question_answer 16)

Here are different opinions about what made India a democracy. How much importance would you give to each of these factors?   (a) Democracy in India is a gift of the British rulers. We received training to work with representative legislative institutions under the British rule.   (b) Freedom struggle challenged the colonial exploitation and denial of different freedoms to Indians. Free India could not be anything but democratic.   (c) We were lucky to have leaders who had democratic convictions. The denial of democracy in several other newly independent countries shows the important role of these leaders.  

Answer:

Democracy is not a gift of the British ruler.   (a) People of India had to fight a long struggle and made many sacrifices to get freedom from the British ruler. But the experience and training gained by the Indians in the working of the legislative institutions proved to be very useful for the country in setting up its own democratic institutions.   (b) Freedom struggle against colonial exploitation contributed a lot in making India a democracy.   (c) We are really lucky to have leaders who had democratic conditions, are the most important factor in making India a democracy. Because the absence of this type of leaders made many newly independent countries undemocratic.