Degrading Democracy

It is the sign of the times, transcending geographical frontiers, that democracy is being grotesquely distorted giving a raw deal to the ordinary citizens for whom this form of government was supposed to be the best conceived as of now.

- SRI AUROBINDO.

The ruling class in several Asian and European countries has let down the people by not improving their lot, but serving the interests of the super-rich and in the process feathering their own nests too. This has prompted the people suffering from privations and colossal governmental neglect to take to the streets, resort to violence when their patience wears thin and remove by force politicians perceived to be corrupt from their high offices. Those who swear by democracy but line their own pockets and their cronies have been taking the people for granted for far too long using them only for their votes that give them the passport to state power and pelf. Now, some of them are being compelled to work for the people or else not only face the music but getting killed in the process. In Nepal after Bangladesh and earlier Sri Lanka, the people used violence to effect change of government. The severe violence engulfed politicians and also bureaucrats. In France the protesters who had launched fierce and violent street protests with a call for “Block Everything,” have sent the clear message to the government to adopt immediate corrective measures for the survival of democracy. In the face of violence organised by irate mobs, a new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has been appointed to replace the unpopular Francois Bayrou. He is the fifth since the start of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term and the third since the disastrous 2024 dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale. His first fe