FROM MAULANA'S DESK

Democracy is the best way to settle political differences in a positive spirit. It offers a twofold strategy: adopting a sharing principle with respect to common national issues, and at the same time adopting the policy of non-interference with regard to those issues that are regional and not national. We proudly say that India is the largest democracy of the world, but this statement refers only to the quantitative aspect of our democracy. Now we need to add one more dimension to this statement, and that is, the qualitative aspect. The time has come to show the world that Indian democracy is value-based rather than simply power-based. Democracy is the art of difference management. Democracy means a non-confrontational settlement of differences. Swami Vivekananda was a great soul of India. He visited the US in 1893. One day Swamiji was walking along a street in Chicago, clad in two lengths of untailored cloth. At that time in the US, this kind of attire was quite unfamiliar. On seeing this, a woman whispered to her husband, “I don’t think that man is a gentleman.” Swami Vivekananda overheard this remark. He walked towards the lady and said to her politely: “Excuse me, Madam, in your country it is the tailor who makes a man a gentleman, but in the country from where I come, it is character which makes a man a gentleman.” For India, character is not simply a matter of individual behaviour. It also reflects in the policy of the state. Now the time has come to re-shape India on moral principles. The term Ramarajya was used by Mahatma Gandhi to define democraticrighteous rule during the Indian independence struggle. At the same time he clarified, “By Ramarajya I do not mean Hindu Raj. I mean by Ramarajya, Divine Raj: the Kingdom of God. The Ramarajya of my dream ensures equal rights for all.” The present change in Indian politics provides an opportunity to lay the foundation stone for an India that has been the dream of all the great minds of our country. The present world is said to be a developed world, but all the modern developments are material developments.