Democracy in decay

How the ideals of the Constitution fail to percolate down to the masses

- AMITABH RANJAN

THE PAST FEW days, as we transitioned from 2025 to 2026, have not been pleasant. Not that the rest of the year gone by was particularly good.

What are fresh on our minds are the recent incidents like the violence and vandalism during Christmas celebrations across the country even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended two Christmas events; the killing of Anjel Chakma, a youth from Tripura, who was holidaying in Dehradun, by rowdy elements who called him and his brother 'Chinese' and 'chinki' before fatally stabbing him; and the deaths due to contaminated water in India's officially cleanest city Indore. Then there are episodes like the High Court suspending the life term of rape convict former BJP legislator Kuldeep Sengar before some damage control, at least for the time being, was done by the apex court by putting the order on hold; the Ankita Bhandari case that is back in headlines for alleged police-politics nexus; and the denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam who have been languishing in jail for the past five years without even a trial, among others. These prick our conscience. And they should, for these are some of the more recent episodes that underline the symptoms of dilapidating democratic pillars-legislative, executive, judiciary, and the media.