pomp, and detail.
Thereby hangs a seemingly paradoxical postulate: that you can be a kingdom and a democracy all at once – Not in the British sense of a constitutional monarchy in which a figurehead royal presides over an elected government but one in which a ruler may not be elected and yet involve his people in a manner that enlists subjects in governance while the ruler holds himself accountable to them.
Do Traditional Notions Stand Ground in Modern Democracy?
"Elected autocracy" is a term used by some critics to describe Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rule, but there is more to him than an authoritarian figure, though his imperious style is quite visible.
The Ministry of Culture's tableau at New Delhi's stately Kartavya Path described Bharat as "Mother of democracy" – an idea that will be contested in the modern world.
But other things in and around the parade showed that Modi has deftly packaged content to gently shift the goalposts of democracy in a manner that suggests he can get away with it.
In a hardnosed modern sense of democracy being a system in which leaders are formally elected by citizens to govern, traditional India may not cut ice, unless you count tales of a transient republican state like Licchavi that is said to have had elected councils as early as the 6th Century BC.
But who cares about academic finesse when there is visual splendour as an alternate narrative?
A Vision of Ram Rajya-Style Governance
India's 75th Republic Day paraded a vignette of people in what is now Telangana sitting in ancient village forums and expressing their opinions to help governance. Or you could see the float from Tamil Nadu, in which the scene depicts a Chola-era system under which administrative representatives were chosen by putting the names of contestants written on palm leaves in a pot – the forerunner to the latter-day ballot box.
Such tableaux combined with gallant feats, colourful dances, welfare showcases and military arms and vehicles loaded overwhelmingly with women displayed what to Modi's followers and fans would look like Ram Rajya – the idyllic model of good governance.
Modi is accused by critics of undermining democratic institutions like the judiciary and the media with a mix of demagogic power, propaganda, and legislative manipulation.
But the same leader exhorts the youth to send him suggestions for bettering the nation through his digital apps, swears by the idea of encouragement to women in all spheres of life, and showers enough populist schemes on the poor for him to have been an elected leader for ten years and eyeing a fresh 5-year term.
There he was after the parade, marching a long walk to wave from up close to the thousands among whom were carefully chosen visitors representing various hues of India including 'labharthis' (beneficiaries) of his welfare schemes.
That's precisely democratic in the sense fancied by Modi. It is about creating, nurturing, and following a system of 'general will.'
The idea of a volonte generale (General Will) was propounded as "the will of the people as a whole" by 18th-century political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Balancing Women Power With Raj Dharma
Modi fortifies his populist appeal by recognising a slew of unheard-of social workers and activists in Republic Day honours through the Padma Awards for which nominations are invited from the general public.
The parade only completes a picture of substantially inclusive governance that defies Opposition coalition of interest groups.
The three themes at this year's parade : woman power, India's pioneering role in the rise of democracy across the world, and the aim to make India a developed country – all show a mix of dazzling imagination and aspiration.
In Uttara Kanda, a popular sequel to the main Ramayana written by Valmiki, Lord Rama banishes to a forest dwelling his wife-consort, Sita, after he is told of a washerman berating his wife saying that he was not Rama to take back his wife after she had lived in the home of another man.
It is said that Rama as the king acted to uphold Raja Dharma (the duty of the king). The king as one who leads by example and takes note of public opinion has an element of democratic accountability. I often like to joke that the washerman was the forerunner of the latter-day social media influencers that rulers need to pay heed to.
Rama's act of distancing himself from his wife will only invoke ridicule in the current age of woman power of the kind displayed at the R-Day parade this year. But taking note of public opinion as an idea to reflect the times is an act of popular will.
Critics may also say the ruling BJP's attitude towards cases of sexual harassment allegations involving party colleagues and members of parliament is lax.
What the Grand Show Means in an Election Year
Like the ancient Rama, Modi is prone to criticism. However, as the meticulous work done by his administration in the Republic Day parade and the events running up to it shows, wooing the public ensures that the ruler more than gains in popularity what he might lose in nuanced debates confined to a few quarters.
You could call it Rama Rajya 2.0, or the heady brew of modern democracy sipped from an ancient chalice.
Whatever the view, the R-Day cocktail of infrastructure schemes, science projects, technology prowess, and futuristic ambitions envisaging a developed India must go well among young voters in an election year.
After all, they are the ones who will live in that future and 50% of Indians are below the median age of 28. A well-served dose of optimism works far better with a youthful populace than carping criticism.
(The writer is a senior journalist and commentator who has worked for Reuters, Economic Times, Business Standard, and Hindustan Times. He can be reached on Twitter @madversity. This is an opinion article and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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