After the results of the present parliamentary elections are declared on June 4, it is likely that a weak coalition government, whether led by Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi, will come into existence. It will mark the beginning of an era reminiscent of the later Mughals, and there will be chaotic conditions.
There will be an increase in poverty, unemployment and hunger, along with soaring prices and worsening healthcare. This will last for a long time until a people’s struggle culminates in a strong government. This government will modernise India and give the people decent lives.
The real problems facing India are poverty, unemployment, malnourishment (every second child in India is malnourished, according to the Global Hunger Index), skyrocketing prices of food, fuel and medicine, and an almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses.
These problems cannot be solved within the present system of parliamentary democracy, which runs largely on the basis of caste and communal vote banks. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces that have to be destroyed if India is to progress, but parliamentary democracy further entrenches them. Hence it has to be replaced by an alternative system. Our political leaders, of all parties, are experts in manipulating the system by polarising society and inciting caste and religious hatred. All they seek is power and pelf, but have no genuine love for the people or care for their welfare.
The solutions to the people's problems lie outside the present system, not within it. In other words, it requires a mighty historic people's struggle and revolution, rising above caste and religious lines.
This people's struggle must be led by modern-minded, selfless, patriotic leaders determined to set up a political and social order under which India can be rapidly transformed into an industrial giant like the USA or China. Only then can we solve our real socio-economic problems. It is only by rapid industrialisation that we can generate the wealth required for taking care of the welfare of our people.
The real problem facing India is not how to raise production (that can easily be done with our huge pool of technical talent and immense natural resources) but how to raise the purchasing power of the people.
Our Constitution has become a scarecrow, and all our state institutions have become empty shells. Hence a revolution is inevitable in India.
However, historical experience shows that an actual revolution is always preceded by a long ideological revolution. This revolution uses ideas as its weapons, not guns or bombs, and paves the way for an actual revolution.
British revolutions of the 17th century were preceded by intense discussions in England about the theory of divine right of kings, propounded by King James 1 (and later challenged by the British political philosopher John Locke).
Similarly, the French Revolution of 1789 was preceded by an intense long-drawn ideological struggle in France called the French Enlightenment. The theories of Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot and the French Encyclopedists were a powerful attack on the entire feudal system and religious bigotry in France.
The American Revolution, too, was inspired by the writings of many thinkers such as Thomas Paine (see his 'Common Sense').
India is passing through the period of its ideological revolution, and the actual revolution is still far away. In this period, the patriotic enlightened section of our people must launch a powerful, sweeping attack on feudal thinking, customs and practices, such as casteism, communalism and superstition, and replace them by modern scientific thinking and practices. They must also expose the truth about our Constitution and democracy, explaining to the people that these are instruments of deception, to befool them that they are governing themselves and are the real rulers of India.
This changing of the mindset of over a billion people of India will be a very difficult, gigantic task, but it alone can be the precursor to the coming physical storm, the actual revolution, which will sweep away centuries of feudal filth in our country.
Unlike the ideological struggles which preceded the revolutions in England, France and America, and were mainly directed to secure political rights like freedom of speech, liberty, etc., the struggle in India must be to secure for our people socio-economic rights, such as employment with good incomes, food, medicine and other essential commodities at cheap prices, and free healthcare and good education for all citizens.
This is what former US president Franklin Roosevelt said in his 1944 State of the Union Address, known as the Second Bill of Rights, because, according to him, political rights were illusory in the absence of socio-economic rights.
The time has come in India for Voltaires and Rousseaus to appear and guide the people.
Justice Markandey Katju retired from the Supreme Court in 2011.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.