US Capitol Shame: Unprecedented Assault On Democracy Even As The US Congress Certifies Biden Victory!
The horrific part
of the attack was that it was almost state-sponsored with Trump, still the head
of the government, inciting his supporters for the act in a rally held prior to
the joint session and putting incendiary social media posts. The social media posts
were removed eventually, but a shade too late. We think Donald Trump has become
the first ever head of a government in a democratic country to try cling to power
in spite of a convincing electoral defeat, and egg on or even congratulate his supporters
upstaging sort of a coup of an unprecedented order.
In fact, such acts
are not unexpected. The US election of 2020 has divided the country almost into
two halves—the Republicans, empowered by a populist and aggressive nationalism,
and the Democrats, in the true spirit of democratic traditions to save
democracy. Experts and political commentators have been warning about the
inevitable repercussions of the divisions in the American society, and that
right-wing nationalist Trumpism would outlast the Biden regime. Besides, Trump
had refused to concede defeat from the beginning claiming ridiculously that he
had won the Elections, demanding repolls and alleging that the Elections had in
fact been stolen by Biden. The fact that many Trump supporters in the attack on
Wednesday, the 6th of January 2021, mouthing the slogan ‘stop the steal’
in an insane obsession says the sordid story that makes one ashamed of it all,
and also fearful of democracy coming under serious global threat.
The growth of
aggressive nationalism and intolerance in several frontline countries of the
world including India corroborates the fear that democracy is indeed coming
under increasing threat, globally. These openly right-wing forces in power propagate
their ideologies bulldozing the government machineries, winning over a sizeable
segment of the mainstream media through lucrative deals or even coercion, reigning
supreme in the social media thanks to their ‘dedicated’ expert IT cells,
passing controversial legislations to pander to the majority, repressing democratic
movements with brutal force and creating in the process a foolish majority,
blindly supporting anything that the ruling forces do or say. Elections are no
longer democratic exercises; these are wars to be won at any cost, going to any
extent of dividing or instigating or terrorizing the prospective voters. Accepting
defeat with humility is a thing of the distant past, and the old saying needs
to be revised to ‘everything is fair in war, love and (elections)’.
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