question_answer

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.                                                                                                                                    [NCERT]

Answer:

(a) The training received by the functioning of the provincial governments helped in the formation of our Constitution though it is not correct to state that it is a gift of the British rulers.

(b) Undoubtedly, the struggle against colonial rule is instrumental for India choosing a democratic system of government.

(c) However, this is most important as many newly independent countries fell prey to dictators where even the basic rights have been denied to the people because their leaders did not believe in democracy.