INDIA'S TRUE STRENGTH LIES IN THE BALLOT BOX

Right to vote is a weapon that unites the country, holds leaders accountable, and keeps democracy alive

- BY SWATI CHATURVEDI | Special to Gulf News

India's tryst with destiny, in our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's immortal words, would have been in no small measure incomplete without universal adult franchise — the right to vote of every single Indian citizen from the day India became free.

This, our version of an abiding covenant with our nation, distinguishes India both in the neighbourhood and in the wider world as the largest democracy. It gives us hope that we can change a situation we don't like.

Remember how enlightened this was for the times, when women across the world - in countries described as the "mother of democracies" (actually Athens), and a phrase used both by the United Kingdom ("mother of Parliaments") and the United States - had to struggle for nearly centuries to get the equal right to vote alongside men.

Consider these:

■ United States: The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution was proclaimed on August 26, 1920, formally enfranchising women on an equal basis with men.

■ United Kingdom: The Representation of the People Act in 1918 granted voting rights to women over 30 who met certain property requirements. The Equal Franchise Act in 1928 extended the right to vote to all women over the age of 21, placing them on the same voting terms as men.

Equality at the core of freedom movement