‘Democracy in India is diminishing’, says Chidambaram

Hyderabad: Emphasising that democracy in India was ‘slowing diminishing’, Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram described this as the ‘gravest danger’ the nation was facing.Emphasising that democracy in India was ‘slowing diminishing’, Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram described this as the ‘gravest danger’ the nation was facing.He felt that while other communities were engulfed in issues like unemployment, inflation, the minorities particularly Muslims and Christians were coping with ‘discrimination’, besides these issues.

Speaking at an event organised by Christian groups in the City, Chidambaram felt that the Minorities were quietly living under fear and India’s democracy was under ‘attack’. Referring to the recent incidents of ‘attack on’ media and journalists critical of the government, the former Union Minister feared that democracy would one day ‘vanish’, if not immediately but it will slowly ‘be eroded’. “The NCR Bureau has reported 2900 incidents of inter religious communal conflict between 2017 and 2021 and minorities are at the receiving end,” he pointed out.

Explaining how NGOs run by minorities were also targeted after NDA came to power, Chidambaram said that FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) registration of thousands of organisations was cancelled. “Christian organisations have been receiving funds from other countries and other groups of foreign origin. The Congress government has never stopped it, as most of these were engaged in social service and served the poor. But the Modi government has cancelled FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) registration of 6,622 organisations from 2017 to 2022, of these 622 in Telangana alone,” he explained.

Citing the case of Father Stan Swamy who was arrested for alleged connection to the Elgar Parishad case and died in prison after denial of bail, Chidambaram found this as an example of how ‘bad the judicial system has transformed’. “The judicial system has turned so bad that an old man who needed a straw for drinking water owing to health issues, had to apply in court. More so when the judge asked, the prison officials denied. Unfortunately he died even as his bail argument was being heard,” said the Congress leader underscoring the situation of Minorities in India.