Freedom to Be Politically Vigilant

Arguably, for a citizen, one of the important expressions of right to freedom is to become politically vigilant, not so much for self-interest but for the collective interest of protecting India’s democratic ethos. One could look at this as a positive aspect of freedom inasmuch as it is based on the cognitive capacity to critically evaluate the performance of the government which has a bounded duty to protect the ethos.

Political vigilance, therefore, is all about keeping the ruler in tune with the democracy that will enable citizens to lead a life without unreasonable constraints. This would mean that people’s political vigilance should be aimed at overseeing that political power is kept safe from its arbitrary use, both against an individual as well as the collective common good. The sense of citizens’ self-worth depends not on the voters’ complacency to allow a politician to take the former for granted, while the latter takes decisions even to change the loyalties. Voters in a democracy are expected to realise the cost they have to pay for cultivating a “servile” attitude, which suggests that the democratic existence of citizens depends on the courtesy of the politicians.