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• Democracy or DeMOCKracy: Daly College Conference September 22
  Pathways World School, Gurgaon
  

On 11^th September, The Daly College held a virtual conference, ‘Democracy or DeMOCKracy’ to enquire into the limitations and weaknesses inherent in the concept of democracy.  The conference was held on the 20^th anniversary of the 9/11 attack considered as the greatest failures of Democracy.

5 students from PWS got an opportunity to be a part of some wonderful sessions by eminent keynote speakers such as Mr. Javed Ansari, a senior journalist with over 20 years of experience with India Today group and BBC Hindi. He has chronicled elections for more than three decades. During the conference, he was able to throw light on the nuances of Democracy and its functioning and discussed the gray areas of democracy in any country.  

While Mr. Ansari was discussing if democracy is actually working, he came to the conclusion that Democracy is the road to the future. He stated that 70 years of democracy in India has served us well, and that it would never be flawless, but advised the students to see how far they had come as the world’s largest democracy.

Mr. Ansari also spoke about the limitations and the decline of democracy in India and shared his opinion on the situation of the country during the second wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic where the Indian government had to step in because there were no beds in hospitals, no cremation grounds, and there was absolute chaos.  

Furthermore, Mr. Javed discussed the role of media as the fourth pillar for citizens, and how it has, on the contrary, devolved into a whole catfight, with individuals screaming and shouting in national televised debates for the sake of entertainment. Citizens of countries have become so dependent on government information that they have begun to believe in all of its propaganda, including that found on the internet.

After a very informative presentation by Mr. Javed, the students were divided into  barazza groups and given six different candidates to vote for in order to become a political leader, while debating why their choice was the best. Following a truly enlightening and debatable barazza session, all students returned to the main session to meet the next keynote speaker, Mr. Pushyamitra Bhargv, who emphasized how the people and leaders should share the same vision and work together to make it a reality.

The fascinating seminar allowed students to debate with an open mind and understand that while democracy may be challenged at times, it is imperative for all to show gratitude for a system that does its best to give voice to all.