India's democracy mustn't be thin-skinned

The truest test of an evolved, flourishing and mature democracy is not its electoral culture, or the right of every citizen to vote, or a diverse political system, but where it stands on the scale of freedom of expression.

- RUHI TEWARI

The truest test of an evolved, flourishing and mature democracy is not its electoral culture, or the right of every citizen to vote, or a diverse political system, but where it stands on the scale of freedom of expression. On a scale ranging from absolute to highly restrictive, freedom of expression in a democracy should unequivocally remain towards the former.

India is a brilliant example of a democracy that has weathered much and where only the vote of its citizens determines who will rule. Voters decide the fate of political players, and right and power remain total and undiluted. Any political highhandedness or attempts to establish hegemony have been humbled at the hustings.

The hiccups in India's democratic structure, however, have more often come from a tendency to undermine the most significant aspect - freedom of expression. The draconian Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the mid-1970s remains by far the most glaring, but unfortunately, not the only example. Several democratically elected governments, across levels, have periodically attempted to curtail dissenting voices that have made them uncomfortable, disrupting the seamless flow of democracy.

A string of recent incidents following the terror attacks targeting innocent tourists in Kashmir's Pahalgam and India's retaliatory action against terror camps in Pakistan (Operation Sindoor) have added to this unfortunate trend in Indian democracy. The arrest of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad and a 19-year-old Pune student for their social media posts in connection with Operation Sindoor has betrayed how fragile our idea of freedom of speech and expression continues to be, despite being a complete democracy for over seven decades.