A Novel Dictatorship

It is believed by all and sundry that dictatorship is a thing of the past and now, all countries of the world can bask in the sunshine of freedom and liberty. However, to me, this appears to be quite a misnomer in the present-day world scenario. This is because of the simple reason that man is essentially dominating and his desire to dominate others who are less privileged shall never diminish. The shape and the system of domination may have changed, but in principle, the desire remains and can be seen very clearly. True it is that today, most of the countries have a democratic form of Government thus alleging the presumption of the principle of ‘live and let live motto however, is it true in reality or not is a thing to be looked into.

Let us analyze how truly and really we are living in a free world, with the right to do what we like. Is it not true that the United Nations Organization was instituted to see that the world continues to have peace and the smaller and weaker countries get their share of prosperity with the help of the richer brethren? Yes, the purpose was magnanimous and to a very great extent has also served the purpose ever since the inception of the United Nations. However, what can be clearly seen is that the elder brothers are not helping the young ones without the sheen of dictatorship. They are taking upon themselves a queer mantle of a shrouded dictatorship rather than selfless service to the poor nations. The five permanent members of the Executive seem to wield all the power of the activities of the world. It is they who decide what has to be done, who is to be punished, and who is to be exonerated of all his punishments. Is this not a sort of dictatorship in the garb of patronizing?

The latest example of this unique dictatorship is the annoyance of the United States our eldest brother who showed very sharp reactions to India’s nuclear tests at Pokhran. For one thing, it thus appears that India is not even free enough to look to its own safety as best as it feels. Besides, does it not sound odd that a country that itself has huge dumps of nuclear arsenals is resenting to India’s minor nuclear test, and worse so, punishing the smaller brother by imposing upon it sanctions. Is this not more or less, a dictatorship of a novel kind? The elder brother seems to forget that the best way of teaching the young is by putting an example and not punishing. Is this not dictatorship that, a country is helped in every way but, the moment it tries to flap its wings to take a flight, the wings are clipped? By this behavior of the rich countries, the very Charter of the United Nations is being flouted. Where is the much-espoused slogan of equality, where are equal opportunities for all countries and the like proclaimed by the said charter? So much for the dictatorship on the world scenario, back home let us take a bird’s eye view of the so-called democracy in the garb of a limited dictatorship in the country.

There is no obvious dictator, and it is the choice of the masses that rule the country the largest democracy of the world. However, aren’t all the politicians of the last two decades virtually dictators? They dictate the very channel of working of the Government; they dictate the very election of the politicians of their choice at gunpoint. So much so they dictate the very essence of life, i.e. they are the ones who decide who will live, and who will not be allowed to live, who will prosper, and who will not be allowed to come out of abject poverty. If the need arises, such are the monarchs that they even decide who will be killed and when. Is this any less than any dictatorship? Rather it the ugliest form of dictatorship. It is ugly because it thrives under the garb of a flourishing democracy.

Let us take the days of the late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. What was her regime? Was it any less or any better than any dictatorship? And it finally did end in an emergency. What are the rulers like Laloo Prasad Yadav or Ms. Jayalalitha are not they exponents of a limited democracy? The very fact that in the days of a mature democracy, having such a massive following without any prosperity to their credit is indicative of the seeds of dictatorship within the framework of a democracy. The following can be there if a lot has been done for the masses, but in a state where there is no prosperity, a following can be understood only in the face of the gun. This is the so-called democracy in some of our states.

Thus we see that, though we are shouting from the pulpits that we are emerging as a free democratic world, the shadowed presence of a peculiar dictatorship can be sensed in every act of the country and the world. Glaring examples of such peculiarly-veiled dictatorships are not difficult to find.