On August 15th, India Greens Party (iGP), the first Pan-India Green Political Party as they define themselves, celebrated the 76th Independence Day of their country.
While the tricolour national flag was hoisted at their various locations around the state, the iGP co-presidents, Nazeema AK and Rajendra Minj, highlighted the necessity to keep strengthening democracy in their nation.
The Indian Greens encouraged all citizens of India to celebrate their Independence Day. The iGP Chief Spokesperson, Prabhath Prabhakaran, pointed out:
“Democracy should have deepened with the passing of each Independence Day; but regrettably, that was not to be.”
Indeed, for Nazeema AK and Rajendra Minj the Greens should concentrate their efforts in consolidating democracy to achieve the unfulfilled voters’ expectations.
Corruption, the main burden to India’s development
The Indian Greens Spokesperson alleged that rampant corruption in bureaucracy and politics was the main hindrance in the way of real development for India’s society.
Prabhakaran described the present scenario as a “malady” since society is not getting the benefit of the government schemes properly and adequately.
Transparency International, the global coalition against corruption, scored India a 40 for the perceived level of public sector corruption, based on a scale of 0-100, where 0 means highly corrupt and 100 means very clean.
There is no place for discrimination in a real democracy
Suresh Nautiyal, who helped sow the seeds of the Party in 2017, emphasized that all citizens in the country must get access to essential services without any discrimination, “otherwise our political system, which is called democracy, will have no meaning”.
The iGP’s leader claimed that after 75 years of independence, some voices of the nation were still being silenced:
“The people coming from the minority communities continue to face discrimination. This is no real democracy. For sure, we need a democracy that listens and delivers. It is sad that democracy and governance remain inefficient and insensitive. Therefore, there is a great need to make India more democratic, more tolerant, more progressive, more nonviolent, wiser ecologically and environmentally, and more self-reliant by respecting diversity and social justice”.
India’s constitution guarantees civil liberties like freedom of expression and freedom of religion. However, it seems the world’s largest democracy is experiencing a deterioration of these basic freedoms:
- Harassment of NGOs’ volunteers, journalists, and government critics has increased under the present government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who came to power in 2014).
- Castes, Muslims, and tribes remain economically and socially marginalized.
The goal of making India sustainable
For the founder of the iGP, one of their biggest challenges is the transformation of India towards an increased sustainable socio-economic country. Nautiyal added:
“Conserving our ecological systems including water bodies and rivers, keeping clean the environment and replenishing agricultural fields should be the top priority of the governments in the country to realise the dreams of the Freedom Fighters”.
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