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Political Inclusion Elevates Us as a Democracy

 

Inclusion elevates all – Elaine Hall

The India Inclusion Audit conducted by the Together magazine in the month of November-December 2022 throws new light on how diverse political views and ideas can lead to excluding behaviours in our society. 15% of the respondents felt that they have been excluded or sidelined because of their political stand which is based on the political ideology that they believe in. In the survey, exclusion due to political views and beliefs stands fourth right after religion (31.9%), gender (17.8%), economic class and language (both ranked at 16.7%).

At the heart of every good democracy is the ability to discuss, agree, disagree, ‘agree to disagree’ and to dissent in a civilized manner. And at the heart of every elevating political discussion or conversation is the ability to have diverse views and engage with them effectively and inclusively. Without the co-existence of these two parameters, democracy as an institution falls short considerably.

India follows the multi-party system of democracy and most parties come with their own ideological standpoint which consists of their own doctrines, principles, views and belief systems. As of date, two distinct ideologies dominate the Indian political atmosphere - the right-wing ideology upheld by political parties like the BJP which focuses on conservative, Hindu-nationalist elements with strong ideological and organizational links to Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS); and the centre-left social liberal belief system of the Congress. Extreme left as in the case of the communist parties are limited to a large regional presence in certain pockets of the country.

In today’s scenario, right-wing viewpoints purported by the party in power largely dominate public thought processes and hold sway over the majorly held public opinion, which in itself is plausible. Panel discussions on television sets abound with such ideological musings, if I may call that. Social media posts fan the nationalist fervour from time to time, connecting everything and anything under the sun -from the recent Gujarat assembly elections to Deepika Padukone’s wardrobe in the movie ‘Pathaan’ – to right-wing belief systems. Not to mention, Whatsapp University and the enormous volumes of information, misinformation and disinformation that is continuously doing the rounds, on a regular basis. And people all over the country are not just lapping up all these ‘capsules of information’ but are also propagating them virally. 

Now, the Indian constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression which includes the freedom to express your political views which is what media and the public, by and large, do so eloquently. But the issue arises when the statement of one’s political views or the expression of one’s political stand publicly puts you in a compromising position because it is not in line with the existing dominant views. Here again, media takes the lead with consistent muting of alternative viewpoints be it on news shows or the vitriolic panel discussions. This gains a faithful reflection among the public who follow suit diligently.  Elizabeth Noelle-Newmann’s  spiral of silence model explains this classic behaviour wherein divergent opinions from the status quo, especially political viewpoints which are perceived to be minority views are not disclosed because of fear of social isolation. This is what happens when divergent political standpoints are continuously frowned upon because the human need to be included (as opposed to being isolated or ostracised) often overrides the need to have a contrary opinion.

As a teacher of media studies, I often discuss politics with young people and I am happy to see that most of them have strong political leanings and are also unafraid to take a clear political stand or voice out their political views. However, at times, I do see that young people are not willing to entertain a divergent political view or even tolerate a differential ideology during heated political discussions in the classrooms. This again creates the spiral of silence effect inside the classroom wherein divergent political views are slowly silenced. In my classroom, I insist that students open their minds to different viewpoints and look at different political perspectives and be more accommodating and inclusive of other people’s political views and that’s the same I would hope for my community, my country and for the world, in general. 

Published in Together magazine, January 2023

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