The IFP Season 12 Festival wrapped up highlighting the new age of creativity and contemporary culture. In keeping with the spirit of the IFP and its enthusiastic attendees, a session titled 'Future of Democracy' was organised, featuring Dr Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Shoma Choudhary.
The discussion began with Dr Tharoor being questioned about the current state of our democracy. He was asked if Dr BR Ambedkar – hailed as the founding father of our democracy – would be pleased with the current state of affairs. He responded saying Dr Ambedkar would have been disappointed because the current government did not live up to the vision he set.
He also stated that, while previous governments have upheld democratic practices to some extent, the current situation appears dire. He backed up his claim by citing a journalist who was arrested while covering the 2020 Hathras case without being charged and without being granted bail.
Dr Tharoor then went on to emphasise how important it is in a democracy to recognise the legitimacy of the Opposition. “There has always been a tradition of giving the Opposition the leadership of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, cementing the fact that the country is united on the foreign policy no matter what,” he said, adding that this is something that the current government has not followed. “This makes the government seem very petty and neither house of the Parliament takes the Opposition seriously.”
Dr Tharoor also stated that the mainstream media is untrustworthy because it is dominated by businessmen and politicians with vested interests. He claimed that the only credible news sources are online. “India has always tried to promote secularism, but the country has become divided, and religious intolerance is on the rise,” Dr Tharoor said.
Dr Tharoor was also looking forward to the Congress party presidential elections, which he was contesting. He praised the Congress for being the country's only political party to hold an internal election. He also went into more detail about his election platform, saying that he would give the party's stakeholders more power and more places to talk and make decisions democratically.
“All extremes are bad, whether they are left or right, and because such people have these absolute certitudes, they are intolerant towards the views of others. These kinds of beliefs should be shunned on all accounts,” Dr Tharoor said while answering an audience question.
Following this, Shoma appropriately concluded the session by telling the audience, “You (the youth) are in the majority and the future of democracy."
