PROCESS OF DEMOCRATISATION

IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN

VAISHALI RAGHUVANSHI

Partition: Landmark event in 1947

Seeds of parliamentary democratic system of governance were already sown in 100 years rule of British Raj.

Process of Democratization: In Early phase

INTRODUCTION

Evaluation of Democratization in Pakistan

Coercive Military – Bureaucratic Authoritarianism “Since 1958 Pakistan has alternated between martial law

and democratic government, and has existed in a state of constitutional ambivalence”

Political weakness of Muslim League “The Muslim League which was supposed to be the

guardian and shaper of the newly built nation of Pakistan failed miserably in its task. This was because Muslim League remained a party of elites and could not connect with the masses the way Indian National Congress did in India.”

DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN

Insecurity stemming from India

The rising religious fundamentalism and Jihadism

“State survival became the primary concern of the rulers of Pakistan, who equated survival with a powerful central government, strong defense posture, high defense allocations and an emphasis on monolithic nationalism”

“The imperatives of a strong, coercive state apparatus were given priority over the need to create participatory political institutions.” (Veena Kukreja and M P Singh 2005)

EVOLUTION OF DEMOCRATISATION IN INDIA

India inherited its democratic values from its British masters.

The adoption of huge portion of Government of India act 1935 in the Indian constitution ensured the development of a British style parliamentary democracy.

DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

The leadership of Indian National Congress

General elections

An independent Judiciary and press became the pillars of democracy.

The authoritarian emergency regime of 1975-77

“The exclusionary effects of religious and caste riots are appreciably contained by Judicial Activism, a vigilant press, a statutory National Human Rights Commission and National and state(s) Minority Commissions, civic organizations and overstrained- and occasionally negligent and partisan- administration at the lower levels.” (Veena Kukreja and Mahendra Pratap Singh, 2008)

India- A Vibrant Democracy

CONCLUSION

1.) Bose.Sumantra.2004,”Decolonisation and State Building in South Asia”, Journal Of International Affairs.

2.) Kukreja.Veena &Singh M.P.2008,”Democracy, Development and Discontent in South Asia”, SAGE Publications Ltd.

3.) Kukreja. Veena & Singh M.P.2005,”PAKISTAN; Democracy, Development and Security Issues”, SAGE Publications Ltd.

4.) Jaffrelot.Christophe. Nov.2002,”India and Pakistan: Interpreting the Divergence of Two Political Trajectories”, Cambridge Review of International affairs. Carfax Publishing.

5.) Waseem.Mohammad.Nov.2002,”Causes of Democratic Downslide”, Economic and Political Weekly

6.) Adeney.Katharine. &Wyatt. Andrew2004,”Democracy in South Asia: Getting Beyond the Structure-Agency Dichotomy”,

7.) Sharma.Devika.2004,”India and Pakistan: Partition and Nation Building in Postcolonial States”, South Asian Survey, SAGE Publications, New Delhi.

8.) Chakrabarty.Dipesh.2005,” In the Name of Politics": Sovereignty, Democracy, and the Multitude in India”, Economic and Political Weekly.

9.) Grover B.L. & Grover S.2010,”Modern Indian History”, S.Chand&Company Ltd.New Delhi.

10.) Kumar.Sanjeev .HM. “Contesting Modernity: Crises of Democratization In South Asia”.

REFERENCES

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