STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

Adrina, our Friend on our face book page, comments, "It's a, 'who wins' race, between a tanking economy and a tanking democracy".

A fair comment, but from where I stand, my dear sisters, brothers, friends and fellow citizens, it's a no race, for it was over, before it started.

The standard and hallmark of a flourishing democracy is its rock solid Constitution. Till of late, the Constitution of India was being snipped at, furiously at that, but of late there have been daring, direct frontal assaults on it from all directions, flung at the fac e of the whole world, most blatantly and un-apologetically.

Our Democracy died the way the 2014 Parliamentary Elections were allowed to be constructed, when छप्पन छाती was allowed to hop was allowed to hop all over the Country in a private plane, with its cost unaccounted for, either individually or collectively. ECI let it ride and the HSC snoozed.

Our Democracy died when our Country was defrauded with an unending string of lies and deceit, let loose on a largely naive electorate. The ECI looked on approvingly and the HSC failed to exercise its moral and legal duties.

Our Democracy died when the valor of our soldiers was shamelessly piggy ridden by the ruling dispensation for their nefarious political purposes, with a toothless ECI issuing unenforced edicts and turning admirers when specific complaints were lodged with them.

Our Democracy died when the ECI became blatantly partial manner turned down all complaints in a determined manner in respect of the last Parliamentary elections of, both in the run-up, during the con duct as well as post balloting.

Our Democracy died when the uniformed top brass forgot that the soldiers take oath of upholding their Country's sacred Constitution and not the Govt of the day.

Our Democracy died when in a series of unholy coup d'etats, with the shameless display of money, muscle, political power, elected representatives were w over, both singly and En-Masse and the watch dogs of democracy un-apologetically behaved like the proverbial three monkeys.

Our Democracy died when all constitutional institutions were, blatantly, shamelessly and most unconstitutionally, arm twisted into submission, either through carrots or sticks or threats or even by taking away the lives of unbending sentinels.

And finally our Democracy died on the 5th of August this year when the constitution was first asphyxiated and then cut into pieces in State, where the forefathers of many an illustrious citizens of our Country had lived and flourished in the unique spirit of Kashmiriyat, with the HSC, (Forget about taking a suo-motu cognizance), while continuing to devote all its time, energy and resources to hearing a land dispute, not even finding a bench to hear the myriad complaints in over two months.

My beloved fellow citizens and our children, this is our Democracy, not any body's जागीर, to be appropriated by any one whatsoever, be it an individual or a govt. Democracy is under attack all over the world, including the oldest democracy, whose Parliamentary System we borrowed as a model; just look around.

Are we going to look on passively, when our most prized possession is being snatched away from the depths of our bosom ? Are we that helpless a people.

What is our inheritance from this death?

• A steeply declining economy, jet-diving into a bottomless pit.
• A fractured society, where the brothers & sisters and at times, couples, are at each other's throat.
• A fractured polity, where consensus, even in National issues, is well neigh impossible.
• A fractured & frightened judiciary, unable to cope with delivery of justice.
• A fractured Armed Forces, the last fortification against disintegration of the Constitution of our Nation.

Is भारत not the Nation ,in which a धोबी forced a mighty धर्म राजा, to ask his pure and sinless wife to undergo a purity test by fire ? Is भारत not the Nation which has, through ages, set the pace for the World to follow?

My beloveds, time is long past for us to be counting our chickens. It is high time for each one of us to stand up and be counted for our भारत माता and its standard bearer, the sacred Constitution of India; fearlessly, un-apologetically & unhesitatingly,

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED