MJ Akbar
WARS commandeer headlines. Peaceful change is more subtle, less dramatic, and gets the more boring chapters of history books.
The most important conflict of the 21st century is not going to be contested geography, although that will continue to fester as long as the earth exists; it will be about ideology, between freedom as the governing culture of a nation, and despotism, often camouflaged by rationalisations of higher good.
The 20th century saw the onset of independence as the formative concept of the nation, and freedom for the people. It is often forgotten that conquest was legal till World War II. The British Empire was immoral, but not illegal. India’s triumph over the British Raj ended the era of European colonialism. But once states acquired independence, they could not deny freedom to their people. India did not break the chains of empire in order to chain its own people. Many, if not most, postcolonial states were usurped by elites who turned freedom into a mockery, but that was not sustainable.
Exercising franchise
This year, at least a third of the world’s population of eight billion has either exercised its franchise or will do so soon: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Taiwan, Comoros and Finland in January; El Salvador, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Indonesia and Belarus in February; Russia, Ireland, Portugal, Senegal and Slovakia in March; India, South Korea, Croatia, Ecuador and Togo in April; Iran, South Africa, Chad, Lithuania and Panama in May; Mexico, France, Bulgaria, Mongolia and Iceland in June; Britain, Rwanda and Venezuela in July.
Just to ensure that there is no gap month, Kiribati will poll in August. Elections are scheduled for Sri Lanka, Algeria and Austria in September; Lithuania (again), Tunisia, Mozambique, Moldova, Georgia and Uruguay in October. There will be the much-watched American contest in November, along with the less-watched Palau, Somaliland, Romania, Namibia, Mauritius; Ghana and South Sudan in December.
I did not mention Switzerland because the Swiss have some election every fortnight (almost true). The rumble of multi-level elections is a continuous fact in the political life of Europe. The true triumph of change is in a country like Somaliland, which has reinvented itself in an African region plagued by virtually every negativeism, topped by terrorism and fundamentalism.
Strong democracy
There are grey zones. Pakistan has part-time democracy which must adjust to the unelected power of its Army. Its former Prime Minister Imran Khan admitted ruefully after a year in prison that he could not survive without a deal with the barracks. Venezuela’s polls have become a sub-plot of superpower tensions. But a minute difference in the vote can make a massive difference in Brazil, which a divided nation accepts as change because it has been through process.
Democracy is sinewy strong because it has matured over a long journey through the stress of sabotage. Americans won freedom in 1776 but denied it to indigenous Indians and enslaved Blacks for another two centuries because they were not human enough for the conquerors. The British believed in freedom as a core virtue of their nationalism, not idealism. Their democrats happily enslaved people and exploited economies across the globe with rare ruthlessness. They controlled narratives in the English language, so reality was artfully disguised in self-serving explanations that still whitewash discussions.
