Dear Editor,
This is in response to the letter written by Sami Sofi about my article "Democratically Incorrect". I think the respondent has not read my article properly before commenting. I have not defamed democracy but I have pinpointed the loopholes present in this so-called democratic setup. I wrote that you can't call elections as democracy.
You can't have a democratic setup in one part of the country but other part is devoid of it. For me India is not a democratic country and the reason for that it has not given the people of Kashmir their basic democratic right i.e. Right to Self Determination and that's what I have mentioned in my write up. Look at the situation of our state, one lakh people have been killed. Our ministers are involved in high level corruption cases and scandals, now what can you expect from them! The second point he mentioned is that I have tried to praise the western democratic institutions. No, not at all! There is no difference between western democratic setups and ours. After all democracy is a western concept and we have adopted it. But the problem is that there the people have some say in the overall decision making of their country. We can't decide our future! We have a demo version of democracy. Only elections are held after that people have no say whatsoever. Moreover Sami Sofi says that America is using democracy as a tool to terrorise the rest of the world and I agree with him. But the question is that Isn't India doing the same with Kashmir? Aren't they killing us in the name of democracy? Has India fulfilled its promises it had made with the world and particularly to the people of Kashmir? Lastly, I want to say that "There are elections in democracy but no democracy in elections!" Let you be the judge and decide.
Tanveer ul Islam
Student,
Baramulla.
tanveer.ulislam684@gmail.com