Voting Is Our Responsibility
In a Democracy, elections are the biggest opportunity to bring about the changes. And VOTE is the biggest weapon for this change. We are lucky to have a democracy in our country, in which every adult has a right to cast vote. We are the biggest democracy in the world, but, at the same time, we are continuously becoming a weaker and weaker democracy.
The schedule for the General elections-2009 has been declared. So, now it is the beginning of the battle for the throne. We have been continuously seeing the degradation of politics in India, since our independence in 1947. Most of us have also been complaining about the behavior of the politicians. We all are also worried about the problems like Corruption, Unemployment, Illiteracy, Increasing crime rate, Terrorism, Poverty and so on. The list just keeps growing. Many of us really want to do something to change this situation, but, can’t actually do anything, due to many different reasons.
We have heard this many times, that India is the biggest democracy in the world. But, is India also the strongest Democracy? My answer to this question is an absolute-‘NO’. What do we mean by Democracy? Abraham Lincoln had defined Democracy as the government-‘Of the People, By the People, For the People.’ Is it true for India? Is the Government here really working or even worried about the People? Millions of citizens are struggling everyday just to get food for survival. Thousands of youth are struggling just to get a job. Many of us are being killed everyday in terrorist and similar attacks. And all this has been going on since long. What have been the Governments doing? We just get the news of an ever increasing amount of corruption and decreasing standard of the politics in our Country.
In a Democracy, elections are the biggest opportunity to bring about the changes. And VOTE is the biggest weapon for this change. We are lucky to have a democracy in our country, in which every adult has a right to cast vote. We are the biggest democracy in the world, but, at the same time, we are continuously becoming a weaker and weaker democracy. We have some of our MPs and MLAs in our parliament who have serious criminal charges against them. Many of these have also been convicted by the courts. But, there number is continuously growing as political parties are giving protection to them, just for personal gains. But this severely affects the future of our nation and its citizens.
If we are worried about our future and the future of our country, then all of us must cast our votes. ‘Voting’ is not only our ‘Right’. In fact, it is our responsibility as a citizen and we all must fulfill this responsibility with seriousness. We all MUST cast our vote and must also inspire others to cast their votes because this is the strongest weapon in our hands with the help of which we can solve our problems and can bring a great revolution in the country without a drop of blood.
I do not want to name any one political party. It is up to the Individual to decide whom he/she wants to vote. But, before casting our vote, we must think about the past performance of the particular party & its agenda for the future. We all must vote without getting affected by the factors like caste or religion. Instead our focus should be on factors like the party’s stand on National Security, Terrorism, Poverty, Unemployment, Poverty, Literacy and other important issues.
As a voter, Youth can play a major role in the elections because a large amount of our voters belong to the young generation. We must remember that we are not voting for someone else. In fact, our vote will help us build a better future for ourselves. So, we must Vote and must also inspire others to cast their vote.
As per the rules of the Election commission of India, Every voter must have his name registered in the Electoral Rolls (Voters’ List). If you don’t have your name registered in the list, you can’t vote. Also, voters must also have an identity card which is known as Voter’s ID card. If you don’t have any of these, then you won’t be allowed to vote. Visit the local Election office to know about the procedure and forms to register your name in the Voters List and to have an ID. If you already have all of these, then don’t forget to cast your vote and also to tell others to do so. Because only then, can we hope to see some improvements in the situation of our Nation. Also, those who don’t fulfill their responsibility towards the country, have no right to ask for their ‘rights’. I would like to quote John F.Kennedy here-‘Ask not what the country has done for you. Ask what you have done for the country.’ So, if we can’t do anything else for our country, let’s at least cast our vote with responsibility and let’s unite to bring positive changes in our life and to make our own future better.
