Students present varied views on democracy

Nagpur: On occasion of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Sanyukt Nagri organized two-day programmes which began on Saturday with a youth symposium on ‘Endangered Indian Democracy’ followed by a panel discussion at Deekshabhoomi auditorium.
In the symposium 10 young speakers from various streams and educational background spoke on ideologies of the Father of Our Constitution” in relevance to today’s changing times. First speaker and a social activist Samrat Ashok spoke on the history of democracy and said, “Ambedkar said that democracy is not just a governing body but is a social setting which everyone needs to follow. Our constitution asks for the government to respect opposite opinions and respect all religions, which unfortunately is not been happening in the current scenario.”

He related it to the era of Buddha and said, “Democracy in our country is prevailing since then, not just today and people then followed it to the letter T. similarly, Emperor Ashok made constitution valid for even animals. But today, we are living in a monarchical democracy, which doesn’t accept different opinions.”

Suhas Kamlakar, an MPhil student in Ambedkarian Thought spoke about solutions of endangered democracy. “The government today is imposing a communal outlook in our country, which is against the republican constitution. Secondly, our constitution has clearly aimed in making society a brewery for scientific mindset which is clearly lost today. It is the government’s responsibility to act according to the constitutional guidelines,” she said.

An arts graduate Kanak Jambhulkar spoke about the effects of economic irregularities in democracy. He said, “Ever since the Britishers left our country and we adopted a constitution, the governments have been pioneer in not developing our country, but in stealing away from national treasure. Unfortunately, the issue today has worsened as the gap has widened and almost 50% of economy lies with a handful of families in our country. With a gap this wide, it is difficult to run a democracy smoothly.”