Democracy is a loan of power that people give leaders – and leaders need to repay that debt. But in South Asia, they have not being doing so in a honest way. Despite this, the people of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and India have not become cynical and are not letting go of their aspirations to create more democratic societies.
How can democracy be institutionalised?
That is among the questions that Beena Sarwar from Pakistan, Mahfuz Anam from Bangladesh and Kanak Dixit from Nepal discuss with Harsh Mander. These peace activists recall how the citizens of these countries have offered resistance to autocracies and military rule, through the ballot and by non-violent protests, and analyse the prospects for democracy.
Democracy in debt in South Asia is the subject of the latest episode of Yeh Daag Daag Ujala, the Karwan e Mohabbat discussion series with Scroll.
The name of Karwan e Mohabbat’s Yeh Daag Daag Ujala series is a tribute to the iconic poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
