Reading the comparison between India and the US especially when it comes to democracy is quite familiar. This comparison is more intense now as the US and India are cozing up as far as defence cooperation goes. Well I have always held the US to be the most successful democracy in the world, but that notion will crumble when facts are examined.

India got its independence in 1947 and US in 1776. India has 1.1 billion population and the US has 300 million. So it is statistically easy to brand India as the largest democracy and the US to be the oldest democracy. But I believe India is largest democracy but the US is NOT the oldest democracy. India as a democratic country is older than the US as a democratic country. My reasoning is very simple and it is as follows.

Democracy is all about right of people. And in a country ‘right of people’ means people having the freedom and choice to choose a leader. Let’s flash back on the history of the US. Technically it is a democracy since 1776. But only white and male citizens were allowed to vote. Then slowly at the beginning of twentieth century white women were allowed to cast vote. And not until 1960s African Americans were allowed to vote. But in India since Jan 26, 1950 all citizens are treated equal. Male, female, white, dark, upper caste and lower caste all have same right in India long before the US gives its citizens the same right. Thus India as a democratic country is older than the US. In India we don’t say Punjabi Indian or Tamil Indian. But in the US the term ‘African American’ and ‘Asian American’ are quite common even today. So a person whose parents came to the US 200 years back from Africa is not an ‘American’ but an ‘African American’.

Let’s look at the type of leader the US citizens are choosing over past two centuries. Till now, the US does not have a non-white, non-Christian president. All presidents in the US are male. Does it mean that women and non-white are so intellectually deprived that they can’t lead the most successful country in the world? Contrast it to India. We have a Sikh Prime Minister (PM) now. Those of you who don’t know what ‘Sikh’ is, it is a religion. Don’t confuse ‘Sikhism’ to ‘Hinduism’. They are different. India had a woman as PM. We had PM who could not speak our national language. We have Presidents from minority communities. India seems to be a better democracy than the US.

Well I’m not justifying anything. I’m just convincing myself that despite all our problems we can come out victorious. If the US is most prosperous and successful nation in the world with all its defects, why can’t we? We have a better system in 60 years. We can always match and surpass the US. Democracy and freedom is our strength. Let’s transform the land of million mutinies to the land of million opportunities. From chaos will come ideas. All we need is an able leader who can unite the country under a common goal.