Boundaries

I had a detailed discussion about boundaries on Google Buzz and this post is follow up of that. http://www.google.com/profiles/bidwai.sushrut#buzz

Also for new readers of this blog, this post refers to my earlier posts on Democracy here and here . Please read those post for continuation if you havent. Thanks.

I thought and wrote about boundaries on the buzz discussion. I will like to elaborate on that before continuing.

Some of the boundaries which are already there in India.
1. Article 370 which gives restrictions on who can buy land in Kashmir and other special privileges to Kashmir, which is a state of India.
2. Lack of common civil court. Which gives special privileges to Muslims in India. They are not bound by same social laws as rest of the population.
3. If a rape victim is from a specific caste then it is a non-bailable crime otherwise it is a bailable crime in India. There is no mention about rape by a female on male or by male on male or by female on female in Indian constitution. So we have divided population in males females and also in castes as per constitution. India is only country where rape related laws are dependent on not only amount of physical abuse but also social status of the person.

To be frank - I am completely in support of lack of common civil court. I dont care if it is for Muslims for hindus or for some one else. Basic idea is a group which is identified by certain common factor or demographic should be allowed to given certain power to choose its own identity. Special courts for Muslims should not be taken as an exception. It should be provided for each such group.

What I meant is - brahmins should be able to decide what is good and what is bad for them. Mumbaikars should be able to decide what should be good or bad for them and so on.

Democracy does not mean that we need to have a unified government to control us. Democracy is a tool which should be used to empower people to empower groups of people.

What is happening right now in India is minorities are getting screwed left right and center. Mumbai is minority it has only 2% of population. So rest of the 98% will decide whats good for them. Homosexuals are again similar minority. I dont know whats percentage of homosexuals are in India, but I will put it between 2-4%. So these people, these 2-4 crore people cant decide for themselves if its okay to have sex with people of same gender.

Shouldnt issues that affect only a certain group, should be decided upon by that group in question?

When I say boundaries i mean exactly this. That is a identifiable group is facing some problem which is completely internal to that group and does not affect other people living with in same geographic region, then such issues should be left alone to be decided by that group.

Purpose of democracy or any organization which is for civilized people is empower individuals to pursue their dreams, their purpose, their destinies in life and to provide a safe environment for me to purse all these things. For me, most important thing is how I live my life. After that how I can enrich lives of people that I meet like my parents, my family, my friends and so on.

Purpose of a democracy in diverse nation like India should be - (along with doing all things mentioned above) how each such groups can protect their identities. How they can live and grow as a group. Purpose of democracy should not be to protect minorities, it should be such that no group ever feels like a minority.